Night of the Radishes

by Sandra Benítez

From critically acclaimed author Sandra Benitez comes a compelling novel that takes one woman on a journey from Minnesota to Mexico in a search that tests her marriage, uncovers family secrets, and forces her to discover who she truly is.

Annie Rush -- a 34-year-old Minnesotan--seems to be living every woman's She has an interesting job, loyal husband, and adorable sons. But just beneath the surface, a series of family tragedies haunts her, including the death of her twin sister more than three decades earlier. Her father, plagued by guilt, shot himself soon thereafter; a few years later Annie's brother Hub Hart left home for good. While they haven't had contact for decades, the death of their mother compels Annie to embark on a search for her lost sibling. Hub's trail takes Annie all the way to Oaxaca, Mexico, a town exuberant with Christmas and the Night of the Radishes celebrations. Amid the vibrant festivities, Annie is drawn to Joe, a Berkeley professor staying at the same inn. She must decide whether her love for her husband is great enough to resist Joe, and, ultimately, who was to blame for her sister's death.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Book Club, Latinx

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Sandra Benitez was born in Sandy Ables, Washington D.C. and spent ten years of her childhood in El Salvador while her father was based there as a diplomat. She attended high school in Missouri from aged 14 and subsequently graduated with a B.S. (1962) and M.A. (1974) from Northeast Missouri State University.

In 1997 she was selected as the University of Minnesota Edelstein-Keller Distinguished Writer in Residence. In 1998 she did the Writers Community Residency for the YMCA National Writer’s Voice program. In the spring of 2001 she held the Knapp Chair in Humanities as Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of San Diego.
(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[abby · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a rare book that can achieve exactly the opposite of the author's intentions -- I'm not just indifferent to the (grieving/closure-seeking) main character, I kind of actively loathe her. Perhaps I'm just an asshole, or perhaps this is a bad book.

[Elise · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a bit of a disappointment. I expected something much more lyrical, magical, and atmospherically rich than what was delivered (especially since I had previously read Benitez's "Bitter Grounds," which does have some of these qualities, even though it was preachy at times). The reason I was initially attracted to "Night of the Radishes" was the Oaxaca, Mexico setting--a place that has always intrigued me and one I have always wanted to visit. However, even the parts of this novel set in Oaxaca--including the night of the radishes festival--have no *soul*. Rather, the view of Oaxaca Benitez conveys here is a yuppie, white bred tourist's version of the place. Likewise, the novel's characters and plot also left me cold. When Benitez used Luli's hospitalization as a platform for preaching against socialized medicine, I thought I would throw the book across the room, but by then I had invested too much time in it not to finish. The best part of this book was the Prologue which captures the feeling of depression well from a woman's perspective. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there.

[Sharneel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am continuing to read this novel, but I have to note a couple of points. First, I have never known an adult child who was caring for a dying parent who did not have a solid knowledge of that parent's finances. Needless o say, I lost confidence in this story when, Ta-dum, she discovers this huge financial gift from her Mother's bank account in the 'drawer'. Then she travels to Mexico where she meets Joe, a total stranger who almost instantly becomes her constant companion and friend . In one passage she mentions his muscles, etc., and in the very next sentence, talks of missing her husband and sons. Give me a break. This should be labelled romance fiction; it is clear that little real-life exists within these pages. What mother would not make an effort to call her children often when she was away??

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good read. It was different, but light. It was about searching for a woman's past that wasn't what she remembered it as being all of her life. Annie had a twin that died in a tractor accident. Three years later her father committed suicide in their basement. Their older brother left home without saying good-bye, and Annie stayed and watched while her mother smoked herself to death. After her death, she searches for her brother. She finds him in Mexico. It was a very refreshing book. I would recommend it to anyone that wanted to experience a different culture.

[Nick Haeg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read (we love a Minnesota novel) but why does this book lowkey condone cheating?

[Sarahmarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice read, some lovely descriptive prose that makes me want to visit Mexico, but in the end somewhat disappointing - why does a womans self reclamation so often seem to involve adultery? Where's the book of self-discovery that doesn't involve sex? Need a novel about a nun, I swear....

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a splendid, yet tragic book. I really enjoyed reading it and could not put it down. I highly recommend this book. The only thing I did not like… spoiler alert… was the affair. I felt that it had no place and added nothing to the story.

[Jane Dugger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was unsure what this book was going to be about but really liked it in the end. It is about the concept of the "twinless twin." This is a twin who has lost their twin to death. (Ms Benitez is a twinless twin.)

This would be great for discussion.

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Story of Annie, whose dying mother left her a financial windfall and a quest to locate her long-lost brother. He turns up in Mexico, she goes to find him, extracurricular romance ensues, siblings united, long-standing disfunction address, all is well. Great Lifetime movie, but a yawn.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this story, 33-year-old Annie Hart Rush, who lost her twin sister in a tragic farm accident when she was a child and then lost her father to suicide after the accident, is trying to grapple with all her losses. Annie's brother Hub disappeared shortly after the father's suicide, for no apparent reason, and Annie is left with no family except her mother, who is dying of emphysema.

The story was interesting and thought-provoking, but seemed to fall short in a number of respects. First, Annie is given her mother's journal shortly before her death. Yet, with all the losses and mysteries surrounding these losses, Annie doesn't rush to read the journal. If I had experienced so much loss and had so many questions, I think I would have wanted to read the journal immediately. Annie seems rather nonchalant about finding out the truths the journal might contain.

Her mother, also just before dying, gives Annie a stack of postcards she'd received from Hub over the years, but the mother had never shown Annie the postcards, leaving Annie wondering over twenty years what happened to her brother and thinking he deserted her. She finds the last postcard from Hub postmarked Oaxaca, Mexico, so Annie sets off, leaving her husband and two sons behind, to search for Hub there. Her mother, it turns out has left Hub the house, and incidentally, has left Annie over a million dollars in investments Annie had no idea her mother had.

When much of a book is set in an exotic location such as Oaxaca, I would expect to have a magical and atmospheric rendering of the place. However, I felt removed from the place somehow, as Annie meets up with a fellow American man, Joe, who is struggling with his own demons. Somehow it seems as if Benítez is trying to interweave a travelogue into a story of deep loss and guilt without actually tying the emotions to the place. Joe and Annie become friends, and more, but I couldn't really detect any chemistry between them. Somehow Annie's deep losses seem at an arm's length from the reader, and even from Annie.

The premise of the novel is a good one, I just wish the author had been more successful in interweaving the deep emotions with the place. When I read a novel, I want to feel the emotions with the characters, but I never could quite connect with Annie and her grief. It's a shame, because I think there were so many possibilities here.

[Lauren Mendez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content Warnings: Suicide, Death of a Parent, and Death of a Child.
This work details how trauma and guilt can gnaw at a person and consume them. Annie is struggling. Her mother is dying, her twin passed when they were children, and she hasn’t seen her brother in 20 years. In her quest to find her brother in Oaxaca, Mexico she has an opportunity to find herself and forgive herself. A beautiful telling of a family fractured by loss, but determined to live. I would highly recommend this work

[Rosa Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I loved that it let me grieve my own horrors, slowly, in my time. I loved that it simply ushered me into another’s world of grief for a time. I loved Joe though my heart broke for him. I used to be avid reader but it’s been years since my nervous system could start much less finish anything requiring a readers concentration. It was nice to finish this. I will seek out her other works for sure.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely beautiful. What a wondrous journey! I cannot describe the impact of the writing, the authors ability to elicit emotion and weave such a lovely tale of female self discovery. The author seems to give the reader permission to face their fears, release there internalized shame, and be truly free. You need to read this book!

[Alex Liuzzi · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.8 - the opening section made me hopeful - perhaps a powerful journey of fighting depression in many forms, but particularly as a middle aged woman. But it quickly became a soap opera type novel, with little substance despite clear attempts to make this a book of substance. It felt easy, unreflective, and selfish. A book not unlike Bridges Over Madison County. No thank you.

[Sara Risley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow starter but once I got 1/3 in, I was hooked. I loved the cultural parts about Oaxaca. The main character has survived a lot including recently the death of her mother. The quest that takes her to Mexico ends up being a personal confrontation with her demons. It is a bit predictable and has a tidy ending but it is written with heart and soul and was a very worthy read.

[jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

what a weird book. really boring prose (mostly simple sentences) that just didnt make for any lyrically meaningful writing. infidelity arc for no reason, other than to suggest that it is how the woman found herself? i liked parts of this book but prose bad and cheating bad so bleh

“we are saved by the mere act of telling.” 269

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book but it was just ok. The execution wasn't great, and the characters felt weak.

Idk.

I read the whole thing, but also, it was really short.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read. Liked it because it is set in Minnesota and Oaxaca. I’ve been to Oaxaca and I could just picture many of the places in the book.

[Jessica Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an intense look at the human condition. It draws you in, and you find yourself bargaining hour after hour for more time before you resign yourself to sleep.

[Amber Soper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the story line, I just felt the magic of Mexico could have been better developed as well as the characters.

[Cindy Avila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet again love the works of Sandra Benitez. Beautiful, touching, sad (I cried), with this story about family and grief.

[Jill Sakowitz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so looking forward to reading this because it is set in Oaxaca, such a special place. The story is trite and predictable and the writing is just bad. Major disappointment.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taught me about forgiving and not keep in the rut of rehashing the wrong.

[Theresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The characters didn't have a lot of dimension. The dialogue was unrealistic.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't get all the lackluster reviews for this book. Maybe it's just where I am in life, but I thought the weight of the struggle of guilt and grief were very well done. It really made me want to take off for Mexico too. It's absolutely magically described.

The Unread Shelf Project 2019
February: Gifted to You

[Swan Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be my favorite book by Benitez so far. I have read Bitter Grounds and Where the Sea Remembers by her and remember thinking the same thing when I finished both of those though! This one is about Annie Rush Hart after her mother dies, married to Sam and mother of Will and Jack. A happy wife and mother and corporate trainer but also aware of the suppressed emotions she has carried since her identical twin died at the age of 9 in a tragic farm accident she witnessed and her father committed suicide three or four years later while she was studying in the same house. Her seventeen year old brother splits and never returns. And her mother, always taciturn and morose, slowly kills herself with cigarettes and unhappiness, while Annie continues to be the ‘good’ daughter. As her mother breathes her last few breaths she reveals a journal she has written to Annie and her brother and ask Annie to promise to find him. Annie then discovers postcards her brother has sent to them but her mother has never shared with her. Amid the mixture of emotions following the death of her mother and this realization and the discovery that her mother has left her a fortune and her brother the house, Annie decides to go to Oaxaca to find him.
I have had the good fortune of being in Oaxaca and consider it a wonderful place so when I was heading to the Pacific coast of Mexico for spring break I decided this was the book to take to read. It was perfect. Benitez mixes the chapters up by writing from the perspective of Annie and then turning to the life of Hub or Enrique, her brother, living and working in Oaxaca and married to Luli with a four year old son and another on the way. We understand he is hoping for a girl and will name her Maggie after the twin who died and will then make the phone call to reunite with his sister and mother. This is the gift and hope of reconciliation he carries to offer to his mother.
Luli’s family makes its livelihood from carving and they take part in the annual carving contest of the radishes on the 23rd of December in Oaxaca. A+

[Chana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Annie, a woman who has suffered a lot of loss in her life; The book opens with the death of her mother, and we learn about the death of her twin sister and father as well. Her brother has been estranged from the family for over 20 years and much of the story has to do with Annie's search for him. It is over-sentimental, full of pop psychology and kind of a blender of religion mixing new-age with Mexican and Indian traditions, some Catholic I assume, others I don't know the source of. I read it in one day and cried my way through it even as I was thinking 'ridiculous'. Does this sound profound to you? "It's all so hard, Mil, all this grief. It hurts so much." "Well, of course it does, honey." She lifts a strand of hair from my face and brushes it aside. "That's why it's called grief and not an avocado." I either have a simple mind or I was over-wrought today. Those words had me sobbing! (Laughing now!)
I forgot to mention the radishes, The Night of the Radishes, in fact. This is a true cultural festival in Oaxaca, held on Dec. 23. From what I read in my google search the traditions are described accurately in the book and are very interesting. I have rather an aversion to actually being in Mexico but I liked reading about it.

[Tekapope · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept reading because I was drawn to Mexico in winter, because I wanted to know how she was going to resolve the sxual tnsion with the stranger and I was a little intrigued as to how to forma novel – I am pretty sure this caliber is w/in my reach. Mildly entertaining. What didn't work: I didn't like the main character's sappy personality. So dependent and predicatable. I ddin't buy it that Joe Cruz really gained anything from her except sex. Too clean: brother had tried to contact – blame on dead mother; twins for brother “Maggie” that main character initiated the sex with Joe. Dumb that she's not going to feel guilty for anything anymore -covers her affair as opposed to deaths of family members what about her hsusband? She can't forgive herself for him. Very post modern concept to justify moment for what “I need” divorced from context.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book pretty well. Annie had a twin who died in an accident when she was about 10, her father committed suicide and her brother disappeared when she was still a teenager, leaving her with her mother. The book is about her present day life though. Her mother just died of emphysema and her dying wish was that Annie find and reconnect with her brother. Annie has a vague idea of where he could possibly be and sets off to Oaxaca, Mx to see if he's there.

The descriptions of Annie's depression are right on target. The emotions in the book are spot on. I was glad the author didn't give in and make Annie and Joe have this glorious husband and leave previous life behind romance. I think it worked that she connected with him, unrealistic? Maybe but it worked in the story I think. Love that as the story progressed Annie healed from within.