The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien [Paperback]

Oscar Hijuelos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 1996

In The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, Oscar Hijuelos brings to life the rambunctious Montez O'Brien family. In a small Pennsylvania town, Nelson O'Brien runs the Jewel Box Movie Theater, raising 14 daughters and a son with his wife, Mariela Montez. Through the eyes of Margarita, the eldest daughter, the lives, loves and tragedies of the Montez O'Briens and their complex family relationships unfold. While reflecting on the life of Emilio, her doggedly masculine brother, Margarita also ruminates on the nature of femininity, family, sex, love and earthly happiness. Her musings recall exhilarating adventures, eliciting tears and laughter, and tenderly reveal the bounteous heart of a warm, passionate family. At once lush, erotic and gorgeously written, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien is a masterwork by one of America's greatest writers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hijuelos's Irish-Cuban saga.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Hijuelos, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love , has written a beautiful pastorale, loosely based on the idea of the limited text implied by photographs, in which the lives of 17 characters are developed. From the early 1900s to the 1980s, the Montez O'Brien family lives in a small town in Pennsylvania. As the title suggests, the family consists of an Irish father, Cuban mother, 14 daughters, and one son. Hijuelos interweaves their individual lives and loves, as in a family photo album, but reserves the fullest treatment for the eldest daughter, mother, father, and only son, who becomes a B-movie star and befriends, among others, Errol Flynn. Sexual liaisons play an important role, and Hijuelos composes women's stories with a loving hand. Readers looking for a strong plot and the urban sensibility of Hijuelos's earlier books will be disappointed; those whose interest is good writing will enjoy themselves. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/92.
- Harold Augen braum, Mercantile Lib., New York
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (August 28, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060975946
• ISBN-13: 978-0060975944
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,248,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

OSCAR HIJUELOS, the son of Cuban immigrants, is a recipient of the Rome Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. His seven novels have been translated into twenty-five languages. He lives in New York City and spends part of the year in Durham, North Carolina, where he teaches at Duke University.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another wonderful story by Hijuelos, December 31, 2004

By 

Mary Reinert (Nevada, MO) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien (Paperback)

I believe I have now read all of Hijuelos' books and this one didn't disappoint. Although the oldest sister is the focal point of the story, the reader really gets to know the entire family -- each girl with her strengths, weaknesses, dreams, disappointments, and triumphs, and then there is Emilio surrounded by all those women in his life. The writing is so readable; the words just seem to "paint" a picture of this remarkable yet so ordinary family.

The book covers time from the turn of the century into the 1970's from Cuba, Ireland, and the US. The plot is an ongoing saga with no great twists and turns although as in real life, surprises do occur. The culture of US and Cuba is a realistic backdrop. Overall, great story about a great family -- but one not much different than any families we might know (of course, 15 children is a bit rare today).

The writing in this book just pulls you in; it's not a "page turner" of excitment. Rather it is a slow addiction.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most of All, There is Family, February 1, 2010

By 

Shane Shogren (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien (Paperback)

A beautiful story about Irish immigrant photographer Nelson O'Brian who travels to Cuba during the Spanish American war, where he he falls in love with a Mariela Montez, who will bear him fourteen daughters, before finally they have a son, Emilio. This is a story about family. There is death and divorce and missed opportunities and love and loss and all the stuff families have to deal with and in the end there is redemption. But most of all there is family.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, January 15, 2008

By 

Brian M. Morrell (Midland, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien (Paperback)

This book is one of my very favorites. I have read many books in my life and this is one that will take you away. Oscar Hijuelos writes with passion, he writes like he really understands women. I was very lucky to have found an autographed copy of this book. I consider it a treasured possession.