Mother Tongue [Paperback]

Demetria Martinez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 1997

"It is a great beauty of a book, and I am so proud of you for standing with and for the disappeared. A sister, a lover, a witness."
--Alice Walker

Mary is nineteen and living alone in Albuquerque. Adrift in the wake of her mother's death, she longs for something meaningful to take her over. Then José Luis enters her life. A refugee from El Salvador and its bloody civil war, José has been smuggled to the United States as part of the sanctuary movement.

Mary cannot help but fall in love with the movement and the man. And little by little, she begins to reveal to José Luis the part of herself she has never known. . . .

"A book that becomes more timely every day, in our present political climate, and deserves the widest possible audience for its beautiful prose and humanitarian heart."
--Barbara Kingsolver

"Demetria Martínez has pulled out all the stops: here is truth to arouse any hardened heart; here is the 'insanity' of a woman in love calling forth a revolutionary lucidity. Read it. Get angry. And act."
--Luis J. Rodríguez, Author of Always Running

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

That it is possible to learn as much from fiction as from nonfiction is made abundantly clear from a reading of MOTHER TONGUE. Martinez focuses her story on a young woman who becomes involved with a refugee from El Salvador who is smuggled into the U.S. by members of the Sanctuary movement, advocates for the tens of thousands of Salvadorans who have been harassed, tortured, and "disappeared" by a U.S.-supported military government.

There is the truth of experience behind Martinez' fiction. In 1987, she was charged with conspiring against the U.S. government and aiding the entry of Salvadorans into the country. At the end of her 1988 trial, she was acquitted of the charges on First Amendment grounds -- the jury determined that she had a right, as a reporter for the National Catholic Reporter, to witness efforts to aid refugees as part of the Sanctuary movement. Martinez knows whereof she speaks, and writes of it with the voice of the poet that she is.-- Margaret Sanborn/Publicity

From the Inside Flap

"It is a great beauty of a book, and I am so proud of you for standing with and for the disappeared. A sister, a lover, a witness."
--Alice Walker

Mary is nineteen and living alone in Albuquerque. Adrift in the wake of her mother's death, she longs for something meaningful to take her over. Then José Luis enters her life. A refugee from El Salvador and its bloody civil war, José has been smuggled to the United States as part of the sanctuary movement.

Mary cannot help but fall in love with the movement and the man. And little by little, she begins to reveal to José Luis the part of herself she has never known. . . .

"A book that becomes more timely every day, in our present political climate, and deserves the widest possible audience for its beautiful prose and humanitarian heart."
--Barbara Kingsolver

"Demetria Martínez has pulled out all the stops: here is truth to arouse any hardened heart; here is the 'insanity' of a woman in love calling forth a revolutionary lucidity. Read it. Get angry. And act."
--Luis J. Rodríguez, Author of Always Running

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: One World/Ballantine (August 12, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345416562
• ISBN-13: 978-0345416568
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.5 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perspective Shifted, April 15, 2002

By 

John Phillips (Plano, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mother Tongue (Paperback)

You can tell the author is a poet. This story was beautifully written, insightful and certainly rang true. When I finished reading it I felt I had gained a new perspective about how it must be for people who have their homeland torn apart by war. They love their homes, so the answer isn't just fleeing to freedom and safety. For some, there just is no answer. This book turned on new lights for me and moved as well as frustrated me. We can't just save the world with our wealth and generosity, as such actions are viewed by so many good and honest people as signs of arrogance and naivety. I enjoyed the closure the author proveded with the epilogue (after all, it was in part, a love story), but in reality the fugitive's fate probably would remain a mystery. This is a wonderful book, a keeper.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Political torture and the fight against it, July 26, 2000

By 

"berenjena" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mother Tongue (Paperback)

In Martinez's book we find that the character that has suffered political torture and extreme punishment for his beliefs is not able to truly give of himself that which has been taken away from him. Yet, as it often the case in human life a second chance comes and a new life comes of it, free to see life in a new way and to maintain the vigil for human rights and for the survival of the planet as well. I particularly loved the description of the sorrounding area where the two main characters fall in love. Good book.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A moving and tender novel, September 27, 1998

By 

ellawitch (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mother Tongue (Paperback)

This is a incrediblebook. The images she creates through her words are not just heartbreakingly beautiful but the anguish of love is something we can all relate to. It's all consuming nature is well explored here with the story gradually proceeding through this woman's life and the effects this one man has had on her. A definite must read, especially if you liked "Like Water For Chocolate".