June 2008: The Hummingbird's Daughter (Urrea)

Post date: Jan 07, 2010 10:24:25 PM

Thanks to Catherine for hosting a Mexican-themed bookclub meeting to discuss The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea on the warm evening of June 17th 2008. A dozen readers, classes 1947 to 2002, gathered in her living room to discuss the long book which most had managed (and struggled) to finish. It wasn't a slow read once everyone got going, but it is 528 pages. Some said it paled in comparison to the classic One Hundred Years of Solitude, but many in the room loved it, hailed it our best book of the year. The story was engaging and unpredictable and unfolded to the sainted heroine coming into her power and using it for good. She was a religious figure, but she preached politics. She healed the sick, but she didn't work during the night and she knew she couldn't save everyone. The characters were many and the details of their wounds explicit. The scenery was rich and visible through the descriptions of the land, the revolution intermingled everywhere.

We were amazed that the story is based on a real person, a distant relative of the author, and how smoothly he wove fact and fiction together. We talked about the relationships between the main characters, and our lack of education about the Mexican revolution and the importance of raising our consciousness about the history and politics of Mexico and Canada, our geographical neighbors.

Wikipedia history of the period in Mexico

Thanks also to Anne, visiting from France, who did Internet research that enriched our collection of facts for the discussion.

More about Teresita from the author on his website.