The Hummingbird's Daughter in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 13, 2021 superawesomekt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, mexico

4.5 stars

This is a coarse, irreverent, old cuss of a novel, but it is also a pilgrim and a saint. Urrea's prosa vívida, written with a brutal and eloquent mezcla of English and Spanish is masterful, but it is not for the tender, sensitive, or very young reader. Or maybe it is for the tender and sensitive reader, but only if one is willing to hold the gold in one's hands dripping in muck. While there are not what I would call titillating scenes (this is absolutely a literary novel), the grotesque ...more

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Oct 05, 2009 Katie rated it really liked it

Shelves: male-author, historical-fiction, ___latin-america

I really enjoyed this book. It is It is a fictionalized account of the real life of Teresita Urrea, who lived in Mexico in the late 1800s. She had healing powers and the gift of clairvoyancy, and was known as the Saint of Cabora. She was seen as a rebel by both the Mexican government and some higher ups of the Catholic church, although she preached much about the teachings of Jesus.

There were a number of things I really liked about this book. I loved the differing perspectives of the characters ...more

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Jul 15, 2014 Erica rated it really liked it

I had a hard time getting into this book--sort of slogged for the first third--but after that, it flew. Loved the landscapes, the magical realism, the english-spanish phrasing, the novelist's way of telling history. Will use some of his references in research for my next book! ...more

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