The Pearl of the Antilles

by Andrea O'Reilly Herrera

THE PEARL OF THE ANTILLES chronicles the lives of several generations of Cuban women. The story focuses on Margarita, an exile in the United States, who struggles to come to terms with her divided identity, a past she has suppressed, and her failure to share her heritage with her children. The novel explores the ways in which culture and tradition have been preserved and passed down to Cuban Americans and portrays the cultural fragmentation and deep sense of loss that Cubans living in exile and their children (who may never have set foot on Cuban soil) continue to experience.

353 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Born in Philadelphia to a Cuban mother and Irish-American father, Andrea O'Reilly Herrera draws on her unusual perspective in teaching literature, women's studies and ethnic studies at UCCS. The associate director of the Women's and Ethnic Studies (WEST) program, she was named a CU President's Teaching Scholar earlier this year. The mother of two daughters and a son also is a poet, essayist, theorist, playwright and novelist.
She is a President's Teaching Scholar and is a recipient of the University of Colorado system-wide Thomas Jefferson Award, and the 2015 Chase Award. She was also selected as a Fulbright Distinguished Chair in American Studies and completed a residency in Lublin, Poland in 2006.
In addition to being a published poet and the author of a number of critical essays, she also wrote the novel The Pearl of the Antilles , (Bilingual/Review Press, 2001) - — she even painted the cover art for her book - and is the editor of the essay collection Family Matters in the British and American Novel (Popular Press, 1997) and the literary collection A Secret Weavers Anthology (White Pine Press, 1998), which features the work of contemporary Latin American women writer.
Among her other publications is a collection of testimonial expressions drawn from the Cuban exile community and their children residing in the United States,

Reviews

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had the privilege of being in her classes at UCCS and watching the first performance of her book done as a play!

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, the book was a little hard to get into but soon I was drawn in by the beautiful prose of the author. The author portrayed the emotions of the characters in a realistic way. The history of the era was weaved within the story. There were times that I got a little lost and was disappointed with the letters at the end that were in Spanish but not translated into English.

[Ms. H.J. Caveney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had the author as my multicultural lit teacher....what a great class!