Let Their Spirits Dance: A Novel [Hardcover]

Stella Pope Duarte (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2003

When a dying mother hears the voice of her son thirty years after his death in Vietnam, she recalls the promise he made in 1968 as he boarded a military plane headed overseas: that one day again she would hear his voice. But it is not until she learns about the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., that she is able to decipher Jesse's mysterious message. Alicia realizes she must journey to the wall to touch her son's name and honor his memory, and like a spark kindling a new flame, her decision inspires her warring children to join her.

Let Their Spirits Dance is the story of a family's journey across America toward reconciliation and hope. Seen through the eyes of Alicia's newly divorced schoolteacher daughter, Teresa, the story uncovers Teresa's own belief, as revealed to her by Don Florencio, ancient seer and mystic, that Jesse would one day return in a new form. Among others joining Alicia and Teresa on the trip are Jesse's ex-addict brother Paul, his flamboyant sister Priscilla, and his whiz-kid nephew Michael, whose talk of parallel universes suspends reality, connecting the living with the dead.

The cross-country trip gathers old friends of Jesse's, garners the good wishes of strangers and elicits media coverage from coast to coast. With questions about Jesse's death that were never fully explained by the military, along with a mysterious plaguing phone call received from Vietnam two years after he died, the family comes to realize that the Wall is the magnet luring them on: the answers are there.

Stella Pope Duartes stunning debut novel portrays a family struggling with the universal scars suffered by all who have been touched by death through war. With this novel, Pope Duarte connects family, friends, and an entire nation with the names on the Wall, honoring the men and women who served in Vietnam as well as those left behind who watched and waited, but never forgot.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A cross-country trip to the Vietnam Wall is the subject of Let Their Spirits Dance, Stella Pope Duarte's tearjerker of a first novel (Fragile Nights, a collection of short stories, was published in 1998). Elementary school teacher Teresa Ramirez is skeptical when her ailing 80-year-old mother hears voices telling her to make a pilgrimage to touch her son's name on the wall, but the whole extended Ramirez family and assorted friends set out to drive to Washington, making a name for themselves along the way. Duarte's narrative is meandering, but the density of the detail she packs in gives the novel emotional clout and historical depth.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Duarte's first novel is an inspirational road book full of energetic Latinos exorcising their cultural, political, and personal demons. A fortyish schoolteacher, Teresa is failing at her marriage and is haunted by the memory of her beloved brother, Jesse, who was killed in the Vietnam War 29 years ago. One night, Teresa's mother hears Jesse's voice, which tells her to go to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. Then surprise, surprise she finds out that the government owes her $90,000 because it had mistakenly delivered her son's body to the wrong address. Despite poor health, Mrs. Ramirez rounds up Teresa, her other children, and friends and heads to the nation's capital by auto caravan. The press picks up on their junket and follows them through American towns large and small. As they near the memorial, the mother takes sick but not before meeting Jesse's Vietnamese wife, his son (raised in America), and his grandchild. Duarte's considerable talents shine in the entertaining travel sections, but red-flagged plot devices and an excess of cultural and historical apposition about Chicano history undermine the narrative's complexity and aesthetic enjoyment. Recommended for collections of Latino literature. Harold Augenbraum, Mercantile Lib. of New YorkFuentes, Carlos. Inez.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1st edition (November 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060186372
• ISBN-13: 978-0060186371
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,677,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A story of one family's involvement in the Vietnam War, March 22, 2004

By 

Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Let Their Spirits Dance: A Novel (Hardcover)

LET THEIR SPIRITS DANCE by Stella Pope Duarte

The debut novel by Stella Pope Duarte, LET THEIR SPIRITS DANCE revolves around a Hispanic family's trip from their Arizona home to the Vietnam Wall, in a journey where they question themselves, their beliefs, and remember the family member they lost to the Vietnam War.

School teacher Teresa Ramirez has held on to the knowledge, all these 30 years, that her brother Jesse knew he was not going to return from the Vietnam War. On his departure at the airport, he whispers to her that he will not be back, and to take care of their mother. This memory haunts her when they get word six months later of his death while trying to help out a fellow soldier who was shot down. Thirty years later, when Teresa's mother Alicia informs everyone she has heard Jesse call to her, Teresa is more than just upset, and wonders if her mother is hallucinating or if her mother truly has these powers where she can hear from the dead.

Then, in a surprising turn of events, they are informed that because of an error made by the government all those years ago, Alicia has $90,000 coming to her because of Jesse's death. This seals the deal - Alicia informs the family they are going to DC to touch Jesse's' name on the wall. It doesn't matter that Teresa is being sued by her husband's girlfriend for assault, or that Teresa is waiting to hear about her soon-to-be divorce from Ray. Alicia says it will all take care of itself, and that they are all to go on this journey together. Alicia's health is in jeopardy, but she is determined to do this, as the last thing she may do on this earth.

Duarte tells the story with flashbacks, the point of view coming mostly from Teresa, as she remembers her childhood with Jesse and her other siblings Priscilla and Paul, happy moments as well as sad moments that continue to bother her into the present. She remembers her father, who was unfaithful to her mother Alicia, a man that Teresa had no respect for. She also remembers the stories she heard from an old Aztec medicine man, Don Florencio, who talked about the ancient Aztecs, their heritage, about dead spirits and other things that Teresa wants to believe are true.

While the first half of the book is filled with mostly flashbacks and helps set up the story, the second half details the journey that the Ramirez family and friends take, as they drive in a caravan of vehicles to their destination in Washington. They become the favorite of the media, thanks to the help of nephew Michael and his computer, even garnering the attention of President Clinton. Relationships are mended and created as the trip ensues, while more and more people join the caravan, and when they finally reach their final destination, it is a moment of sadness and remembrance as they embrace those that have left them.

This reviewer enjoyed LET THEIR SPIRITS DANCE. The story of the Vietnam War and how it affected one family, as well as one group of people, the Hispanics, was eye opening. The ending was expected, yet it also was climatic in that one had waited so long for this journey to end. It was not truly a happy ending, but what made it happy was their realization that our loved ones are never really far from us, only separated by death. Teresa's story involved one's questioning of faith and religious beliefs, and reconciling one's past with the present. Her problems are resolved in a manner that surprised this reviewer, but it was a wonderful ending to her story as well as Alicia's journey in search of her son. Some readers may find the politics in this book to be opposite of what they feel, as Duarte does not hold back on her views of the war, told through the eyes of the characters in this story. Other than that, four stars for LET THEIR SPIRIT DANCE.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars profoundly moving!, October 19, 2003

By 

Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let Their Spirits Dance: A Novel (Hardcover)

Jesse A. Ramirez was killed in action in Viet Nam on June 7, 1968. His mother & sister have learnt to live with their grief.

Until that Christmas when Senora Ramirez hears her son's voice. When a letter arrives soon after explaining how the military had made a mistake & now owes the family some serious money, the mourning matriarch becomes inspired. She herds her surviving children & theirs into a convoy of autos, to drive from Pheonix so she can touch her son's name upon the Vietnam Memorial Wall, & know some peace.

It is Teresa, the adult sister to whom Jesse often wrote, who tells the story, taking us into her Mexica past where a holy man gives healing & ancient spirits dwell. Where fathers & husbands wander from their marriages. Where sisters squabble & children grow up in the raza barrios of Arizona. Where honor is thwarted, bureaucrats bicker & clues are strewn like petals from a passion flower.

As the family sets out into the sunrise, Teresa's nephew creates a website & America joins them on their pilgrimage, gathering up Jesse's army buddies, attracting the attention of the military. & then someone from Little Saigon in California makes contact, & Jesse's spirit finally comes home.

RebeccasReads recommends LET THEIR SPIRITS DANCE as profoundly emotional, deeply spiritual & intensely rewarding.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful, important novel, July 11, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let Their Spirits Dance: A Novel (Hardcover)

Let Their Spirits Dance introduces both a newcomer to fiction writing and the first novel to address the topic of Latin soldiers during the Vietnam War. A Latino son drafted to Vietnam is killed soon after, and his family never quite succeeds in confronting the meaning of his death. Three decades later a mother will seek to understand, setting in motion events which will change the family. A powerful, important novel.