What do you think?
Rate this book
Daughters of the Stone
A lyrical powerful novel about a family of Afro-Puerto Rican women spanning five generations, detailing their physical and spiritual journey from the Old World to the New.
It is the mid-1800s. Fela, taken from Africa, is working at her second sugar plantation in colonial Puerto Rico, where her mistress is only too happy to benefit from her impressive embroidery skills. But Fela has a secret. Before she and her husband were separated and sold into slavery, they performed a tribal ceremony in which they poured the essence of their unborn child into a very special stone. Fela keeps the stone with her, waiting for the chance to finish what she started. When the plantation owner approaches her, Fela sees a better opportunity for her child, and allows the man to act out his desire. Such is the beginning of a line of daughters connected by their intense love for one another, and the stories of a lost land.
Mati, a powerful healer and noted craftswoman, is grounded in a life that is disappearing in a quickly changing world.
Concha, unsure of her place, doesn’t realize the price she will pay for rejecting her past.
Elena, modern and educated, tries to navigate between two cultures, moving to New York, where she struggles to keep her family together.
Carisa turns to the past for wisdom and strength when her life in New York falls apart.
The stone becomes meaningful to each of the women, pulling them through times of crisis. Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa shows great skill and warmth in the telling of this heartbreaking, inspirational story about mothers and daughters, and the ways in which they hurt and save one another.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 12, 2009
87 people are currently reading
3038 people want to read
About the author
Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
11 books232 followersDahlma Llanos-Figueroa was born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York City. She is a product of the Puerto Rican communities on the island and in the South Bronx. She attended the New York City public school system and received her academic degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo and Queens College-City University of New York. As a child she was sent to live with her grandparents in Puerto Rico where she was introduced to the culture of rural Puerto Rico, including the storytelling that came naturally to the women in her family, especially the older women. Much of her work is based on her experiences during this time. Dahlma taught creative writing and language and literature in the New York City public school system before becoming a young-adult librarian. She has also taught creative writing to teenagers, adults, and senior citizens throughout New York while honing her own skills as a fiction writer and memoirist.
The 2009 hardcover edition of Daughters of the Stone was listed as a 2010 Finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. In February, 2019 Dahlma self-published the paperback edition of Daughters of the Stone which won the 16th Annual National Indie Excellence® Awards for Multicultural Fiction in 2020. In 2021, she was awarded the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship for Fiction. Dahlma's short stories appear in several anthologies, including: Bronx Memoir Project, Latina Authors and Their Muses, Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul, Breaking Ground: Anthology of Puerto Rican Women Writers in New York 1980-2012, and Growing Up Girl. Dahlma's work also appears in various literary magazines such as the Afro-Hispanic Review and Kweli Journal. English and Spanish language editions of Dahlma's second novel, A Woman of Endurance, are scheduled to be published in March 2022 by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins. Since her retirement, Dahlma continues to dedicate herself to her writing, speaking engagements, panels, and workshops. She resides in the Bronx with her husband, photographer Jonathan Lessuck.
The 2009 hardcover edition of Daughters of the Stone was listed as a 2010 Finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. In February, 2019 Dahlma self-published the paperback edition of Daughters of the Stone which won the 16th Annual National Indie Excellence® Awards for Multicultural Fiction in 2020. In 2021, she was awarded the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship for Fiction. Dahlma's short stories appear in several anthologies, including: Bronx Memoir Project, Latina Authors and Their Muses, Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul, Breaking Ground: Anthology of Puerto Rican Women Writers in New York 1980-2012, and Growing Up Girl. Dahlma's work also appears in various literary magazines such as the Afro-Hispanic Review and Kweli Journal. English and Spanish language editions of Dahlma's second novel, A Woman of Endurance, are scheduled to be published in March 2022 by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins. Since her retirement, Dahlma continues to dedicate herself to her writing, speaking engagements, panels, and workshops. She resides in the Bronx with her husband, photographer Jonathan Lessuck.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews
March 29, 2021
Daughters of the Stone covers 150 years of the same family. The story begins with Fela who has been ripped away from Nigeria and sold as a slave in Puerto Rico. From Fela's story we see her descendants and how they receive their gifts and what life brings them. This is the quintessential black girl magic book. This is a must read to understand the importance of women in families but also how they connect as mothers and daughters and how they pass their legacy from one ton the other. I learned so much in this novel culturally about being Afro-Puerto Rican. I highly recommend this very readable, engrossing story full of emotion.
July 9, 2019
In the interest of full disclosure, I know the author. She took a seminar from me in April in Tuscany. This is her first novel, and it was published by St Martin's Press in 2009. However, they do not appear to have done much to promote it, and the rights have now returned to the author. The novel is the story of five generations of women whose roots are in Nigeria as well as in Puerto Rico where the first generation is represented by a woman who is enslaved. The book combines magical realism with historical fiction. It has at least a dozen excellent female characters: strong, decisive, determined to survive. The sense of place is extraordinarily well rendered. The writing is deceptively simple. In its published form, it was a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize in 2010. I recommend it. I enjoyed it greatly. I think it can now be purchased as an eBook.
February 11, 2010
Gosh. This is a good book, the kind of book that leaves me having to get my thoughts in order to write this. It's about 5 women, each a new generation of the same family. It begins with Fela. Fela takes readers from the land of Africa to Puerto Rico when she is taken as a slave. Thru her, the tragedy of slavery on the island is told. She leaves behind Mati and Mati exacts revenge on the men who have done her and her mother wrong. Mati gives birth to Concha who struggles to make her mother's world of magic and old myths mix with the new world of knowledge and advancement. From Concha, comes Elena who takes things ever further and leaves the island for New York and the world of nursing. The story ends with her daughter, Carisa struggling to create, live, and write her own story.
Very little of the island's history is told. Rather it is a book about mother and daughter relationships, old ways versus new, magic versus medicine, and love versus blood.
My sole complaint is the cover is ugly. Great book, great story. It's staying on my shelf.
Very little of the island's history is told. Rather it is a book about mother and daughter relationships, old ways versus new, magic versus medicine, and love versus blood.
My sole complaint is the cover is ugly. Great book, great story. It's staying on my shelf.
March 24, 2021
Sheesh! So good! I don't even know how to articulate all of my feelings about this beautiful book. I had to give 5 stars. This impacting me so much especially from Chapter 14 onward. The character development was thoughtful and beautiful. The dialog amongst the characters was so authentic.
I feel like this is a book I needed to remind me through the characters lives of certain things I wish could have come from my mother and my grandmothers. It's almost like her characters reminded me of very specific encouragement I needed to allow me to go on the path I've been hesitant to take. Ugh I have no more words at this beauty! I want another book on these characters tho 😌. I want to know Cari's story in more detail.
If I wasn't clear before, I loved this!
I feel like this is a book I needed to remind me through the characters lives of certain things I wish could have come from my mother and my grandmothers. It's almost like her characters reminded me of very specific encouragement I needed to allow me to go on the path I've been hesitant to take. Ugh I have no more words at this beauty! I want another book on these characters tho 😌. I want to know Cari's story in more detail.
If I wasn't clear before, I loved this!
March 6, 2017
I'm sorry it took me so long to check this off my "to read" list. This is a beautifully written story that spans generations, cultures and oceans. I saw a few of my own stories reflected in this writing as well as some of my family. This is the story of a stone that is passed on to the first girl of each generation, it brings with it a responsibility that cannot be ignored or passed over. The lives of Fela, Mati, Tia Josefa, Concha, Elena and Carisa are all played out against the backdrop of the island of Puerto Rico. It took me a little bit of time to get used to having portions of the writing in Spanish but it added to the story and took nothing away from it. I loved this story because it reminded me of the importance of telling a story and letting a bit of yourself and others live beyond your physical form. Well done.
January 30, 2022
An amazing and magical multigenerational story. I learned so much from this book. Thanks, Laura, once again for the great recommendation!
February 13, 2010
The story begins with Fela in the mid-1800s sold into slavery on a sugar plantation in Puerto Rico. Before she left Africa she and her husband performed a tribal ritual in which the essence of their unborn child was put into a special stone. This stone thus becomes the glue for the entire book. The book is separated into five parts beginning, as mentioned, with Fela's story which is then passed on - along with the stone - to her daughter, Mati. From Mati the stories and the stones go to Concha, and then to Elena, and finishes with Carisa who leaves America to discover her roots. The stone is what binds the women to each other, this magical stone that embodies the unborn, their entire ancestry, every story of each woman, their hopes and their dreams.
Some stories are more interesting than others, but that's the way it is in any family history. These are essentially griot stories, illustrative of the oral tradition of both Africa and Puerto Rico. This adds a certain richness but also prevents one from really getting into the minds of the different women. Within their stories there are many breaks - it often feels very clinical when the reader only gets small wisps of information. But taken as a whole it's dripping with ancestry and is a beautiful story and celebration of women - mothers and daughters in particular - and how the role of women changes over time based on geography as well as cultural shifts.
Interestingly the final section - Carisa - is told in the first-person narrative which makes me think this is an exceptionally autobiographical story. This final story sadly also is, in my opinion, the least interesting, perhaps because it feels autobiographical; I was too distracted wondering if this was Dhalma's story or a character, and that was not as enjoyable to me as it was reading the stories of Carisa's ancestors. Still, I can appreciate the stories as a whole, and can appreciate the stone for what it represents to each woman as the generations transitioned from the Old World to the New, and the return to the Old by the end. Life is, after all, cyclical.
Some stories are more interesting than others, but that's the way it is in any family history. These are essentially griot stories, illustrative of the oral tradition of both Africa and Puerto Rico. This adds a certain richness but also prevents one from really getting into the minds of the different women. Within their stories there are many breaks - it often feels very clinical when the reader only gets small wisps of information. But taken as a whole it's dripping with ancestry and is a beautiful story and celebration of women - mothers and daughters in particular - and how the role of women changes over time based on geography as well as cultural shifts.
Interestingly the final section - Carisa - is told in the first-person narrative which makes me think this is an exceptionally autobiographical story. This final story sadly also is, in my opinion, the least interesting, perhaps because it feels autobiographical; I was too distracted wondering if this was Dhalma's story or a character, and that was not as enjoyable to me as it was reading the stories of Carisa's ancestors. Still, I can appreciate the stories as a whole, and can appreciate the stone for what it represents to each woman as the generations transitioned from the Old World to the New, and the return to the Old by the end. Life is, after all, cyclical.
January 21, 2022
Daughters of the Stone is magic. I can’t believe I didn’t pick it up sooner. It’s a tribute to the power of stories and they way that they connect us and a beautiful exploration of the relationships between mothers and daughters. Llanos-Figueroa has crafted an exquisite multi-generational family saga that looks at the lives of five generations of women, beginning with Fela, an African woman who was brought to Puerto Rico to be enslaved on a plantation going up to Carisa, who grew up in NYC but returned to Puerto Rico. Each generation has to find their own way - whether it is something they embrace from the beginning or something that they push against. One of the things that I thought the author did so well was depicting each generation within the time period that the character lived within. Sometimes in a multi-generational saga, it feels like the characters live within their time period but are viewed through a contemporary lens looking back - this felt like you were there, seeing it as the character experienced it. Highly recommend this exceptional read.
February 4, 2010
A beautifully written book I literally couldn't put down once I started it. It draws you in from the start and refuses to let go. The book is a series of tales spun in the African griot storyteller tradition, each focusing on the successive generations of the women in a family of black Puerto Ricans over the generations from the first woman brought over from Africa on a slave ship through plantation life during the Spanish colonial period, the American experience and on to America itself, only to return to Puerto Rico again and from there back to the land of origin. Each generation keeps and passes on to the next generation a sacred stone brought by the original African woman. Each woman draws her own special attributes from the power of the stone as she experiences the trials and tribulations peculiar to her time. One of the most enjoyable books I've read in a very long time with a uniquely original voice.
January 3, 2010
The 'Daughters of the Stone" paints a rich and emotional picture of the lives of five generations of women. That it takes place in Puerto Rico adds to the colorful tapestry of the story. With that said Figueroa's book is this and much more. The struggles of these women in each of their relationships as mother, daughter, grandmother, and wife will strike a chord of recognition if you are any of the above. As well as the message to remember the stories passed down in our families. In this way we remember where we came from and where we are going.I was very touched by this book and shed a few tears along the way. This is an inspiring good read.
October 10, 2021
I've been sitting on this review for a week now because I haven't had the words to describe how much it impacted me. I am always looking for pieces of myself within the pages and this was the first time that a book represented Afro-Latinx women and the complexities of looking to the past to make your way in the future.
Daughters of the Stone tells the story of Fela, Mati, Concha, Elena & Carisa 5 Afro-Puerto Rican women who have been silenced by history for different reasons. As the story progresses you see the family dynamics, the clash between their historical roots in Africa and assimilation into colonial ways even into the present, their love of community and even their love journeys. Each one has a gift that was passed down through the generations but the greatest gift they possess is the gift of storytelling because that is where their power lives and that is where they can find their ancestors. Through storytelling they are able to keep their ties to their original culture, remain in community and resist colonialism in all its forms.
Silence is a powerful theme in the book that really resonated with me as a woman. Silence is what has been forced upon us, what is expected of us and what has become our way of surviving sometimes at the cost of ourselves. But silence is not what saves us, not even from ourselves. The way we save our people is to share our stories, to resist conformity and assimilation and to use our ancestral gifts for community. I will end with these quotes:
🪨 "We all carry heavy loads. But even the strongest of us cannot guard against our dreams."
🪨 "The most important thing I learned from Mother Oshun is that stories make us stronger."
🪨 "Remember the silences between you and Mati? They were like giant shadows living between you. Everyone knew you loved each other beyond words. That's where you kept your love, beyond words, in your silences...."
This book was food for my soul and everything I needed to remind me of where I come from. I will hold this book close to my heart and spirit. Thank you so much for my gifted copy @dahlmallanosfigueroa. This story is absolutely beautiful and necessary.
Daughters of the Stone tells the story of Fela, Mati, Concha, Elena & Carisa 5 Afro-Puerto Rican women who have been silenced by history for different reasons. As the story progresses you see the family dynamics, the clash between their historical roots in Africa and assimilation into colonial ways even into the present, their love of community and even their love journeys. Each one has a gift that was passed down through the generations but the greatest gift they possess is the gift of storytelling because that is where their power lives and that is where they can find their ancestors. Through storytelling they are able to keep their ties to their original culture, remain in community and resist colonialism in all its forms.
Silence is a powerful theme in the book that really resonated with me as a woman. Silence is what has been forced upon us, what is expected of us and what has become our way of surviving sometimes at the cost of ourselves. But silence is not what saves us, not even from ourselves. The way we save our people is to share our stories, to resist conformity and assimilation and to use our ancestral gifts for community. I will end with these quotes:
🪨 "We all carry heavy loads. But even the strongest of us cannot guard against our dreams."
🪨 "The most important thing I learned from Mother Oshun is that stories make us stronger."
🪨 "Remember the silences between you and Mati? They were like giant shadows living between you. Everyone knew you loved each other beyond words. That's where you kept your love, beyond words, in your silences...."
This book was food for my soul and everything I needed to remind me of where I come from. I will hold this book close to my heart and spirit. Thank you so much for my gifted copy @dahlmallanosfigueroa. This story is absolutely beautiful and necessary.
March 14, 2019
My mother is from Puerto Rico and I have been waiting my whole life to read about a family that reminded me of my own, so as soon as I heard about this book, I knew I had to get a copy. To say that I loved this book is an understatement. Even as I was reading it, I felt as if it was filling something up in myself, giving me a knowledge and a history that I had longed for and healing the hole in me where representation of my own people should have been.
This is the story of five generations of women, starting with a woman who is brought to Puerto Rico from Africa as a slave. Though her story is undeniably sad and tragic, there is a core strength to this founding mother, which she passes down through the generations that follow. For me, one of the story's most resonant themes is how giftedness is passed down and how those gifts are nurtured or smothered. depending on a family's needs for assimilation and survival, and also depending on how healthy or traumatized that generation is.
Ultimately, this is an inspiring book because it shows that, despite the circumstances which conspire to break these women's spirits, something persists in each one of them -- something beautiful and strong which isn't even always welcome in their own families, but which guarantees these women will go on and continue to honor who they are. It really showed me something about the character of Puerto Rican women, particularly the character of Afro-Puerto Ricans, and how much their stories need to be recognized.
This is the story of five generations of women, starting with a woman who is brought to Puerto Rico from Africa as a slave. Though her story is undeniably sad and tragic, there is a core strength to this founding mother, which she passes down through the generations that follow. For me, one of the story's most resonant themes is how giftedness is passed down and how those gifts are nurtured or smothered. depending on a family's needs for assimilation and survival, and also depending on how healthy or traumatized that generation is.
Ultimately, this is an inspiring book because it shows that, despite the circumstances which conspire to break these women's spirits, something persists in each one of them -- something beautiful and strong which isn't even always welcome in their own families, but which guarantees these women will go on and continue to honor who they are. It really showed me something about the character of Puerto Rican women, particularly the character of Afro-Puerto Ricans, and how much their stories need to be recognized.
May 13, 2018
3.5
I found the book uneven. The stories of Fela and Mati were beautiful and riveting. The later stories, and particularly the last one, dragged. The last story, from the point of view of a modern woman, was thin compared to the others.
I found the book uneven. The stories of Fela and Mati were beautiful and riveting. The later stories, and particularly the last one, dragged. The last story, from the point of view of a modern woman, was thin compared to the others.
March 23, 2021
I felt this book was a bit aggressive trying to fit all aspects of Zenobia's life into one book. I also struggled a bit with all the Spanish phrases in the book, much of which were left untranslated, but only some of which were obvious in meaning. I don't think it really had an effect on the reading of the story.
The story is about several generations of women beginning with Fela, a slave from West Africa and ending with Carissa, a storyteller who collects and reclaims stories that have been retold by the elders for generations.
Overall, I guess I enjoyed this book even though I found it a bit confusing at times.
The story is about several generations of women beginning with Fela, a slave from West Africa and ending with Carissa, a storyteller who collects and reclaims stories that have been retold by the elders for generations.
Overall, I guess I enjoyed this book even though I found it a bit confusing at times.
March 9, 2020
An interesting story about 5 generations of women interwoven with African mysticism. I will say it had a lot of potential, but if I wouldn’t have had to read this for class, I would certainly not have finished it. Character depth isn’t there and neither are unique character voices, almost everyone sounds and/or reacts the same as everyone else. Something tells me if she had a better editor this book could have been phenomenal.
The writing feels very amateur at times. Conversation and reactions aren’t realistic. The language is painfully simple at times, would have been perfect for me in middle school. I felt as if I was reading a soap opera script from time to time.
I had a lot of hope for this book! But the dialogue and exposition become extremely cliche after awhile, characters all seem the same and just when you’re getting to know one of the women, she throws you into the life/thoughts of another. Also, there is a reoccurring journal which, in my opinion, wasn’t needed. Again, wanted to love it so bad but it seems as if the research and character development that went into it were rushed. :(
The writing feels very amateur at times. Conversation and reactions aren’t realistic. The language is painfully simple at times, would have been perfect for me in middle school. I felt as if I was reading a soap opera script from time to time.
I had a lot of hope for this book! But the dialogue and exposition become extremely cliche after awhile, characters all seem the same and just when you’re getting to know one of the women, she throws you into the life/thoughts of another. Also, there is a reoccurring journal which, in my opinion, wasn’t needed. Again, wanted to love it so bad but it seems as if the research and character development that went into it were rushed. :(
December 27, 2019
A multigenerational saga of a slave and her descendants in the Caribbean, Daughters of the Stone is a good readalike to Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende, The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson, and even Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. While not quite as polished as those three titles, I very much appreciated the focus on life through the centuries for Afro-Puerto Ricans and the legacy of slavery, as well as how modern Puerto Ricans still find themselves in the same patterns and cycles.
July 29, 2019
This is a wonderful book, with a sweeping view of history. The five generations of women depicted are interesting, strong, and magical. Their lives are told with rich detail. This offers the reader an opportunity to learn more about Puerto Rican history, the role of the enslavement of Africans, the impact of African culture and traditions on Puerto Rico, the ways in which people are able to build communities, the central role of women in holding communities together, and the power of stories. I happened to read it as the the Puerto Rican people were out in the streets in the hundreds of thousands fighting for dignity and democracy in the Summer of 2019 and this added to the political and narrative weight of the book - I felt like I was hearing the stories of the sixth generation as I was reading about the first five generations.
June 7, 2012
I love this book and the importance it gives to the oral tradition of families. While I did not spiritually identify with the gods presented, I definately identified with the idea that through storytelling we pass on identity. The women in this book were stronger and more successful the closer they got to their roots, and the more they embraced the legacy of where they came from.
March 24, 2018
Very well-written story that comes full circle. The language is rich and the characters are complicated and wholly developed. This book really moved me for a number of reasons and I feel inspired to investigate more thoroughly, listen more fully, dream and live more freely. It's a really simple book but the context is really what makes this book so powerful.
July 10, 2019
Beautifully written
I absolutely love this book! I cannot start reading it. It is such a beautiful story of legacy, family, women, heritage and so much more. I have so much to process after reading it and I am so grateful that my friend recommended this book to me. You will not be disappointed, you have to read this book!
I absolutely love this book! I cannot start reading it. It is such a beautiful story of legacy, family, women, heritage and so much more. I have so much to process after reading it and I am so grateful that my friend recommended this book to me. You will not be disappointed, you have to read this book!
March 26, 2010
Such a beautiful book. I think women no matter what color they are should read this book. Teaches the importance of family, love, communication, pain, and ancestors. I loved it I will definitely pick it up again.
July 12, 2019
Several generations of strong women and their lives.
I was sorry to complete the book. The stories placed me in different people lives, situations and events. I'll miss the company. Thank you a truly enjoyable read.
I was sorry to complete the book. The stories placed me in different people lives, situations and events. I'll miss the company. Thank you a truly enjoyable read.
July 9, 2019
This is a book that deserves a sixth star if goodreads would let me. - Five generations of Afro-Puerto Rican women from the plantation years to New York immigrant years. Very good!
February 2, 2021
This was our first book read of the year and we all were incredibly touched by the characters and the relationships between them. With this story exploring five generations of Afro-Puerto Rican women, we discussed how important it is to hear stories about women and female relationships from female authors in addition to being able to read stories that focus on underrepresented groups in literature.
Many of our participants expressed how moved they felt reading about the connections between mothers/daughters, grandmothers/granddaughters, and the bonds that persists through generations. We found that Daughters of the Stone resonated deeply with us as we reflected on our own complicated family relationships and the ways in which the “old ways” grapple with the “new ways.”
It can be difficult to find literature that explores so compassionately the complex nature in which the burdens of trauma are carried by women. While reading the narrative of this family’s grief and liberation, both individually and collectively, I felt the importance of finding one’s voice in whatever form that may take and embracing the strength that arises from taking ownership of those gifts. We had only praise for this novel and all were in agreement to rate 5/5 stars.
Review Written by: Teresa Luna, IE Latinx Book y Chisme Club
Instagram: @ielatinxbookychismeclub | @lunadelareina
Many of our participants expressed how moved they felt reading about the connections between mothers/daughters, grandmothers/granddaughters, and the bonds that persists through generations. We found that Daughters of the Stone resonated deeply with us as we reflected on our own complicated family relationships and the ways in which the “old ways” grapple with the “new ways.”
It can be difficult to find literature that explores so compassionately the complex nature in which the burdens of trauma are carried by women. While reading the narrative of this family’s grief and liberation, both individually and collectively, I felt the importance of finding one’s voice in whatever form that may take and embracing the strength that arises from taking ownership of those gifts. We had only praise for this novel and all were in agreement to rate 5/5 stars.
Review Written by: Teresa Luna, IE Latinx Book y Chisme Club
Instagram: @ielatinxbookychismeclub | @lunadelareina
October 18, 2021
I have my cousin Leila to thank for this book. It was a delight to read and a tribute to her Puerto Rican heritage.
This is a novel about stories passed down from mother to daughter through slavery to freedom, from Africa to Puerto Rico to New York City. It chronicles the lives of 5 extraordinary women and their abilities, from Fela the first to live on Puerto Rico to Carisa the story teller who returns to Puerto Rico.
I hope others will read and enjoy this book as I did.
This is a novel about stories passed down from mother to daughter through slavery to freedom, from Africa to Puerto Rico to New York City. It chronicles the lives of 5 extraordinary women and their abilities, from Fela the first to live on Puerto Rico to Carisa the story teller who returns to Puerto Rico.
I hope others will read and enjoy this book as I did.
April 24, 2023
Sweet idea of stories & dreams passing down the generations, but this didn't quite do it for me
September 30, 2025
Okay this could be really great if it wasn’t written poorly. I see the vision, but the execution S U C K E D
April 4, 2013
How do you know who you are? This is a real question. How can you be sure you are who you are, and what do you know about yourself that defines you? This is one of the questions Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa is trying to answer in her 2009 novel, Daughters of the Stone. This book is as ambitious in scope as it is in purpose, and yet easily readable and not terribly long. I sat down with it during finals week and, despite being supposed to have more important things to do (like revisions), I finished it in a few days.
At the beginning of the book, we are introduced to Fela, a powerful, stubborn woman who is taken from her native Africa and forced to work as a slave in the plantation of Las Mercedes, Puerto Rico. Fela and her partner, Imo, were in the process of completing a fertility ritual when their village was raided by slave traders. And so Fela, after taking pains to hide and take with her the powerful magical stone used during the ritual, decides to bring a child into the world without Imo, who will remain her daughter's spiritual father. This is the beginning of the history of a lineage of five women, mother to daughter, all different but all linked to one another by the mysterious power of the stone, until at the end of the book we get to Carisa's first-person account of her life in New York and her efforts to go back to Puerto Rico in order to unearth and understand the past and the history of the women who came before her.
This book is full of adventure and, as I gather, an important piece of fiction too. Living on the other side of the world, I know nothing about the history of Puerto Rico, but if the end of the book is to be believed, it seems that the island is only just starting to address its past regarding slavery as well as its present issues of race relations.
It is important, too, because its central focus is women and women only. Llanos-Figueroa doesn't feel the need to explain why, either, and that feels good. Daughters of the Stone is a feminist book in that it reasserts the importance of matrilineal lineages and woman-centred communities.
Llanos-Figueroa's writing flows easily, though it is not devoid of cliché. She doesn't steer clear of phrases such as "the ache in his loins" to describe lust. Sentences such as "She had been sent home early because she had a pounding headache and could no longer function properly" feel like they haven't been correctly reread and edited. Well, it happens. There are things I find unforgivable stylistically but this is not one of them, and the story is so compelling that it in the end it didn't matter that much to me.
Ultimately, Daughters of the Stone is a saga. Through the individual stories of each of the five women, the novel explores the different periods in the complex, winding history of Puerto Rico. It is obviously very well-researched and never simplistic. The five intermingled individual stories enlighten different perspectives on life, personal and national history, memory, storytelling, and of course mother-daughter (and grandmother-granddaughter) relationships. In many ways, this book is a book about storytelling, about the importance of passing stories on from generation to generation as a way of surviving, of knowing who you are. The stories change as the world changes, as the old ways, the connexion to nature and to Africa become distant, but the stone is passed down from generation to generation as a powerful symbol of the strength of the women who carried whole families, and whole countries, on their backs.
At the beginning of the book, we are introduced to Fela, a powerful, stubborn woman who is taken from her native Africa and forced to work as a slave in the plantation of Las Mercedes, Puerto Rico. Fela and her partner, Imo, were in the process of completing a fertility ritual when their village was raided by slave traders. And so Fela, after taking pains to hide and take with her the powerful magical stone used during the ritual, decides to bring a child into the world without Imo, who will remain her daughter's spiritual father. This is the beginning of the history of a lineage of five women, mother to daughter, all different but all linked to one another by the mysterious power of the stone, until at the end of the book we get to Carisa's first-person account of her life in New York and her efforts to go back to Puerto Rico in order to unearth and understand the past and the history of the women who came before her.
This book is full of adventure and, as I gather, an important piece of fiction too. Living on the other side of the world, I know nothing about the history of Puerto Rico, but if the end of the book is to be believed, it seems that the island is only just starting to address its past regarding slavery as well as its present issues of race relations.
It is important, too, because its central focus is women and women only. Llanos-Figueroa doesn't feel the need to explain why, either, and that feels good. Daughters of the Stone is a feminist book in that it reasserts the importance of matrilineal lineages and woman-centred communities.
Llanos-Figueroa's writing flows easily, though it is not devoid of cliché. She doesn't steer clear of phrases such as "the ache in his loins" to describe lust. Sentences such as "She had been sent home early because she had a pounding headache and could no longer function properly" feel like they haven't been correctly reread and edited. Well, it happens. There are things I find unforgivable stylistically but this is not one of them, and the story is so compelling that it in the end it didn't matter that much to me.
Ultimately, Daughters of the Stone is a saga. Through the individual stories of each of the five women, the novel explores the different periods in the complex, winding history of Puerto Rico. It is obviously very well-researched and never simplistic. The five intermingled individual stories enlighten different perspectives on life, personal and national history, memory, storytelling, and of course mother-daughter (and grandmother-granddaughter) relationships. In many ways, this book is a book about storytelling, about the importance of passing stories on from generation to generation as a way of surviving, of knowing who you are. The stories change as the world changes, as the old ways, the connexion to nature and to Africa become distant, but the stone is passed down from generation to generation as a powerful symbol of the strength of the women who carried whole families, and whole countries, on their backs.
May 29, 2025
Daughters of the Stone is a story of 5 generations of mothers and daughters and the complexities that arise in a bond that regardless of generation, is just a newer version of the same: the strive for independence from the maternal, the feeling of not being understood, the feeling of being neglected or abandoned. A bond that juxtaposes anger against delight, love against hate, empathy against apathy, resentment against gratitude. The mother/daughter bond is strongly rooted with undying love that unfortunately at times is tested through language failings, misunderstandings, early responsibilities. All of these are tackled in this book.
It is a book that speaks of the resilience and strength of women. The bravery and independence they show in the face of a patriarchal world, a patriarchal culture. All of these women listen to their inner voices, make choices, to affect their own destiny regardless of the struggles they know they will face. The opposition, the criticism of societal expectations, the loss of a life partner or daughter.
This is a tale of storytellers and how important it is to keep alive the stories handed down to us so that we may know from where we came. So that we may know the blood that runs through us. The strength in that blood. The sacrifices made. The tragedies overcome. We carry our ancestors inside of us. We carry their gifts and their knowledge. They visit us in dreams to warn us. To guide us. To comfort us. We are never alone, even when their physical bodies are no longer with us.
The theme of abandonment was prominent in this book as well. By Imo and Fela through death. By Mati through her responsibility as curandera. By Concha through her five year mental breakdown. By Pedro, Elena’s husband, when he chose his mother over his family. In all these generations, the child abandoned shaped who she was also gifting her with a strength and belief in herself that gave them the courage and strength to make life-altering, difficult decisions. These strong women characters, though fictionalized, represent the true resilience, character, courage and strength that women all over the world have always shown.
The magical black stone handed down generations by Fela is nothing more than a talisman. The belief in a stone that manifests their destinies. We are all born with a knowing, just as the animal kingdom is as well. The only difference in humans is that because of their reasoning, they reason away that which is instinct or gut feeling. They try to overanalyze their “feelings” many times and dismiss it, only to find later that it should had been heeded. The knowing inside your cells handed down generations so that future generations can continue surviving is there. And it warns us. Guides us. Protects us. Through gut feelings, instincts or dreams.
So this book was a pleasure to read. To read of strong women characters that reminded me of the strong women I grew up with. To know that I, myself, come from a long line of women who were outliers and courageous and brave.
I give this book a rating of 5.
It is a book that speaks of the resilience and strength of women. The bravery and independence they show in the face of a patriarchal world, a patriarchal culture. All of these women listen to their inner voices, make choices, to affect their own destiny regardless of the struggles they know they will face. The opposition, the criticism of societal expectations, the loss of a life partner or daughter.
This is a tale of storytellers and how important it is to keep alive the stories handed down to us so that we may know from where we came. So that we may know the blood that runs through us. The strength in that blood. The sacrifices made. The tragedies overcome. We carry our ancestors inside of us. We carry their gifts and their knowledge. They visit us in dreams to warn us. To guide us. To comfort us. We are never alone, even when their physical bodies are no longer with us.
The theme of abandonment was prominent in this book as well. By Imo and Fela through death. By Mati through her responsibility as curandera. By Concha through her five year mental breakdown. By Pedro, Elena’s husband, when he chose his mother over his family. In all these generations, the child abandoned shaped who she was also gifting her with a strength and belief in herself that gave them the courage and strength to make life-altering, difficult decisions. These strong women characters, though fictionalized, represent the true resilience, character, courage and strength that women all over the world have always shown.
The magical black stone handed down generations by Fela is nothing more than a talisman. The belief in a stone that manifests their destinies. We are all born with a knowing, just as the animal kingdom is as well. The only difference in humans is that because of their reasoning, they reason away that which is instinct or gut feeling. They try to overanalyze their “feelings” many times and dismiss it, only to find later that it should had been heeded. The knowing inside your cells handed down generations so that future generations can continue surviving is there. And it warns us. Guides us. Protects us. Through gut feelings, instincts or dreams.
So this book was a pleasure to read. To read of strong women characters that reminded me of the strong women I grew up with. To know that I, myself, come from a long line of women who were outliers and courageous and brave.
I give this book a rating of 5.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews