Remedios: Stories of Earth and Iron from the History of Puertorriquenos [Hardcover]

Aurora Levins Morales (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 1998

Replete with herbal lore and tales of heroines whose work and words have sustained generations, Remedios offers the curative history of the many women - and cultures - who have met at the crossroads of the island of Puerto Rico. Beginning with the First Mother in sub-Saharan Africa more than 200,000 years ago, Aurora Levins Morales takes us on a journey through time and around the globe. Yet the nature of the healing narrative is not limited to the lives of others. Bearing witness to a much larger history of abuse and resistance by women and men, Levins Morales weaves in her own story of pain and healing, the horror of abuse, ameliorated through the restorative power of memory. Enriched with explanations of the medicinal properties of herbs and foods such as rosemary, ginkgo, and banana, Remedios revives our connection to the forgotten lore of our grandmothers.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Captivating language and enticing cadence are characteristics of the enchanting prose Morales employs in this gathering of uniquely realized vignettes. The "remedies" set forth reflect a vast herbal lore, demonstrating the potent, curative effects of herbs as called upon by generations of curanderas, like Morales herself. Herbs also symbolize a means to deflect the outrage engendered by centuries of brutality faced by the women of Puerto Rico. Cross-cultural influences like Morales' Jewish Latina heritage and her own personal experience of abuse are reflected in a keen ability to communicate with powerful authority how the island's women exhibit a buoyant solidarity in the face of a horrific history encompassing the Crusades, the conquistadores, and the slave trade. Countless tales of resilient individuals grappling with hardships in Morales' exciting me lange of stories ultimately affirm the empowerment of women. Alice Joyce

From Kirkus Reviews

A confusing array of snapshots of women from the history of the Western hemisphere. Morales (who has taught Jewish studies and women - s studies at the Univ. of Calif., Berkeley) wants to make the point that Puerto Rican women descend from many diverse cultures, and so she rightly includes stories here from West Africa, various parts of Mexico, and even Native American tribes, as well as Spain. But some of the inclusions really stretch the imagination (Ethel Rosenberg as an ancestress of Puerto Rican women?). Also, Morales includes very little about contemporary Puerto Rican women themselves, except to tell us in the introduction that they ``have always held up four-fifths of the sky.'' The entire book is a chronological leap through 200,000 years of cross-cultural women - s history. It is imaginatively organized, however, beginning with bisabuelas (great-grandmothers) and ending with the author - s birth in 1954. Morales incorporates sidebars on assorted healing herbs and plants (shades of Like Water for Chocolate) into this ostensible healing history. Some of the profiles are illuminating and fresh. We learn of the many women in conquistador Hern n Corts - s life, including his ill-fated first wife, whom he probably killed, his well-connected second wife, and his captured mistress. Another vignette examines Sister Juana de Asbaje, who in 1693 wrote ``the first feminist essay published in the Americas.'' In the 1820s, French-Peruvian noblewoman Flora Tristan was similarly inspired by feminism, embracing socialism and traveling the world. Despite these standouts, Morales - s impressionistic glances at various women lack cohesiveness. She also tends to romanticize their contributions: St. Teresa of Avila, who cursed herself for being born a woman, is here lauded for her courageous, mystical feminism. The reality of Teresa - s life was far more complicated. Intriguing tidbits throughout make the book worth reading, but the parts are stronger than the whole. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 235 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (September 25, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807065161
• ISBN-13: 978-0807065167
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,016,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Know your history, know your healing, May 21, 2004

By 

Roslynn Tellvik - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Remedios: Stories of Earth and Iron from the History of Puertorriquenos (Hardcover)

Interconnection is real. Earth is real. The violence of patriarchy, colonization, anti-semitism, and genocide are real. Our lives continue to be shaped by these violences; both intergenerational and contemporary. Healing grows organically and is nurtured by roots of understanding, storytelling, compassion, courage.

These are some of the ideas that clarified for me in reading this wonderful book full of stories that saved my soul from amnesia, numbness, and ignorance. I am a white woman now on her own path of unearthing stories from my past that can tell me who I am, where I come from, and how to heal a legacy of racism and sexism that still persists.

Read about Jigonsaseh, a Seneca woman alive around 1560 who served as a peacemaker who helped to form the Iroquois Confederacy. Read about the Hammer of Witches, a treatise written in Germany in 1487 that outlined various marks and signs by which a woman could be recognized to be a witch and how to torture the Devil out of her. Read about the 1097 invasion of Muslim Syria by the Franj, Christian invaders from the north and south.

Most of all, enjoy the beautiful prose of Levins Morales...
"We are the ancestors of whom no record has been kept. We are trace elements in your bodies, minerals coloring your eyes, residue in your fingernails. You were not named for us. You don't know the places where our bones are, but we are in your bones. Because of us, you have relatives among the many tribes. You have cousins on the reservations. Do not forget how wide your roots are in this America. Do not forget." (92).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, May 17, 2011

By 

valvarado - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Remedios: Stories of Earth and Iron from the History of Puertorriquenas (Paperback)

This is a fantastic scholarly and creative work. Well researched, Levins-Morales combines her own story as a thread that connects the disparate histories of women in Puerto Rico. The author references European, African and American Indian influences and how the melding of these cultures/peoples created what we consider today to be Puerto Rico. It is a hybrid book about a hybrid people. Suitable for all of those who want to connect to history from the people's perspective.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Morales mirrors other works, September 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Remedios: Stories of Earth and Iron from the History of Puertorriquenos (Hardcover)

As she does in Medicine Stories, Morales involves an innovative form in her writing. While following a chronological timeline, she weaves together many historically based stories. What at first seems confusing, eventually melds to show that Morales is writing about the women left out of history. She presents personal stories about each woman and crimes of history. Then she adds herbs used in healing to supplement her intent to be a historic curator, helping to heal the problems in history.