Lovesick [Hardcover]

Angeles Mastretta (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 1997

Emilia Sauri, daughter of a Spanish mother and a Mayan father, is torn between her dreams of becoming a doctor, a calling that leads to Antonio Zavalza, a physician and man of peace, and her love for her childhood sweetheart, Daniel Cuenca, who leaves home to take part in the Mexican Revolution.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When young Emilia Sauri is born in turn-of-the-century Puebla, Mexico, her father expects great things for this child who will "live her entire life in a new century." Emilia grows up to be an independent woman, a doctor in a time and place when female physicians were few and far between, but history has a habit of sidetracking even the most regulated lives; the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1911 throws the nation into chaos and Emilia's future into uncertainty. Angeles Mastretta's second novel, Lovesick, follows the fortunes of Emilia and of Mexico as both are torn by the ravages of war. For Mexico, a dictator's triumphant overthrow slips rapidly into endless bloody revolution; for Emilia, her peaceful life as a healer is disrupted by her conflicting feelings for her lover, a fellow doctor, and Daniel Cuenca, a childhood friend-turned-revolutionary.

In real life, love and war seldom end neatly. So it is with Lovesick, a novel that refuses to give either its characters or readers easy solutions to complex problems. Emilia's choice between the meaningful existence she shares with her lover and the exhilaration she experiences with Daniel is at the heart of this book, yet Angeles Mastretta's novel doesn't wear that heart on its sleeve; like life, Lovesick leaves some questions unanswered.

From School Library Journal

YA. Born in 1893 in southern Mexico into a household longing for a child, Emilia Sauri begins her remarkable life of love and strife, miracles and losses just as her Aunt Milagros has prophesied. Her father, a pharmacist involved in politics, and her mother, an herbalist and the perfect nonpolitical counterpoint for her husband, provide a near-perfect childhood for Emilia. When she is older, she falls in love with a young man who is seduced by wanderlust and the excitement of politically induced wars. Emilia waits for Daniel to return, knowing all the while that he will leave her again. She gradually falls in love with Antonio Zavalza, a physician. She spends years in turmoil as she battles the inner war of loving two men. Eventually, she marries Zavalza, but also insures that she will always have Daniel. Mastretta parallels the years of political wars with the turmoil of Emilia's life. Much of the plot deals with the convolutions of political uprisings and revolution; they fit into the story as naturally as the vivid descriptions of the heat, the beauty of the land, and the temperament of the people. Readers who liked Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude (HarperCollins, 1970) or Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits (Knopf, 1985) will find similar themes to enjoy here.?Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 292 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover; First edition. edition (March 31, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573220620
• ISBN-13: 978-1573220620
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,985,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love, Politics, Medicine & Mexican Historical Novel in 1, May 10, 2001

By 

Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lovesick (Hardcover)

This novel is a fascinating mix, a great story populated with fascinating characters. At the heart of the story is the main character, Emilia. She is a combination of science, intuition and emotion that more than holds our attention and whose story we are sorry to see end. Her love life is a mix between torrid chemical passion with childhood sweetheart Daniel Cuenca and a more calm romance with medical colleague Antonio Zavalza. I enjoyed being transported into the rhelm of instability in Mexican politics of the late 19th and early 20th century. Daniel's passion for the political was a wonderful wanderlust. Emilia's parents were also great characters: Diego the pharmacist and Josefa, a mix of practicality and emotion. Several medical issues were also fascinating. One is the role of women in medicine and the difficulties of early female physicians to get education and be accepted. Another was the development of medical theory with Emilia's research encompassing the herbal, mystical, massage, etc. At one point the male doctors are amazed as her directness in asking a patient, "Where does it hurt?" Another tidbit was excluding women medical students from lessons on male reproductive organs; this highlighted a sense of history in a novel that spans years from 1874 to 1963. In Margaret Peden's English translation, there is a good sense of rhythm and pacing. This is an excellent novel that rivits our attention with the love story and many strong characters, and has enough historical, political and medical information to stimulate the intellect at the same time. Seek it out!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read!, March 22, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Lovesick (Hardcover)

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Mexico is torn apart by a civil war that war effects all aspects of society, including the wealthy. Emilia Sauri is the daughter of a Mayan herbalist and a Spanish mother. She loves her childhood friend, Daniel Cuenca. As Emilia studies to become a physician and turns into a political rebel, Daniel runs off to fight, joining whomever he thinks makes the best leader of the month. He constantly returns home when his current favorite leader fails to live up to his expectations. At home, Daniel makes passionate love with Emilia, only to quickly desert her, leaving her lonely and angry. However, she loathes herself more for wanting and loving him even deeper after each departure. ...... While Daniel is away on one of his long term excursions, Emilia meets Antonio Zavalza, a physician who abhors violence. When Antonio opens up a local hospital, she joins his efforts to help the poor. Working side by side, the two doctors fall in love with each other. However, Emilia must choose between a man of peace offering to share a serene and professional future together or a man of war offering spurts of feverish love. ...... LOVESICK is a great work written in the Mexican form of historical fiction that will thrill readers who enjoy a novel written from a different perspective and writing style. Angeles Mastretta writes like an angel as she brings a unique, refreshing style to the genre. This reviewer strongly recommends this book and another tale by Ms. Mastretta, TEAR THIS HEART OUT, when it is translated into English. .......Harriet Klausner

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars captivating!, December 29, 1999

By 

cynthia herber (philadelphia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lovesick (Hardcover)

Reading Angeles Mastreta is like listening to a grandmother tell the story of her life. Anyone who has visited Mexico and knows the way Mexicans see the world, will clearly agree that this book, as well as any of her other works is a masterpiece. Everytime I read anything by her (and I always do it in Spanish) I marvel at the exquisitness of her carefully chosen language and at the perfect way she tells the story of life in Mexico. This book comes to remind us of what it is to transorm everyday life into literary masterpieces.