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The Hummingbird's Daughter | 
 enlarge | Author: Luis Alberto Urrea
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.99
Buy Used: $2.17
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Rating:  49 reviews
Sales Rank: 8050
Media: Paperback
Pages: 528
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.5
ISBN: 0316154520
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780316154529
ASIN: 0316154520
Publication Date: April 3, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Thank you for looking at Bookscorner1. May have shelf wear and remainder mark.
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Product Description
Miracles and passion abound in this mesmerizing novel--hailed everywhere as a masterwork--the story of a remarkable young woman's sudden sainthood in the revolutionary-era Mexico of the late 19th century.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 44 more reviews...
 A Sumptuous, Dazzling Novel May 20, 2005
Daniel Olivas (West Hills, CA United States)
76 out of 79 found this review helpful
In the harsh yet thriving landscape of Mexico, circa 1880, the poor, illiterate and unmarried Yaqui woman (known by her tribe as The Hummingbird), gave birth to Teresita with the help of the town's healer, the curandera called Huila. Huila-one of Urrea's most remarkable creations-is as cantankerous as she is powerful. So powerful in fact that she lives in a room behind the kitchen of the great hacienda owned by the wealthy Don Tomas Urrea. Don Tomas does not care much for religion but he knows that Huila is an asset and puts up with her magic as much as Huila puts up with her patron's habit of spreading his seed despite having a beautiful, attentive wife and several children who populate the hacienda. Teresita eventually-and literally-wanders into Don Tomas's life and is subsequently taken under Huila's wing. Huila notices two things about this unusual girl: she resembles the Urrea family and she possesses the power to heal. Don Tomas ultimately owns up to paternity and is determined to make a lady out of this barefooted urchin. But as Teresita matures, her powers grow until all know that she is the curandera women should go to when they are about to give birth or when a child becomes ill. Then one day, when Teresita goes out to the fields, she is raped, beaten and eventually dies. But on the third day, at the end of burial preparations, in the midst of five mourning women, Teresita awakes. The town is abuzz with news of this miracle. With her resurrection comes greater healing powers and, of course, fame. The Yaquis, as well as other native tribes, mestizos, and even Americans, make pilgrimages to the Urrea hacienda. The Catholic Church views this "saint" as a heretic, the vicious and corrupt government of Porfirio Diaz considers the girl a threat, and revolutionaries want to insinuate themselves into her sphere of influence for their own political cause.
The climax brilliantly mirrors the immigrant's experience of seeking safe passage to a foreign land while relying on loved ones as well as fate. Urrea, who is the award-winning author of ten books-fiction, non-fiction and poetry-tells us in an author's note that Teresa Urrea "was a real person"-his aunt. The Hummingbird's Daughter is his fictionalization of family lore based on twenty years of intense research and interviews. The result resonates with such passion and beauty that it doesn't matter whether Teresita's legend is based more on a people's wishful thinking than truth. The Hummingbird's Daughter is a sumptuous, dazzling novel to which no review can do justice; one simply must read it.
[The full review first appeared in The Elegant Variation.]
 Para Dar A Luz August 3, 2005
Margaret L. McQuaid (Anchorage, Alaska United States)
51 out of 53 found this review helpful
In Latin America, instead of saying "to give birth to", the people say "para dar a luz", to bring to the light. Luis Urrea has brought to the light his remarkable great-aunt, La Teresita, a curandera who came to be known as la Santa de Cabora. His painstaking research has resulted in what I can only term a biography written in the style of magical realism. (I've never been able to understand the difference between magic and realism in the first place.) This book is part cultural anthropology, part Mexican history, and wholly enchanting. Urrea is a powerful, masterly writer who sure knows his stuff. He brings his readers to the light of understanding, of feeling, of acknowledgement. I think he may have inherited some of his ancestor's talent for transformation.
Teresita Urrea was a real person. She is buried in a small town in eastern Arizona, where I spent some time growing up. I went to her graveside at age 17, looking only for cheap thrills. (We thought back then that the grave contained the body of a woman who had fought in the Mexican Revolution with Pancho Villa, and whose ghost was rumored to haunt the cemetary.) I wanted to be scared. Instead, on that bitterly cold November night, I found the air around her grave to be soft and warm, and I could smell roses. No roses bloom in the Clifton cemetary in November. Instead of being frightened, I came away with what was then an inexplicable sense of peace. I didn't understand at the time, but now I do. Her healing ways still linger.
Luis Urrea has given us the spirit of La Teresa, warm, alive, and still wearing the scent of roses. I loved reading this book. You will too.
Enchanting and ensnaring read July 6, 2005
J. Lynne (Colorado, USA)
17 out of 19 found this review helpful
I picked this book on a whim, knowing absolutely nothing about the author. I opened the pages and became transfixed by the magic I found there. I couldn't put this book down. Urrea created a world filled with characters that mirrored my own latina background with such wit and sympathy that even pobre Tomas captured my heart, rake that he is. I was thrilled to find the author's notes about his take on an actual relative. The Mexican penchant for "polishing up" history is brilliantly put together here and I have found a new favorite author!
Rich and readable-- a lovely book. October 10, 2006
C. Gilbert (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
16 out of 19 found this review helpful
I was a little bit unsure about this book. Magical realism often does not work for me-- I find the effect is often to distance me, or to gain unearned emotional credits. I was also nervous about the length. I was reading this for my book club, and it clocks in at 580 pages.
It did take me a little while to get into the book, but once I relaxed and stop worrying, I loved. it. The pages flew by quickly-- I had more problem with reading it too quickly than I did with it taking too long. The magic realism was not a problem-- it was essential to the book, and was well grounded in the plot and the subject matter. I got very quickly caught up in the book and the characters, and I was fascinated by Teresita and her emotional and spiritual journey.
I can believe that this is a book that took Urrea 20 years to research. It is worth reading the biographical note about the historical Teresita that is located on the author's web site. But only do this after you have read the book.
The Hummingbird's Daughter was the winner of the Kiriyama Prize, and rumor has it that there will be both a sequel and a film.
Recommended for virtually any reader.
entrancing, painful, wonderful, unforgettable and very special September 12, 2005
Charlie_in_la (los angeles, CA USA)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
I read a lot of books. Some are just for fun, some are silly, some are educational, some are not very good. But, every now and then, I find one that is so special that I will read it again, and probably again a few more times.
You can read a "summary" of the book in other reviews, both publishers' and readers'. So, why did I like it and why should you read it.
First, the story is incredible. A child born in poverty begins to show amazing intelligence, skills...and grows to womanhood having had profound effect on her country of birth. Truth is indeed "stranger than fiction".
Second, the author has an amazing talent with words. He gives you the sights, sounds, smells of the world in which Teresita lived. He also uses words to bring each person to life. I actually called a friend to share a quote...Tomas Urrea to Lauro Aguirre...."Although it is true that you are insufferable and irritating, and rightly famed for your endless posturing and platudinous pontificating..." (don't worry, potential reader, though, the book is not full of big words, just, occasionally, one creeps in...I loved that quote because it reminded me of someone.)
Third, I was able to experience a time and place distant from me. Some of what happened was horrific, but, it happened. I was able to begin to understand.
Finally, I loved this book, and will read it again because it contains a message of love and hope that I can understand.
Books do many things, entertain, enlighten and sometimes enrich.
This book enriches, enlightens and entertains.
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