Treasures in Heaven: A Novel - Hardcover

Alcala, Kathleen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0811829537 ISBN 13: 9780811829533

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2000

Synopsis

Family, history, and love fire this spirited new novel from award-winning author Kathleen Alcal. Just before 1900, Estela moves with her infant son from a small village to Mexico City, in part to flee her past, in part to be near her lovera society doctor, who she discovers is now married. Estela finds herself swept up into the beginnings of the country's feminist movementwith its unlikely center a wealthy woman who sets up a school for prostitutes and an all-women orchestra. Estela's son, Noe, grows up in this world to become a dissident journalist enmeshed in his own dangerous liaisons. Incorporating characters from Alcal's previous novels but standing complete on its own, Treasures in Heaven weaves a rich and eventful tapestry of people and ideas.

About this title

Review:

"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." "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." "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 Alcal received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association award for her first novel, Spirits of the Ordinary, and the Western States Book Award for her second novel, The Flower in the Skull. She is also the author of the celebrated short sotry collection Mrs. Vargas and the Dead Naturalist. She lives on an island in Puget Sound, Washington.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0811829537
• ISBN 13: 9780811829533
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224