Treasures in Heaven (Latino Voices) - Softcover

Alcala

3.52

23 ratings by Goodreads

9780810120365: Treasures in Heaven (Latino Voices)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0810120364 ISBN 13: 9780810120365

Publisher: Northwestern University Press, 2006

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To escape a scandal that sent her husband into exile, Estela abandons the safety of her hometown and travels with her infant son to the roaring nineteenth-century metropolis of Mexico City. Hoping to begin her life anew, Estela declares herself a widow and goes in search of her former lover - and only true love. Estela's romantic ideals are quickly destroyed; her lover is married, and Estela realizes that to be a woman in Mexico "without family was to be derided, degraded, and disgraced. Born into misery, a woman brought her children into it, ate it with her tortillas, and was buried in it." When Estela is introduced to an elegantly independent creature named La Senorita, her combination of naivete and intelligence, individual will and compliance is enough to intrigue La Senorita. Born into wealth, and refusing to relinquish control of her considerable funds, La Senorita is a protofeminist whose cause is to fight for "the plight of women in Mexico." Together, the two start an increasingly dangerous movement for social change that foreshadows the Mexican Revolution. It is Estela's ability to take satisfaction from "the repair of the world" that teaches her that the promise of treasures in heaven should never outweigh the gift of a life that is really lived. "

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Review:

"At its core, Ms. Alcala's book is a historical novel about a turbulent period in Mexico's history. [H]her tight focus on the main character's story makes this book a quick read." "These two reformers and their compatriots...encourage others to take pride in Mexican culture and participate in the political changes leading to the Mexican Revolution. At the same time they pay the bills, raise the children, conduct their love affairs, face death and loss. In other words, they're average, heroic women." "It is a testimony to Ms. Alcala's vivid talents as a story-teller...that we come to care about many of her characters, and to wonder what destinies await them...." "[Alcala's characters] . . . pay the bills, raise the children, conduct their love affairs, face death and loss . . . [T]hey're average, heroic women." --"Washington Post Book World" ""Treasures in Heaven" is an engaging, informative novel that shows that revolutions are most effective when begun by people working to make things better. My only regret after reading this novel is that it only has 210 pages." "Santa Fe New Mexican"" [Ms. Alcals's] . . . tight focus on the main character's story makes this book a quick read." -- "The Dallas Morning News"

About the Author:

Kathleen Alcala was born to Mexican parents in Compton, California. She received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association award for her first novel, "Spirits of the Ordinary" (Chronicle Books 1997), and the Western States Book Award for her second novel, "The Flower in the Skull" (Chronicle Books 1998). "Treasures in Heaven" received the 2001 Washington State Book award. Alcala lives with her husband and son near Seattle."

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