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Conquistadora

by Esmeralda Santiago (Goodreads Author)

3.41 of 5 stars 3.41 · rating details · 1,450 ratings · 288 reviews

An epic novel of love, discovery, and adventure by the author of the best-selling memoir When I Was Puerto Rican.

As a young girl growing up in Spain, Ana Larragoity Cubillas is powerfully drawn to Puerto Rico by the diaries of an ancestor who traveled there with Ponce de León. And in handsome twin brothers Ramón and Inocente—both in love with Ana—she finds a way to get the...more

Hardcover, 432 pages

Published July 12th 2011 by Knopf (first published July 5th 2011)

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Nov 02, 2011 Candace rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh, my. Such a big mistake to compare Ana in this novel to Scarlett O'Hara. Isn't the first line of "Gone with the Wind" something like "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful but men rarely noticed after being captivated by her charm"? So here we have Ana who is not beautiful and has no charm, so unless being good at business and having slaves is what you're going to base that comparison on, it is quite a stretch.

So let's forget about Scarlett and look at Ana. Captivated by journals of an ancestor w...more Oh, my. Such a big mistake to compare Ana in this novel to Scarlett O'Hara. Isn't the first line of "Gone with the Wind" something like "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful but men rarely noticed after being captivated by her charm"? So here we have Ana who is not beautiful and has no charm, so unless being good at business and having slaves is what you're going to base that comparison on, it is quite a stretch.

So let's forget about Scarlett and look at Ana. Captivated by journals of an ancestor who was one of the first whites in what is now Puerto Rico, she does not hesitate to move their with her new husband and his twin brother to work a sugar plantation their family owns. Ana becomes obsessed with the plantation, a grim and brutal place, no Tara, to the detriment of everyone else.

The first part of "Conquistadora" suffers from story-telling. People and situations are explained rather than experienced. This changes somewhat later in the novel, but by that time it is too late to really understand or sympathize with the characters. Ana herself and Severo, her second husband are complete mysteries. It is hard to get involved with them or to care what happens.

I did finish the book, and enjoyed Santiago's writing. Here's what I'd like to see in the sequel I suspect is underway: snatch Ana off the Hacienda Los Gemelos and put her somewhere to explore another aspect of her character; examine city life at the time and put the spotlight on other characters. Look at what has influenced the personality of the Puerto Rican people--from "Conquistadora" one would expect them to be gloomy and repressed and we know that is not the case. Where's the joy, the humor, the charm (that word again!) of the people and place?

To belabor the GWTW comparison, that novel is filled with the excitement and adventure of the time and place seen through the eyes of possibly the most selfish character in literature, who nonetheless cares about other people and is involved with them whole-heartedly. The wheels in her head are always turning. Compared to her, Ana's a drudge.

By Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader(less)

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Jan 29, 2012 Wendy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Epic in scope and set in 1800's Puerto Rico, this book is rich with fully imagined characters in a vibrant setting. We see entire lives lived out through these pages. This unforgettable story tells of the strong and flawed Ana, who imagines herself following in the footsteps of her ancestors to own a hacienta in Puerto Rico. She finds a way to make this dream a reality. What follows is her story and those whose lives intersect with hers. Santigo is a beautiful writer who tells her riveting tale...more

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Nov 23, 2011 Krista rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wasn't a huge fan of the narration, sometimes it seemed exaggerated. I hated (really, truly, deeply disliked everything about) nearly every single character in the story.

That said, I needed to know what happened to all of them. I liked it. I'm glad I listened. I probably would not have gotten through it as quickly if I was physically reading it though, due to the nature of my life right now (must be completely sucked in to even bother finishing) and because some of the details at times moved...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Mary Dickey rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: conquistadora

This one seems to have all the ingredients needed for a real page-turner: twincest, lesbian love, a fiery heroine and a hard-charging man, lush Caribbean setting, a humpbacked foundling with psychic powers, slave rebellions...what's not to like? The terrible, plodding prose that makes each page a slog. In the right hands this could have been the kind of guilty pleasure you don't want to put down on the beach blanket--even for a quick dip. But it's not. Bad writing killed a good story.

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Feb 21, 2013 Megan Knippenberg rated it 3 of 5 stars

I appreciated this book from an informational standpoint. I learned a lot about Spanish colonization, slavery in the Caribbean and life on a hacienda/plantation in colonial Puerto Rico. This time period is simply fascinating.

On the other hand, I wouldn't recommend this book for the story. The main character frustrated me to no end. She was very guarded and had trouble displaying affection to anyone who loved her. Additionally, the ending of the book was rather disconcerting. One of the final li...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Jenny rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was so excited when I saw the review in my Elle magazine comparing this book to Gone with the Wind. Having a good friend from Puerto Rico, I have been curious about the country and its history, as well. Mindlessly flipping through the magazine just after a family tragedy, I thought, THIS is the distraction for me.

It WAS a good distraction from my sorrow and difficult other reading. Although my mind was a fog in those weeks, I do remember the story was exotic and wove historical events within t...more

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May 05, 2012 Jamilla Rice rated it 3 of 5 stars

After being swept up in the drama, euphoria, and total mind-numbing ecstasy which was this year's National Book Festival (Book Nerds of the World, UNITE!) I felt compelled to purchase this book. How could I have sat through Ms. Santiago's talk about the extensive research that she completed in her efforts to craft her sweeping epic tale of a headstrong young Spanish woman, descendant of conquistadors, born during a time when a woman only became free when her husband died, and then only if he was...more

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Jan 14, 2012 Sandie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-books, historical-fiction

Esmeralda Santiago novel CONQUISTADORA centers on Ana Cubillas , a supposidly unconventional, strong willed and ambitiously driven young woman of the Spanish aristocracy who is drawn to the idea of conquering life in a New World after reading the diary of an ancestor recounting his explorations with Ponce de Leon. Balking at the confinement of the convent school she attends she begins her own exploration (of the sexual variety) with her friend Elena. From there the plot continues as Ana's machin...more Esmeralda Santiago novel CONQUISTADORA centers on Ana Cubillas , a supposidly unconventional, strong willed and ambitiously driven young woman of the Spanish aristocracy who is drawn to the idea of conquering life in a New World after reading the diary of an ancestor recounting his explorations with Ponce de Leon. Balking at the confinement of the convent school she attends she begins her own exploration (of the sexual variety) with her friend Elena. From there the plot continues as Ana's machinations result in her marriage to Elena's cousin Ramon. In order to achieve her dream she convinces her husband as well as his twin to abandon their native Spain to seek their own destiny on a sugar plantation in Puerto Rico that the twins have inherited from an uncle.

Of course no story of this sort would be complete without the harpy mother-in-law for our heroine to engage in verbal battle or the handsome, virile plantation overseer for the heroine to fall in love with, so enter Leonor and Sevreo Fuentes (respectively). While the book does give the reader a look at the history of sugar plantations and the slave trade in the Carribbean in the mid 1800's as well as a taste of mother nature in all her glory inflicting hurricanes and a cholera epidemic on the islanders, this is neverless just a new incarnation of a story most of us have read or seen on a movie screen more times than we'd care to admit. Whether it's Meryl Streep in Out of Africa, Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in Alien or Rachel Ward as Meggie in The Thorn Birds we've been there-done that. In each of the aforementioned books/movies the female characters, while indomniable, were sympathetic and you found yourself cheering them on. Not so with Santiagos' Ana who comes across as callous, manipulative and unrelenting in her obsession with the land....to the exclusion of all else.....even her child and ultimately her humanity.

My expectations for this book were not all that high but unfortunately it did not even achieve the relatively low standard I had set. (less)

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Oct 01, 2011 Ssjustice rated it 3 of 5 stars

If Ana Larragoity Cubillas had been born in 20th century America instead of 19th century Spain, she'd be the head of a Fortune 500 company. Instead, she's a misfit in upper class society of 1840s Spain. Entranced by the letters of a conquistador ancestor who accompanied Ponce de Leon to Puerto Rico, Ana is determined to create the frame and fortune that her ancestor died before achieving. Carefully plotting her future, she selects a husband she can manipulate and then manuevers him into emigrati...more

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Aug 14, 2011 Randi Reisfeld rated it 3 of 5 stars

This one got amazing reviews -- NYT, USA Today, People, Entertainment Weekly, etc -- in other words, all the places I routinely search for new books. Not exactly high-brow, but that's how I roll. This one was billed as a "Puerto Rican Gone With The Wind." Okay, you got my interest. It's the mid-1800s we've got a scrappy heroine overcoming obstacles, bad love-good love, moral compromises, hardships, indifferent parents/in-laws, and lots and lots of slaves. (PR, then ruled by Spain had not outlawe...more

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May 18, 2011 Emma rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, puerto-rico, latin-america, 2-stars, amazon-vine-reviews, caribbean

So far this book has not been well-received, and while it isn’t terrible, I have to agree with the other reviewers that it also isn’t very good.

Despite the title, Conquistadora is mostly about Ana, a young Spanish woman who, enthralled by the journals of a conquistador ancestor, moves to mid-19th century Puerto Rico to live on a sugar plantation. The book follows the next 20 years of her life, as well as the lives of her relatives and slaves.

Probably the best thing about this book is the histori...more So far this book has not been well-received, and while it isn’t terrible, I have to agree with the other reviewers that it also isn’t very good.

Despite the title, Conquistadora is mostly about Ana, a young Spanish woman who, enthralled by the journals of a conquistador ancestor, moves to mid-19th century Puerto Rico to live on a sugar plantation. The book follows the next 20 years of her life, as well as the lives of her relatives and slaves.

Probably the best thing about this book is the historical background. I’ve studied a bit of Caribbean history, and the author captures it pretty well here. We see the tense relationships between the plantation owners and the slaves: Ana spends most of her time surrounded by slaves and believes she has relationships with some of them, but at the same time, the whites are terrified of the slaves, the more so the more they hear about revolts and slaves being freed in other countries in the Americas. And being terrified makes them even more despotic. Meanwhile, there’s tension between the native-born criollos and the Spanish-born elite although, unlike in other Latin American countries, this never culminates in a revolution.

Then there’s the plot and characters. I found the book relatively interesting: the plot moves along, although mostly it’s just telling the story of the characters’ lives; don’t expect a lot of action. The characters are somewhat interesting although not necessarily nice. But I respect Santiago for not whitewashing the slave owners: she creates the kind of people who would be able to successfully run a plantation depending on slave labor, and so, yes, they’re selfish and coldhearted. Ana cares about “her people,” to a certain degree, but she cares about her profits more and she’s willing to overlook brutality. The men who run the plantations are worse. Santiago does create more sympathetic, if flatter, characters in Elena and Miguel (who of course don’t live on the plantation), as well as giving voices to a few of the slaves. But ultimately I was disappointed: key characters like Ana don’t really seem to grow and develop. I didn’t expect her to do an about-face politically, but at some point the natural change that a human being experiences with age and new relationships seems to stall, and she becomes less interesting.

Additionally, the plot just isn’t as good as it could have been. Sometimes it veers into melodrama. Other times scenes meant to have emotional resonance aren’t built up to at all and fall flat. Late in the book a character suddenly falls in love with that character’s spouse of several years--for no apparent reason, and literally in the space of one page. Poof! Love! Um. And then there’s some magic realism that’s frankly silly; maybe Santiago thought she ought to have it because she’s a Latin American writer, but someone having visions adds nothing to this book. And the ending was just poorly done.

To add to all this, the writing just isn’t all that great. Santiago’s prose style is average at best. And she has an unfortunate tendency to tell rather than show, so we get passages like:

“Like many of their contemporaries, Ana and the twins were ambivalent about the institution of slavery. But living among slaves now, they were confronted with every aspect of its reality. At the same time, what humanitarian feelings pricked at the edge of their conscience were tempered by the urgent need to realize a gain on their investment in brazos for the fields.”

Which I’ll let speak for itself. I also get the feeling she’s much more comfortable writing in Spanish; the text is peppered with often unnecessary Spanish words and phrases, to the extent that I’d hesitate to recommend it to someone who hasn’t had at least a year or two of Spanish in school; many of the most emotionally charged comments are in Spanish. And there’s some misuse of English words (apparently she thinks “pupils” are the colored part of the eye)--but I read an advance review copy, so hopefully this will be corrected in the final version.

Ultimately, I think I would recommend this book--with caveats--to someone who’s interested in the setting and time period. But the comparisons to Gone With the Wind and Isabel Allende’s work are hyperbole at best; a great work of fiction this is not.(less)

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May 07, 2013 Eteresa rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really loved this book!!! I was searching for a good book to read and decided to take Oprah's advice on this one even though some books recommended in her magazine were duds for me. This book was so entertaining. I could not put this one down. This book is basically about a woman who wants nothing more than to leave Spain to go to Puerto Rico and try her hand at running a sugar plantation. She finds her chance through marriage and embarks on her journey from Spain to Puerto Rico with her new h...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Suzy rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: listened-to

I was reading (actually listening to) this book because the author is going to be at our library in mid-July and I thought it would be good to read something of hers and then go hear her speak. I like historical fiction and this book sounded interesting. The book is about Ana Larragoity Cubillas, a young Spanish girl in the 1800's who wants to replicate the adventure of her ancestors in the 1400's by going to Spanish America. She does so by marrying a young man whose family has a plantation in P...more

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May 21, 2013 Johanna rated it 1 of 5 stars

Someday Puerto Rico will have a great historical novel about independence, Betances, and the migration to Puerto Rico. This one is not it. It reads like a history book discarded halfway and reworked with characters that are just stand-ins that the author can do things to while explaining the history drily. When I think of great historical fiction--Farming of Bones, House of the Spirits--it also has great characters, alive, not mannequins being manipulated by history. News flash: just because you...more

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Jul 22, 2011 Wanda rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: No one yet

Shelves: 2011, did-not-finish, fiction-and-literature

I will be honest - I did not finish this book - I just could not finish it. The premise of this book sounds so very promising - the opportunity to read and learn about the land of my father. However, I could not get past the two brothers and their sexual proclivities in this book. A prude I am not; but, when brothers touch one another in the most intimate of ways, I draw the line. I can read a good many things for the sake of a novel and its progression, but this tendency of the brothers ruined...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Hoosier rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Esmeralda Santiago has written a brilliant novel about Spanish-ruled Puerto Rico during the 1800's. As a young child, Ana, read about the adventures of the Spanish colonizers and dreamt of exploring and harnassing the richness of the New World. Ana's good friend, Elena, introduced Ana to Ramon and Ramon's identical twin, Innocente. Soon after meeting Ana, Ramon decided to propose to her. Ana agreed to marry Ramon. She also convinced Ramon and Innocente to move to Puerto Rico upon learning that t...more Esmeralda Santiago has written a brilliant novel about Spanish-ruled Puerto Rico during the 1800's. As a young child, Ana, read about the adventures of the Spanish colonizers and dreamt of exploring and harnassing the richness of the New World. Ana's good friend, Elena, introduced Ana to Ramon and Ramon's identical twin, Innocente. Soon after meeting Ana, Ramon decided to propose to her. Ana agreed to marry Ramon. She also convinced Ramon and Innocente to move to Puerto Rico upon learning that the twins had become heirs to a farm in Puerto Rico. Innocente and Ramon's parents as well as Elena join Ana and the twins on their voyage to Puerto Rico.

Upon arriving in Puerto Rico, Ana and the twins learn that the farm has been neglected. The three move into a dilapadated house on the property and begin preparing the property for the sugar harvest. They name the farm, Los Gemelos, after the "twins."

Ramon and Innocente share everything, including Ana and Ana becomes pregnant with one of their children. Upon giving birth, she allows the slaves to mother Miguel, her son, since she prefers spending time building the farm for his future rather than nuturing him. After a few years, the twins decide that they would prefer returning to San Juan to live with Elena and their parents rather than continue living like peasants on the farm. Ana, however, has no interest in ever abandoning Los Gemelos.

Ana and Ramon's marriage deteriorates and Ramon begins fathering children with the farm's slaves. Innocente decides to return to San Juan and is brutally murdered before he arrives. Ramon never recovers from the loss and shortly thereafter also dies. Rather than giving up the farm, Ana makes a deal with the twins' father that she will give up Miguel to be raised by his grandparents.

Ana, as a widow, decides to marry Severo who has proved himself as an asset to Los Gemelos. The rest of the novel follows Ana and Severo's lives together on the farm, the place that Ana will never leave, even to see her son.

Santiago does a fabulous job portraying the hardships of the slaves. The slaves on Los Gemelos slept in airless quarters and toiled the land during the days. They were subject to the harsh rule of Severo who constantly had to show that he was in power both by whiping the men and raping the women. Santiago even seemed to imply that the slaves on Los Gemelos were treated better than those on neighboring farms.

While in Spain, Ana planned to free the slaves on the farm, but she changed her mind upon determining that she needed cheap labor to run the farm. In fact, Ana and the twins with the help of Severo, the farm's manager, used whatever means they could to increased the farm's supply of slave labor. Miguel, who as an adult joined an underground movement that worked to free Puerto Rican slaves, also did not fight to immediately set free the slaves on his mother's farm once he learned that the slaves provided for his financial security.

I did not give the book five stars because the story, at points, moved very slowly. However, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about Puerto Rican life during the 1800s. (less)

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Aug 31, 2011 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Conquistadora is the tale of a strong, feminist Latina living in the wrong century.
Esmeralda Santiago, best known for her 1994 memoir When I Was Puerto Rican, has written the epic story of Ana Larragoity Cubillas, a 19th century Spainard who yearns to live an adventurous life overseas after reading the journals of her ancestors who traveled to the New World three centuries earlier. At the age of 18, she convinces her husband, Ramón, and his identical twin brother, Inocente, to run a sugar can...more

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Jul 20, 2011 Stephen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Esmeralda Santiago's "Conquistadora" is many stories in one.

It is the story of the headstrong young Spanish girl, Ana, struggling to make it in the new world. It is the political story of a Puerto Rico running on slavery, though still in colonial shackles. It is the story of a sugar plantation that destroys a pair of families seduced by the promise of tropically tinged wealth.

The narrative covers 20 some odd years at the plantation, "Los Gemelos," with occasional visits to San Juan for an upda...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Shana rated it 3 of 5 stars

In this epic novel, Santiago introduces Ana Larragoity Cubillas, a girl born into the upper classes in Spain with a vivacious spirit and sense of adventure. As a girl, she reads her ancestors’ accounts of conquering Puerto Rico and yearns to undertake such an adventure herself even though it wouldn’t be appropriate for a woman of her station. When the opportunity to do exactly that arises through a marriage to a restless twin (and his equally restless brother), she goes on the journey of a lifet...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Gina rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is in the story-telling style of Isabelle Allende but I can't quite compare it to Allende's work, it falls a bit short of that. There's an excellent story here though -- Conquistadora is the story of a young woman in 19th century Spain who doesn't conform to the rigid expectations set for women of that time. She feels unwanted by her parents because she isn't a boy, she is a disappointment to them, but as she grows older she realizes her parents are a disappointment to her. Ana doesn't...more

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Jan 05, 2012 Cathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Lots of mixed reviews for this novel, but I enjoyed it. A good, thick saga spanning decades and centuries always wins my approval. This reminded me somewhat of Isabel Allende (one of my favorites); although the writing is not nearly as lush and captivating, it was still enjoyable and kept me occupied over the lazy days of our Christmas vacation. I found the Puerto Rican setting and historical information fascinating and it made me curious to learn more about Puerto Rico's history. The story foll...more

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May 06, 2011 Doret rated it 3 of 5 stars

When we first meet Ana, she's just being born. Neither Ana's parents show much interest in her. Ana's Spainard family is well known and comes from old money. Ana's loves reading they diary of her ancestor's who first invaded Puerto Rico. Even as a young girl Ana dreams of making a name for herself in Puerto Rico.

I loved the beginning, Santiago does an excellent job of introducing Ana and building a great foundation for this novel. A necessity for a book that's over 400 pages. I was quickly draw...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Leo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, spanish-literature, favorites

I picked this book because I had read other books from this author and they had proven to be very interesting aand well researched. Well this one seemed to be even better. But first let me give a little preview of historical facts

The Island of Puerto Rico was discovered in 1492. The Spaniards came in with priest and incantations but soon the atrocities, false promises, rape and the bastard children. They killed the Taino natives and those they did not kill they submitted to slavery. They drai...more

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May 13, 2013 Holly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club

This book is about the history of colonialism in Puerto Rico, as seen through the eyes of people who played roles at various levels in the system: Native Americans, Spaniards both in Spain and those born in Puerto Rico, slaves kidnapped from Africa and who were born into slavery in Puerto Rico. It is also an exploration of gender roles within that society. It is well-written and the characters very well-drawn.

Unfortunately, the plot is a bit obvious and, once you figure out it's less about the...more

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Nov 12, 2011 Anthony Pacifico rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a historical fiction set in Puerto Rico in the late 19th Century.

Ana Larragoity Cubillas is a young girl growing up among the wealthy of Spain in the mid 1800s. She is fascinated by stories of her ancestors who explored the new world, specifically Puerto Rico, with Ponce de Leon. She meets twin brothers, who are both in love with her, marries one and they move to Puerto Rico to work on a sugar plantation that the brothers have inherited.

Life in Puerto Rico is nowhere near what she experi...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Ana rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: all Puerto Ricans out there

Shelves: puerto-rico, historical-fiction

"Conquistadora" is the story of Ana Larragoity, a 19th century Spanish lady, descendant of conquistadors, who travels to Puerto Rico seeking fortune and adventure with her husband and brother-in-law, heirs to a sugarcane plantation.

When I first started reading the book, it felt like deja-vu, like I've read the story before. Then I realized that Ana's story reminded me of Isabel Allende's Hija de la Fortuna and Retrato en Sepia. I felt a little dissapointed at the beginning, but then remembered t...more "Conquistadora" is the story of Ana Larragoity, a 19th century Spanish lady, descendant of conquistadors, who travels to Puerto Rico seeking fortune and adventure with her husband and brother-in-law, heirs to a sugarcane plantation.

When I first started reading the book, it felt like deja-vu, like I've read the story before. Then I realized that Ana's story reminded me of Isabel Allende's Hija de la Fortuna and Retrato en Sepia. I felt a little dissapointed at the beginning, but then remembered that the story of the New World, of the America's and the Caribbean islands, is one in the same. The New World is the product of years of colonization by Old World potencies such as Spain, England, France; battles for independece; the struggle for slave abolition. S,o basically, all stories written by Latin American writers about the same time period will sound a bit familiar, because the history is, more or less, the same. Reading the book made me feel like I was back in high school, polishing my Puerto Rican history with the hip, cool history teacher I had, Ms. Torres.

I loved "Conquistadora" because the history that's intertwined with the fiction was prety accurate. I loved the book because it retells part of the story of my country, the story that new generations of Puerto Ricans don't want to learn. While reading the novel, I would often call my parents and ask them about my ancestors. Mom's great-grandmother was a freed slave. Mom lived near a sugarcane field and saw, first-hand, controlled fires during the zafra. Dad's grandfather on his father's side was a blacksmith. My dad's relatives were virtuoso piano players, marginalized because they were black. The things that Santiago portrays throughout the novel really did happened throughout the island for years and centuries. An it is forbidden to forget.

I am dissapointed to learn that other readers who had reviewed this book compare "Conquistadora" to Gone with the Wind. Mitchell's book is a romantic novel, the plot revolving around the love affair between Scarlett O'Hara and Rhet Butler. "Conquistadora" is not a romantic novel, it is historical fiction.

I love when a writer does his/her research, and Esmeralda Santiago certainly did it... masterfully.(less)

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Dec 31, 2012 Lynn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-fiction, historical-fiction

Ana Cubillas is a young woman raised in Spain to be a lady of a great house. She marries at age 18 Ramon, a wealthy young man with a twin brother whom she is also involved. Being now wealthy and ambitious, she encourages her new family to move to Puerto Rico to set up a Hacienda that grows sugar cane using brutal slavery. On the trip to the island and shortly after, she also engages in a sexual relationship with Elena, a fellow convent school girl who marries Innocente, the twin brother of Ramon...more

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Oct 21, 2011 Iejones rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another ARC of an author I am not familiar with - but my love for history won out. In brief, I LOVED this book. Her character development of nineteenth century Spain and the plight and peril of pilgrims to the western hemisphere in Spanish speaking colonies in amazing. The best part for me was the intricate detail about the enslaved African population in Puerto Rico. She took time to explain the variety of ethic groups that were pillaged and brought to the Caribbean. She also explained possible...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Lori Cox rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult

Loved this book! Ana is a strong willed Spanish woman, determined to follow her conquistadoro ancestors to Puerto Rico. She is not meant for the white gloved, corseted society of manners and rules. In order to accomplish this goal, she marries a twin and they go live on the plantation his family owns on this island. It is a tough life, and disturbing details regarding slave life on a cane plantation are horrifying to read. Ana is a determined woman and ignores her conscious, surviving despite th...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Beverly rated it 2 of 5 stars

Spent my Hurricane Irene reading this novel. Santiago is a solid writer, and she's chosen a subject that should captivate any fan of historical fiction. Yet, the novel falls short. As I seek to understand why I did not *love* this book, I put part of the blame on the omniscient narrator. I would have preferred a close-third to a few of the characters rather than the disconcerting visits into the p.o.v. of minor characters. I was pulled out of the narrative dream by short p.o.v. changes that did...more

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About Esmeralda Santiago

Esmeralda Santiago (born 1948 in San Juan, Puerto Rico). Is a renowned Puerto Rican author In 1961, she came to the United States when she was thirteen years old, the eldest in a family that would eventually include eleven children. Ms. Santiago attended New York City's Performing Arts High School, where she majored in drama and dance. After eight years of part-time study at community colleges, sh...more

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Quotes from Conquistadora

“I learned you pay for your happiness. That's why I don't expect to be happy all the time. I'd rather be surprised by one moment every so often to remind me that joy is possible, even if I have to pay for it later.” — 27 people liked it

“How can you know what you're capable of if you don't embrace the unkown?” — 14 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9678869-conquistadora?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320396286l/9678869.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9678869-conquistadora?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago[/url]

Conquistadora

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