Customer Reviews

Queen of America: A Novel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What happens after a beautiful, young Mexican girl, born illegitimately of a poor, illiterate Yaqui Indian woman and a wild, wealthy and highly respected Mexican rancher, rises to sainthood? What happens after her people elevate her as a great healer, an Indian warrior queen and a revered mother of revolution? What happens after the young, saintly woman experiences such a powerful spiritual opening as coming back to life after death? Is she forever free of the constraints of human life? Is she eternally happy and forever holy living atop the sacred, high pedestal upon which her suffering people, the tribes of indigenous Mexicans, have placed her? Does she no longer have to struggle with life and love, personal relationships and family dynamics, betrayal and exploitation, pain and suffering? Will she be challenged and influenced, changed and redefined by exile from her homeland?

The answers to these questions unfold stirringly in Queen of America: A Novel, the much awaited sequel story of the Saint of Cabora, the very real Teresa Urrea,(who just so happens to also be a distant relative of the novel's masterful author, Luis Alberto Urrea).

For those readers who have read and adored The Hummingbird's Daughter, Queen of America: A Novel is the natural follow-up novel to Teresa Urrea's remarkable story. Although QUEEN is a sequel to HUMMINGBIRD'S DAUGHTER, it is also a novel which stands triumphantly alone and can still be appreciated without reading HUMMINGBIRD'S DAUGHTER first.

The tone of QUEEN is noticeably more subdued than in HUMMINGBIRD'S DAUGHTER; the pacing is altered and the passion tempered. The story has aged and it has mellowed but it is still delicious. Like a fine wine, for the 'ultimate' reading experience, this novel is best consumed slowly, with plenty of savoring between sips. Readers who approach QUEEN expecting all the flamboyance, excitement and high energy of HUMMINGBIRD'S DAUGHTER will probably be disappointed with the sedateness of QUEEN. It is nevertheless a deeply affecting, poetic examination of the lifecycle of personal and spiritual growth in a woman who was destined to become the Saint of Cabora. Her story continues at the turn of the nineteen century, after Teresita and her father Don Tomas Urrea have fled from their beloved homeland of Mexico, where they were sure to be executed had they remained after the bloody Tomochic rebellion. They now find themselves separated from family, land, fortune, and culture, scratching out a new, humble existence across the US/Mexican border in the harsh Arizona desert.

Interesting and inspiring in QUEEN is the subtle theme that even the most elevated souls, the most saintly of the mystics and healers who walk among us are just like us-simply human, subject to the same foibles, flaws and difficult aspects of life...maintaining family relationships, earning a livelihood, falling in love, getting married, dealing with sickness, loss, emotional pain, aging, death. Furthermore, not only must every human being deal with these common life experiences, but one's personal growth and spiritual development are deeply grounded in and subsist on these everyday matters. Yes, there can be profound experiences of enlightenment and expansive, divine openings on the spiritual path but ecstasy and bliss are not the easy end of the road-spiritual life is multidimensional and rewarding, but also a complex and exhausting struggle. In actuality, one's greatest challenge in life, as Teresita is destined to learn, is in not straying from the path of spirituality.

In QUEEN OF AMERICA, Urrea allows us to closely examine Teresita... but off her saintly, elevated podium, and as an ordinary young woman coming of age while she journeys away from the magical ways of Old Mexico and into the modern era of San Francisco, Chicago, St. Louis and New York in the early 1900s. Even though many of the characters in this story have made their way here from HUMMINGBIRD'S DAUGHTER and have aged and mellowed, many characters are new and introduce themes of modernization in the Saint of Cabora's saga. Actually, everything seems to speak of modernity in QUEEN OF AMERICA-that is after all what America represents. Some readers may feel that in this way Teresita's story sacrifices its richness and culture, its charm and magic, its heart and soul. But the authentic life experiences of awakening, dreaming, despair, pride, guilt, serious transgression, and simple childlike joy all appear as bridges on Teresita's way to grace and the Divine. I was moved to tears by the rich, ebullient emotions that make Teresita blossom with her genuine humanity.

Teresita says:

"I just wanted a normal life," ... "I wanted to be pretty and attend dances with my friends. Who did not desire romance, pretty dresses, and a peaceful home full of babies?"..."I was just a girl when holiness was dropped on my head. I did not ask for it. I was chosen."

Queen of America: A Novel is beautifully intimate and deeply spiritual. There is much wisdom and universal truth lying just below the surface of this stunning narrative. The sensitive, emotional climax of Teresita's impassioned and poetic saga took my breath away and I am sorry the story had to come to an end. Thanks to the sublime literary talent of Luis Alberto Urrea, I have become a devotee of the gentle Saint of Cabora and I will never forget her extraordinary story. The grace still flows and with eyes brimming with tears...I light a candle in her honor, for the Saint of Cabora...the Queen of America.

Like its predecessor, The Hummingbird's Daughter, Urrea's sequel, QUEEN OF AMERICA is a panoramic, picaresque, sprawling, sweeping novel that dazzles us with epic destiny, perilous twists, and high romance, set primarily in Industrial era America (and six years in the author's undertaking). Based on Urrea's real ancestry, this historical fiction combines family folklore with magical realism and Western adventure at the turn of the twentieth century.

It starts where the first book left off, and can be read as a stand-alone, according to the marketing and product description. However, I stoutly recommend that readers read The Hummingbird's Daughter first. The two stories are part of a heroic saga; you shouldn't cut off the head to apprehend the tale. You cannot capture the incipient magic and allure of Teresita without her roots in the first (and better) book. Urrea spent twenty years researching his family history, border unrest, guerrilla violence in the post-Civil War southwest, and revolution, so poignantly rendered in his first masterpiece.

At the center of both stories is the enigmatic and beautiful heroine, Teresita Urrea, named the Saint of Cabora by her legion of followers, when at sixteen, she was sexually assaulted, died, and subsequently rose from her coffin at her wake. She was denounced as a heretic by the Catholic Church but declared a saint by her devotees. An accomplished horsewoman and botanical shaman, she discovered the miracle of healing with her hands. Vanquishing pain and suffering with touch, Teresita has embodied her role with dignity, and sometimes despair, as she sacrifices her personal desires in order to combat social injustice and conquer disease.

Solitude is impossible, as she is followed by humble pilgrims and pursued by the Mexican government, greedy henchmen and dangerous lackeys. In the sequel, Teresita continues her journey and evolvement, with the primary question and theme of her life-- whether a saint can find her life's purpose and also fall in love. Along the way, she is entangled in conflicts between celebrity and simplicity, material wealth and spiritual well-being. Although she is idolized as a saint, she is, alas, human, with human emotions--such as lust, love, sorrow, pain, temptation. She makes mistakes, and is periodically confused and conflicted. It's hard to be a saint when you're made of flesh and blood and hormones.

After the Tomochic rebellion in Mexico in 1891, Teresita Urrea flees to the United States with her aging but ripe swashbuckler father, Tomas, known as Sky Catcher. She experiences romantic and cataclysmic love with an Indian mystic and warrior, eventually causing a serious breach with her father. When events spiral out of control, Teresita's journey takes her further and further from her homeland.

From Tucson, to El Paso, St. Louis, San Francisco, New York, and places everywhere in-between, this sequel is a journey from poverty and pestilence to an unknown, glittering, bustling, and modern America, a place that offers new opportunities for immigrant Teresita--prosperity, new romance, and celebrity. She is hunted by assassins, who claim she is the spiritual leader of the Mexican Revolution; harassed by profiteers, who want to arrange a consortium to exploit her healing abilities; and haunted daily by pilgrims everywhere, begging her to cure their ills.

Dickensian in scope, this ribald novel is peopled by the humble and the haughty, the meek and the mighty--pilgrims, prostitutes, yeoman, warriors, cowboys, vaqueros, royalty, revolutionaries, financial exploiters, gamblers, tycoons, corrupt politicians, drunks, rogues, and outlaws. It's gritty, bawdy, tender, and tumultuous, and sometimes turgid, as it meanders down several long and winding paths. When it stalls at intervals, patience and the love of prose and colorful character will keep the reader fastened. This will appeal to fans of high adventure, mixed with folktale wisdom and mystical fantasy. Big, vast skies and rough and tumble travel, this is an unforgettable story of love, purpose, and redemption.

There isn't a finer writer in America than Luis Alberto Urrea, and his new novel reinforces that conclusion. From the first page, you are transported back in time and beyond time; Urrea is a master of physical description as well as metaphysical exploration. This is part western, part RAGTIME, a book about frontiers, and his ability to take us from stark desert to rambunctious metropolis is dazzling. At the heart of the novel is a young woman trapped by expectations, acclaimed as a miraculous healer and "saint" by those she left behind in Mexico, deemed an enemy of the state by a Mexican dictatorship that has sent hired killers to track her down, and suffocating under her own attempts to figure out what her fate should be--including whether she has to martyr her heart for the sake of her followers. There's something very powerful in her dilemma: can a saint fall in love? This is a novel about corruption and redemption. Oh yeah, and it is very funny, too--especially in the case of Teresita's father, Tomas, who has to stand as one of the giant, rambunctious characters in literature.

You don't have to have read THE HUMMINGBIRD'S DAUGHTER to appreciate QUEEN OF AMERICA; reading this one first, and then the earlier novel actually works really well. Start with this one, and then--if you haven't yet explored the works of Luis Urrea--work your way back to HUMMINGBIRD and all of the rest.

This novel was a delight to read for the wonderful descriptive power the author achieves. I am familiar with the areas of southern Arizona and Texas in which the story initially occurs, and found the word-pictures he painted of the scenery brilliant and authentic.

Although I had not encountered the previous story of which "Queen of America" is the sequel, I believe the author handled the necessary background information needed to make the events in this book intelligible with clarity.

The story is, of course, a tragedy in the traditional mode. The characters are not so much the victims of circumstances as of their own flawed worldviews. However, they, like the scenery against which the action takes place, are portrayed with such vivid sensitivity that the reader is truly drawn into their lives and struggles.

One thing I did find a bit implausible, however, or at least unexplained, was the way in which the Urrea family, though seemingly having left Mexico completely destitute and under threat of extreme violence, was somehow able to recoup their fortunes to eventual near prosperity in Clifton, AZ. Also, I was a bit mystified about the way in which Gabriela was reunited with Tomás, and where all the additional children who were casually mentioned did indeed come from. While the novel is rich in descriptive material, I found it more than a bit spare in some of the narrative detail. However, overall I consider this book an extremely satisfying read.

Rating: 3.5 stars

A Mexican school's web page dedicated to Teresa Urrea reads: "La Santa de Cabora" (the Saint of Cabora) and underneath in red letters it says, "esta persona no es una santa y no debe ser considerada como tal" (this person is not a saint and she should not be considered as such). This clarification is probably not a far cry from the warnings that the Catholic Church and civil authorities circulated back in Teresa's days.

In "Queen of America," Luis Alberto Urrea, a descendant of the Saint of Cabora, pieces together a fictional account of her life after she and her father were exiled by the Mexican government to the United States in 1892 and until her death in 1906. A quick search on the Internet reveals the many and contradictory faces attributed to Teresa Urrea: the political activist and revolutionary fighting for social justice, human rights and women's equality; the God-sent healer revered by the poor and destitute; and the legend churned out by the sensationalist press. In his book, however, Mr. Urrea chooses to depict Teresa as a human being, vulnerable and flawed, longing for the things normal girls would have at her age, pining for love, and making poor choices. His is not a portrait of a revolutionary trailblazer but of a woman who was rather the pawn of circumstances and the self-interests of others. For the first 3/4 of the book, Teresa may come across as a bland character and at times she seems to be the device by which the author could introduce the cameo appearances of historical figures. However, the novel is saved by Tomas Urrea, Teresa's father. He casts a much larger shadow in the book and enlivens the story. It is through Tomas that the readers gain a view on what it was like and what it meant to live with Teresa, the celebrity. Tomas--mujeriego (womanizer), drunkard, entrepreneur, macho man, and proud hacendado-- is in this novel as colorful as Teresa is muted. His personality and his fatherly love-hate relationship with his daughter and yet, his complete loyalty to her are, for me, the fuel that will fire the interest of the readers and carry them to the end of the book.

For those who like historical fiction, the author has paid careful attention to details. From city and country landscapes, to historical events, to the abundant food served at the Urreas' ranch in Clifton, Mr. Urrea has proven he has done his research. For other readers, however, the long and lavish descriptions may make them lose sight of the story at times. As for the question of whether the Saint's powers were real or a hoax, the author does not give any answer other than the perceptions that those closed to her might have had. "Queen of America" may not dazzle but readers should leave with the feeling that there was more to the real Teresa and Tomas Urrea than fiction could ever surmise.

Note: the web page quoted in this review belongs to Escuela Cima

With this novel, Luis Alberto Urrea reconfirms his place as one of the finest writers in America. The power of Luis' storytelling grabbed me immediately. I'd hoped to read Queen of America slowly over several days so I could savor every moment of the novel. Instead I spent a day completely caught in Teresita's world, feeling, tasting, smelling, laughing and crying as I read Luis' words. Queen of America is a magnificent novel.

In "Queen of America," author Luis Alberto Herrea picks up the story of Teresita Urrea, beloved faith healer and the "Saint of Cabora." Now exiled in America after the Tomochic Rebellion, Teresita and her father have to figure out how to navigate an entirely strange culture, cope with their new circumstances, and deal with the legions of followers Teresita attracts at every turn. It doesn't help that they are also being hunted by the Mexican government.

This is a brilliant work. The atmosphere leaps off the page, the characters and their situations are realistic and gripping. The fact that this is based on a real-life individual, Mr. Herrea's great-aunt, makes it even more fascinating. It really sings. It's especially poignant to watch as Tomas, Teresita's father, copes with his loss in status and as Teresita grows up and struggles with whether it's even appropriate for her to fall in love.

Strongly recommended - but I'd recommend reading the first volume in Teresita's story, The Hummingbird's Daughter, first.

I continue to find the work of Luis Alberto Urrea to be almost unbelievably beautiful. As the product of a Mexican father and American Mother, he manages to make use of his dual cultural experiences to bring to life characters as profound, rich and fascinating as possible.

Basically, the premise here is to answer the question "Can a living Saint ever find happiness and love for herself?"
Teresa Urrea, a distance relative of the author, is a simple girl, born of a relationship between a semi literate Yaqui Indian woman and a wealthy and highly respected Mexican rancher. She finds sainthood thrust upon her by her people when at the tender age of sixteen, she is violently sexually assaulted and killed. During the funeral, she awakes and rises from the dead. Although the Catholic Church denounces her as a Saint, those who witnessed it and later hear about it name her the Saint of Cabora. Although this novel picks up where the previous one, "The Hummingbird's Daughter" leaves off, it can stand on it's own merits. However, to maximize your reading experience, you should read the first novel before this one. If for no other reason, the pure enjoyment and enlightenment you will experience will make it well worth the time. These two are definitely keepers, worth being savored by the reader again and again.

Prior to this I had never read any of Luis Alberto Urrea's work, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. This story is about a young Mexican girl who is raised to the station of healer within her small community. With that comes amazing responsibility and hardship, but she is a heroin in every sense of the word! The writing is so descriptive, I felt like I was there. I have read other reviews that have touted this book as quite different from Urrea's other novel, so if you're a fan of his work, apparently, this novel is outside of his normal style, but I'm sure just as good, if not better! The plot moves quickly and in many places I found myself lost in the twists and turns! Overall, I a GREAT read and I will be checking out other novels by this author for sure!!

I use my local library frequently and don't actually buy very many books (mostly a storage issue). But after loving the Hummingbird's Daughter a few years ago and learning that a sequel was in the works, I knew I had to have it. Both are epic, multi-layered, full of grand adventure and earthy humor, uniting the transcendent and the human (yeah, Huila is one of my favorite characters).

In addition to everything mentioned in the other reviews, I really enjoy the details of daily life that Luis Urrea includes. I've learned a lot about both U.S. and Mexican cultural history from these books, as the author's attention to context creates a wonderful immersion experience.