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In Veracruz, Laura finds a focus for her own youthful longing after the death of her half-brother Santiago, whose clandestine aid to the anarchist-syndicalists led to his execution. She embraces the revolution, and, hoping to avoid the fate of her virgin aunts, marries a solemn, dark-skinned, working-class hero. "The active life was preferable", Laura concluded at the ripe age of 22. For a woman, inevitably, this means "a life committed to another life". A daughter, a wife and then a mother, Laura is more or less dragged along by history. Eventually she must sacrifice not only Santiago but her own son and grandson to the violent game of musical chairs that is Mexican political life. Perhaps because of the almost laughable instability of power in Mexico, Fuentes is compelled to devote much of his narrative energy to explaining the rapid changes of guard--presidential assassinations succeeded by coups followed by questionable elections.
Given the time span and the gravity of occurrences this epic covers, it is no surprise that the character of Laura often seems to stand still while events and people move around her. Because of this, perhaps, The Years with Laura Diaz is not the clearest articulation of Fuentes's historical vision, nor his most moving work. Its emotional power is cumulative, however, and few readers will be able to put the novel down after the first 100 pages. --Regina Marler
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Rare Advance Reader Edition softcover with an "opened-only-once-or-twice" look & feel. A clean/unmarked copy. Stored in sealed plastic protection and mailed (bubble-wrapped) in a sturdy Jiffy Rigi Bag envelope. We ship daily from Roswell, Ga. Serving satisfied customers since 1999. Seller Inventory # 22019172