From Publishers Weekly
The politics of Latin American revolution offer a worthy subject here, but Nicaraguan-born poet Belli seldom rises to the challenge. Lavinia, an independent young woman of privileged background, takes a job as an architect as a means of supporting herself and her newly inherited home. Entering into a romantic relationship with Felipe, a fellow architect given to mysterious absences, she soon discovers his secret: he is a member of the National Liberation Movement, a group dedicated to freeing their imaginary Latin American country from an oppressive dictator. Encouraged by the Movement's nurse, Lavinia becomes progressively more involved in the budding revolution until finally, after Felipe dies, she decides to take his place in a military operation. Intended to chronicle Lavinia's awakening political consciousness, the novel never rises above the level of propaganda, as oppressors and oppressed alike are portrayed as mere stereotypes of good and evil. A touch of magical realism, in the character of an Indian woman who fought the conquistadores and whose spirit now inhabits a tree outside Lavinia's house, ultimately adds little to a disappointing treatment of a topic that deserves better novelistic exploration.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
In an unnamed Central American country in the early 1970s, young, rich, beautiful, and talented Lavinia Alarcon yearns for more fulfillment than her privileged background has provided. She finds it in a career as an architect, a love affair with her colleague Felipe, and their membership in a revolutionary group dedicated to the overthrow of The Great General, the country's autocratic ruler. Appearing throughout the book is the Nahuatl warrior-woman Itza, whose 16th-century struggle against Spanish conquistadors had led to her death and metempsychotic reappearance in the orange tree in Lavinia's garden, from which she observes, and perhaps influences, the action. Lavinia is asked to design a new house for General Vela, The Great General's righthand man, and accepts with the idea of providing valuable information to her group. Felipe is shot just prior to an attack on Vela's house, but before dying he convinces Lavinia to take his place on the assault team, with dire consequences. Although some of the action is melodramatic and Belli's characters are often stereotypes, her writing moves events swiftly to an exciting climax. For literary collections.
Harold Augenbraum, Mercantile Lib., New YorkCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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