(Spoiler alert)
I’m now sure how The Hummingbird’s Daughter got on my reading list. I think it may have had a very positive review in the old L.A. Times Book Review section. I used to read that section when I subscribed to the Times several years ago before we moved to SGV. I don’t remember what they said about the book but I’ve enjoyed many books by Latin American and Latino-American authors since they were assigned reading in college. In college I also learned about the “Realismo Magico” genre of Latin American fiction. I’ve enjoyed reading many different books of this genre including Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits during first semester freshman year in college, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Cien Anos de Soledad in Spanish during a summer break from colleg, and, more recently, Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima in 2008 (see earlier review). The Hummingbird’s Daughter is the most recent Realismo Magico Latino-American fiction I’ve read. It probably has the most basis in fact of any of these books I’ve read. Most of them have some basis in fact or history but The Hummingbird’s Daughter involved twenty years of research by the author, Luis Alberto Urrea. The main characters are the author’s great aunt, Teresita Urrea, and his great-great-uncle, Tomas Urrea, also Teresita’s father. But the book is still fiction. I’m sure some of the many conversations did not occur exactly as written. But much is also based on interviews and non-fiction accounts of his great aunt who was known as “The Saint of Calora.” With both its facts and fiction, the book made for a very enjoyable and edifying read.
The Hummingbird’s Daughter spans from the time of Teresita’s birth on the same month and day (though in a much earlier year) as my mother through age 19. It’s a rather long book at over 500 pages with large pages and small type. So much occurs in the book that it seems to span longer than 19 years, perhaps as many as 30. The characters change, grow more mature, learn a lot, and grow much closer. In fact, the story seems to contain just about all possible elements: change, love, death, war, persecution, fun, humor, insight, etc. In addition to Teresita and Tomas there are many major characters and even more minor characters some of whom are still important such as Caytenya, Teresita’s mother, also known as La Semalu or The Hummingbird because she’s so small. Hummingbirds also have important meaning in the book. Another character who makes a cameo is Rudolfo Anaya, the first who calls out a “piropo” or poetic admiring praise to Teresita as she walks through the plazuela at the Urrea ranchero with the other girls in their nice cloths. Is this Anaya related to the real-life Rudolfo Anaya who wrote Bless Me, Ultima? Both that book and The Hummingbird’s Daughter feature curanderas or healers as major characters. The book also had many subplots, most of which are not settled by the end. But Teresita’s and Tomas’ stories are complete. As I reader I got to know them well and even felt like I changed along with them. There’s a lot of foreshadowing but also many things I thought would be important that weren’t. That’s how it is in life, I guess. I never know what’s going on now that will most affect the future.
The story takes place in rural Mexico in the late 19th century. I checked my atlas and many of the places mentioned in the book are real such as Orotoni, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Calora. In addition to the two main characters, many real life people are characters in the book such as President Diaz, General Bandala, and Tomas’ friend, the engineer Lauro Aquirre. The book is in English but still includes many Spanish words, especially slang. In a letter to Aquirre, Tomas lists all the words for “fool” in Spanish. There are about 13 of them. He meets a priest who speaks with a Castilian accent, pronouncing the “s” sound as “th”. “Zaragoza” becomes “tharagotha”. But not only Spanish is featured. Teresita and many of the People (as the peasants are called) are Mexican Indian. Some tribes are named specifically such as the Yaquis and the Apaches. The Indians call the white people “Yoris”.
In addition to language, the book presents many aspects of Mexican culture. There are many different regions of Mexico: Sinaloa in the south; the drier Sonora in the north; and the mountains where the rough people known as the “tigres” live. One minor character is from the town of Parangaricutirimicauro, a mouthful of a name. Tomas’s ranch hands (also called cowboys or buckaroos) give the man a round of applause after he says the name of his hometown. There’s also the food that the People and the Yori’s eat such as salsa borracha (drunk salsa?). When the Sinaloans move from Sinaloa to Sonora, they learn that the Sonorans indulged in the unspeakable atrocity of eating flour tortillas. “Flour! Any human being knew that tortillas were made of corn.” (p. 104-105)
The book contains a lot of humor and the characters and the author don’t take themselves too seriously. Early on, Tomas writes limericks for fun with first lines such as “There was a young man from Guamuchil/ Whose name was Pinche Inutil” or “There was a young man from Parangaricutirimicauro/ Oh, to h*** with it.” The funniest parts of the book are exchanges of dialogue between characters. Tomas’s friend, the engineer Lauro Aquirre describes how he went to a department store in the city, a new concept in urban shopping at the time. He describes them as “Germans selling coats and underpants and pots and toys all in one great store.”
“No meat,” Tomas answers.
“No”
“What kind of store sells no meat” (p. 88)
Another exchange is between Teresita and Huila, the curandera or healer who takes Teresita under her wing. Huila tells the 6-year-old Teresita a story of how Mary, the Mother of God flew down toward a group of Indians and landed on a cactus. The Indian warriors shot arrows at her, not knowing what she was. They all missed and she spoke to them.
“What did she say?” Asked Teresita.
“She said – ‘Get me a ladder!’” Huila answered.
“What?”
“Get me a ladder, that’s what she said. Holy be thy name.”
Teresita burst out laughing. So did Huila.
There’s also a humorous exchange between Cruz Chavez, the self-proclaimed “Pope of Mexico” from the mountains and Segunda, Tomas’s right hand man.
There’s a lot of humor in the book and, at times, the story seems almost light-hearted. But there’s also an underlying seriousness. The coming Mexican revolution and the hidden persecution of the Indians and political agitators eventually spread to the relatively idyllic and isolated life on Tomas’s ranch. But the serous lessons appear from the beginning. As a child, Teresita has dreams of a hummingbird staring at her and then flying to her left. Huila tells her “Left is the direction of the heart. Did you know that? The heart is on the left.”
Teresita answers, “I thought the heart was in the middle.”
Huila: “On the left. That’s why wedding rings are on the left hand, you see, the heart side.” (p. 96)
Much later in the book Teresita has a vision of Huila showing her the stars that become silver globes. Within them, Teresita sees herself riding on a train in one, as a child in another, grown up and holding a child in another, at her wedding in yet another. She asks Huila what this is and Huila answers, “It is you. Every you, every possible you. Forever you are surrounded by countless choices of what you are to be. These are your destinies.” (p. 486-487)
The Hummingbird’s daughter is an epic novel about destiny, change, and just about everything else. Its events are unpredictable just like a day for Tomas on his ranch. He doesn’t know what the day will bring: good luck, visitors needed help, something that will change everything. The humor makes for fun, almost casual reading of a story that is deceptively not casual at all but very serious. There’s a lot of referring back to previous actions and conversations, though not all of them are important. In life it’s difficult to know what will affect you greatly and what won’t have much effect. Like Huila’s silver globes, our destinies are as countless as our choices.
I’m now sure how The Hummingbird’s Daughter got on my reading list. I think it may have had a very positive review in the old L.A. Times Book Review section. I used to read that section when I subscribed to the Times several years ago before we moved to SGV. I don’t remember what they said about the book but I’ve enjoyed many books by Latin American and Latino-American authors since they were assigned reading in college. In college I also learned about the “Realismo Magico” genre of Latin American fiction. I’ve enjoyed reading many different books of this genre including Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits during first semester freshman year in college, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Cien Anos de Soledad in Spanish during a summer break from colleg, and, more recently, Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima in 2008 (see earlier review). The Hummingbird’s Daughter is the most recent Realismo Magico Latino-American fiction I’ve read. It probably has the most basis in fact of any of these books I’ve read. Most of them have some basis in fact or history but The Hummingbird’s Daughter involved twenty years of research by the author, Luis Alberto Urrea. The main characters are the author’s great aunt, Teresita Urrea, and his great-great-uncle, Tomas Urrea, also Teresita’s father. But the book is still fiction. I’m sure some of the many conversations did not occur exactly as written. But much is also based on interviews and non-fiction accounts of his great aunt who was known as “The Saint of Calora.” With both its facts and fiction, the book made for a very enjoyable and edifying read.
The Hummingbird’s Daughter spans from the time of Teresita’s birth on the same month and day (though in a much earlier year) as my mother through age 19. It’s a rather long book at over 500 pages with large pages and small type. So much occurs in the book that it seems to span longer than 19 years, perhaps as many as 30. The characters change, grow more mature, learn a lot, and grow much closer. In fact, the story seems to contain just about all possible elements: change, love, death, war, persecution, fun, humor, insight, etc. In addition to Teresita and Tomas there are many major characters and even more minor characters some of whom are still important such as Caytenya, Teresita’s mother, also known as La Semalu or The Hummingbird because she’s so small. Hummingbirds also have important meaning in the book. Another character who makes a cameo is Rudolfo Anaya, the first who calls out a “piropo” or poetic admiring praise to Teresita as she walks through the plazuela at the Urrea ranchero with the other girls in their nice cloths. Is this Anaya related to the real-life Rudolfo Anaya who wrote Bless Me, Ultima? Both that book and The Hummingbird’s Daughter feature curanderas or healers as major characters. The book also had many subplots, most of which are not settled by the end. But Teresita’s and Tomas’ stories are complete. As I reader I got to know them well and even felt like I changed along with them. There’s a lot of foreshadowing but also many things I thought would be important that weren’t. That’s how it is in life, I guess. I never know what’s going on now that will most affect the future.
The story takes place in rural Mexico in the late 19th century. I checked my atlas and many of the places mentioned in the book are real such as Orotoni, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Calora. In addition to the two main characters, many real life people are characters in the book such as President Diaz, General Bandala, and Tomas’ friend, the engineer Lauro Aquirre. The book is in English but still includes many Spanish words, especially slang. In a letter to Aquirre, Tomas lists all the words for “fool” in Spanish. There are about 13 of them. He meets a priest who speaks with a Castilian accent, pronouncing the “s” sound as “th”. “Zaragoza” becomes “tharagotha”. But not only Spanish is featured. Teresita and many of the People (as the peasants are called) are Mexican Indian. Some tribes are named specifically such as the Yaquis and the Apaches. The Indians call the white people “Yoris”.
In addition to language, the book presents many aspects of Mexican culture. There are many different regions of Mexico: Sinaloa in the south; the drier Sonora in the north; and the mountains where the rough people known as the “tigres” live. One minor character is from the town of Parangaricutirimicauro, a mouthful of a name. Tomas’s ranch hands (also called cowboys or buckaroos) give the man a round of applause after he says the name of his hometown. There’s also the food that the People and the Yori’s eat such as salsa borracha (drunk salsa?). When the Sinaloans move from Sinaloa to Sonora, they learn that the Sonorans indulged in the unspeakable atrocity of eating flour tortillas. “Flour! Any human being knew that tortillas were made of corn.” (p. 104-105)
The book contains a lot of humor and the characters and the author don’t take themselves too seriously. Early on, Tomas writes limericks for fun with first lines such as “There was a young man from Guamuchil/ Whose name was Pinche Inutil” or “There was a young man from Parangaricutirimicauro/ Oh, to h*** with it.” The funniest parts of the book are exchanges of dialogue between characters. Tomas’s friend, the engineer Lauro Aquirre describes how he went to a department store in the city, a new concept in urban shopping at the time. He describes them as “Germans selling coats and underpants and pots and toys all in one great store.”
“No meat,” Tomas answers.
“No”
“What kind of store sells no meat” (p. 88)
Another exchange is between Teresita and Huila, the curandera or healer who takes Teresita under her wing. Huila tells the 6-year-old Teresita a story of how Mary, the Mother of God flew down toward a group of Indians and landed on a cactus. The Indian warriors shot arrows at her, not knowing what she was. They all missed and she spoke to them.
“What did she say?” Asked Teresita.
“She said – ‘Get me a ladder!’” Huila answered.
“What?”
“Get me a ladder, that’s what she said. Holy be thy name.”
Teresita burst out laughing. So did Huila.
There’s also a humorous exchange between Cruz Chavez, the self-proclaimed “Pope of Mexico” from the mountains and Segunda, Tomas’s right hand man.
There’s a lot of humor in the book and, at times, the story seems almost light-hearted. But there’s also an underlying seriousness. The coming Mexican revolution and the hidden persecution of the Indians and political agitators eventually spread to the relatively idyllic and isolated life on Tomas’s ranch. But the serous lessons appear from the beginning. As a child, Teresita has dreams of a hummingbird staring at her and then flying to her left. Huila tells her “Left is the direction of the heart. Did you know that? The heart is on the left.”
Teresita answers, “I thought the heart was in the middle.”
Huila: “On the left. That’s why wedding rings are on the left hand, you see, the heart side.” (p. 96)
Much later in the book Teresita has a vision of Huila showing her the stars that become silver globes. Within them, Teresita sees herself riding on a train in one, as a child in another, grown up and holding a child in another, at her wedding in yet another. She asks Huila what this is and Huila answers, “It is you. Every you, every possible you. Forever you are surrounded by countless choices of what you are to be. These are your destinies.” (p. 486-487)
The Hummingbird’s daughter is an epic novel about destiny, change, and just about everything else. Its events are unpredictable just like a day for Tomas on his ranch. He doesn’t know what the day will bring: good luck, visitors needed help, something that will change everything. The humor makes for fun, almost casual reading of a story that is deceptively not casual at all but very serious. There’s a lot of referring back to previous actions and conversations, though not all of them are important. In life it’s difficult to know what will affect you greatly and what won’t have much effect. Like Huila’s silver globes, our destinies are as countless as our choices.
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