En el nombre de Salome (Spanish Edition) [Paperback]

Julia Alvarez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 19, 2002 | ISBN-10: 037572690X | ISBN-13: 978-0375726903 | Edition: 1. ed. en espanol de Vintage

Es el verano de 1960 y Camila Henríquez Urena, profesora de español jubilándose de la Universidad de Vassar, está empacando sus últimas pertenencias antes de mudarse de su apartamento en Poughkeepsie, Nueva York para unirse a la revolución de Fidel Castro en Cuba. Camila es hija de Salomé Urena, la famosa poetisa dominicana de finales del siglo diecinueve que instigaba revolución con sus apasionados versos, se casó con un presidente y luchó por educar a las niñas de su querida isla. Para Camila su llamado a la revolución es parte de su herencia. Pero Camila también ha heredado la confusión y el dolor del exilio y tiene sólo dos baúles llenos de papeles y efectos personales para iluminar el corazón y la vida de una madre que nunca llegó a conocer de verdad — y así también descubrir su propio ser naciente.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“An ambitious historical novel about a remarkable Caribbean family.”–The New York Times

“Masterful, rich and rewarding historical fiction…. Poignant, colorful, exhilarating.”–The Denver Post

“Dazzling…. For everyone who has ever loved and grieved over a parent, a child, a country.”–The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1. ed. en espanol de Vintage edition (March 19, 2002)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 037572690X
• ISBN-13: 978-0375726903
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,238,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Julia Alvarez has bridged the Americas many times. Born in New York and raised in the Dominican Republic, she is a poet, fiction writer, and essayist, author of world-renowned books in each of the genres, including How the García Girls Lost their Accents, In the Time of the Butterflies, and Something to Declare. She lives on a farmstead outside Middlebury, Vermont, with her husband Bill Eichner. Visit Julia's Web site here to find out more about her writing.

Julia and Bill own an organic coffee farm called Alta Gracia in her native country of the Dominican Republic. Their specialty coffee is grown high in the mountains on what was once depleted pastureland. Not only do they grow coffee at Alta Gracia, but they also work to bring social, environmental, spiritual, and political change for the families who work on their farm. They use the traditional methods of shad-grown coffee farming in order to protect the environment, they pay their farmers a fair and living wage, and they have a school on their farm where children and adults learn to read and write. For more information about Alta Gracia, visit their website.

Belkis Ramírez, who created the woodcuts for A Cafecito Story, is one of the most celebrated artists in the Dominican Republic.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Potentially good for those who understand the history, June 22, 2003

By 

Marianopolita2005 - See all my reviews

This review is from: En el nombre de Salome (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

I struggled to finish this book simply because of the way the story of the two protagonists was written. Salome (the mother) and Camila (the daughter) never met each other because Salome died when Camila was very young.

Salome was a famous poet in the Dominican Republic and lived during a difficult historical period in her country. On the other hand we see the life of Camila, a retired schoolteacher who is about to leave the US to live in Cuba and play a role in the Cuban Revolution.

Salome is by far the more interesting character and her poetry was pivotal in the Dominican revolutionary period. Out from her writings the reader learns more about the DR during the 16th century. Camila seems more disoriented, unsure of herself and did not live the life that she wanted to and being more active in the Cuban political sphere did not change her life at all.

The book is interesting from the point of view that it relates the story of two people's life, mother and daughter in two distinct time frames but it would have been more interesting if I had known more about Dominican political history because the book is heavily oriented around their history. I think this one of those books that will either captivate you or not interest you at all but I say it the reader's choice if you are curious and if you like Julia Alvarez as a writer.

3.0 out of 5 stars This is a novel for all of us who have loved a mother, a daughter and a country, all of which were lost forever., April 22, 2011

By 

Carlos T. Mock "carloschicago" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: En el nombre de Salome (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

En el Nombre de Salomé by Julia Álvarez - Vintage Spanish

This is the story of Camila Henríquez Urena, a professor that is retiring from teaching at Vassar University, as she is packing her belongings. She is moving from her apartment in Poughkeepsie, NY, to join the Cuban Revolution headed by Fidel Castro.

Camila is Salomé Urena's daughter--the famous Dominican poet from the end of the 19th century, who inspired revolution with her passionate verses, married a President of the Republic, and fought to educate the women of her beloved Island.

Camila's call to the Revolution is part of her inheritance; just like she has suffered the pain of being in exile. She only owns two chests filled with papers and personal effects to try to remember the mother she never knew.

Salome is by far the more interesting character and her poetry was pivotal in the Dominican revolutionary period. Out from her writings the reader learns more about the DR during the 19th century. Camila seems more disoriented, unsure of herself and did not live the life that she wanted to and being more active in the Cuban political sphere did not change her life at all.

This is a novel for all of us who have loved a mother, a daughter and a country, all of which were lost forever.