The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien

by Oscar Hijuelos

In The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, Oscar Hijuelos brings to life the rambunctious Montez O'Brien family. In a small Pennsylvania town, Nelson O'Brien runs the Jewel Box Movie Theater, raising 14 daughters and a son with his wife, Mariela Montez. Through the eyes of Margarita, the eldest daughter, the lives, loves and tragedies of the Montez O'Briens and their complex family relationships unfold. While reflecting on the life of Emilio, her doggedly masculine brother, Margarita also ruminates on the nature of femininity, family, sex, love and earthly happiness. Her musings recall exhilarating adventures, eliciting tears and laughter, and tenderly reveal the bounteous heart of a warm, passionate family. At once lush, erotic and gorgeously written, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien is a masterwork by one of America's greatest writers.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Latinx, American Fiction, Family, Novels

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Oscar Hijuelos (born August 24, 1951) was an American novelist. He is the first Hispanic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Hijuelos was born in New York City, in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, to Cuban immigrant parents. He attended the Corpus Christi School, public schools, and later attended Bronx Community College, Lehman College, and Manhattan Community College before matriculating into and studying writing at the City College of New York (B.A., 1975; M.A. in Creative Writing, 1976). He then practiced various professions before taking up writing full time. His first novel, Our House in the Last World, was published in 1983 and received the 1985 Rome Prize, awarded by the American Academy in Rome. His second novel, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, received the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It was adapted for the film The Mambo Kings in 1992 and as a Broadway musical in 2005.

Hijuelos has taught at Hofstra University and at Duke University.

Reviews

[Brina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally read Oscar Hijuelos' The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien when it first came out. I was in twelfth grade and enjoyed reading books about Hispanic culture at the time. The Montez O'Brien family was the type of family I was captivated by- a melting pot of Cuban, Irish, and Spanish cultures. Combining the different ethnicities was Hijuelos' tale about fourteen sisters with distinct personalities all in one family. The story looks back on the last hundred years of their family's history in an epic saga. Containing the magical realism that I adore although not quite at Allende's level, the Montez O'Brien's story was a fun read and one I would not mind revisiting.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept wanting this book to have the magical writing of Toni Morrison, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende. But it felt as if I were reading a book made up entirely of exposition, which is, perhaps, why I never attached to the book, never felt anxious to return to it, but instead plodded from section to section. It is a traditional family saga, and there are some lovely moments, but the rapid lift from character to character never let me sink into any of the individuals, never developing beyond the rote list of characteristics Hijuelos assigned them.

I do look forward to the novel I've heard more about, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love--I like the reviews, saying the writing is "lyric and literary." This one, literary, sure, but not so very lyric.

[Suanne Laqueur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know how Oscar Hijuelos created a family of seventeen and made each member unique and memorable, but The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O’Brien is a masterpiece of both writing and food.

Read more here: http://suannelaqueurwrites.com/litera...

[Melinda Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully written, long, leisurely rich book. Slow moving and with such lovingly well-developed characters - I was well aware of how much I was enjoying the act of reading it.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absorbing

masterfully written, good historical fiction. I read it in a few days. Oscar Hijuelos, one of the best contemporary authors.

[Bellsss · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m putting this book away still trying to grasp what it was I read.

The first 300 pages or so were slow which is why I kept putting it away , rather going to sleep early than continuing. But at last I finished the book!

A family with parents from two different countries and 15 children would seem to offer an abundance of character development and plot but instead the story mainly revolves around the life and lovers of the oldest sister Margarita and the only brother Emilio while the other sisters play side roles, or nothing at all.

This book of almost 500 pages contains a LOT of words with no specific meaning. I got the sensation that the author kept forgetting his recurring theme and instead got all caught up on trivial details about things that didn’t contribute to the overall story.

Trying to find something positive with this story I have to admit that the way older age is portrayed was somewhat optimistic. The always curious Margarita inspires you to travel or pursue a hobby regardless of your age. You aren’t supposed to stop living just because your hair has turned grey and your skin wrinkled- do like Margarita and fly to Ireland at 90 years instead!

Lastly I have to highlight the fact that the characters lives much revolved around their love life and some parts in the book were erotic?

Of course this is totally okay and normal, to some extent. In my opinion Oscar Hijuelos over exaggerated this part till it actually became weird. You felt that everything is written from a man’s point of view even though most of the characters were female.

To my parents who both liked this book when they read it 20 years ago; I’m curious what you will think of the book today.

“And do not be afraid, because you will always have your family.”
-Margarita

Read 28/7-22

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

it really felt like i was saying goodbye my own family when it ended. i know he won the pulitzer for 'mambo kings play songs of love' but i found this book to be the better one. i was sucked in immediately and i read long into each night until i finished it. it's the kind of writing that should be savored slowly. very emotional without the cloying sentiment that some writers would use to manipulate readers. i found myself re-reading passages just to experience his wonderful details. the final passage in the book made tears run rings around my eyes.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 500 page character study. Beautifully written but largely plotless. Helped me realize that I'm a prude who would prefer to continue imagining that everyone else has Ken/Barbie parts that they never use.

[Leslie · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF! If this author ever had a linear thought pattern, I'll be in shock. This book was an all over the place mess! I tried to read it, i really did.

[Abuela Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A whole lot of graphic sex scenes in this rather strange novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Oscar Hijuelos. On sale for my Kindle. I found the endless tales about the 14 sisters and their love lives rather boring, but not boring enough not to finish it. THe author's sentences read like my Spanish teacher tries to get me to write: long, flowery sentences, which sometimes seem endless.

The parents of these 15 children seem rather implausible: a Cuban woman who never really learns to speak English and writes her memoirs but won't let her daughters read them and her Irish American photographer husband, who brings her to the U.S. They have a lot of sex, but seemingly little other communication while he gradually drinks himself to death and she mainly spends time either lonely without her adult children or having too many visitors as they come back to see her or take her on trips.

There is little plot. I had trouble relating to this book.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book. I have to admit, it took me a while to get into it, but the brilliant writing kept me interested until I got hooked on the story. It is the tale of Irish-born Nelson O'Brien and Cuban-born Mariela Montez and their fifteen children, though much of the story is related from the eldest's (Margarita) and youngest's (Emilio) viewpoint. A wonderful mass of life, it chronicles their hopes, dreams and travails, starting in the early 1900s and continuing into the 1990s. To use a favorite term of a friend mine, Hijuelos is a fine adjective mongerer, who writes beautifully, and whose magic may be slow to enthrall, but once it captures you you stay got. A most excellent way to start out the 2015 year in books.

[Deirdre Boyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel is a beautifully written epic American tale of a pair of Irish and Cuban emigrants and their family over the course of a century or so. Although I liked the way Oscar Hijuelos illustrated all of the characters in this large family there was certainly a disproportionate focus on the eldest sister Margarita who lived to be a very old lady. It is such a pity that Hijuelos himself didn’t live into old age, as he really was such an articulate, intelligent, and evocative writer. Thankfully he did leave behind him quite a legacy of work.

[Theresa Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took awhile for me to get into this book. In fact, I contemplated abandoning it once or twice. But I'm glad I persisted. The book does seem scattered at times- switching narrators, frequently going back and forth between the present, past and sometimes future. I feel that the author should have created less sisters or delved more into their individual stories. Sometimes I forgot the particular details of some sisters as they are only briefly mentioned. And as other reviewers have mentioned, if you are put off by explicit descriptions of sex do not read this book!

[Jennifer B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing wasn't bad overall, and the span of time covered was interesting, but it just wasn't my thing. Besides really being mostly about one sister, this book had a preoccupation with sex just as bad as any 16 year old boy. It might be talking about something interesting, or something heartfelt, but it just can't stop thinking about sex. Too many descriptions of pubic hair and its fading to grey for my tastes.

[Gary Murning · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly beautiful, fluid novel that succeeds in encompassing a family history in a form that seems ineluctably natural. Hijuelos guides the reader through the complexity of this vast Cuban-Irish family with lyrical skill, subtle eroticism and solid realism. I've just finished and I want to visit with them again. Now. Immediately.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A magical story by one of my favorite authors, Oscar Hijuelos. Imagine being one of the fourteen sisters of Emilio Montez, who was the fifteenth child born in this loving, close family of an Irish father and a Cuban mother. Worth reading if only to inhale the scent of Hijuelos's lyrical words.

[Terry ~ Huntress of Erudition · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat pleasant, but boring. Nothing really happened to tie the whole family and their individual life stories together. I felt it was wriiten from a man's point of view even though most of the characters were female.

[Jonna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wild ride - a great story with wonderful characters and lots of action taking place, and almost all of it hilarious. There are also touching moments. The writing is fabulous and the book is a special treat - a definite 'good read'. :)

[Mary]

October, 2013 Oscar Hijuelos died recently and in his obituary, I read that he had written this book. I'm sure I read it [maybe in 1993] and liked it, but I can't remember anything about it. May have to revisit this one.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although, I'm not quite sure who was the central character in this book, I enjoyed following the lives of so many interesting people. This book made me realize how few books actually delve into the lives of older people. I left me feeling very optimistic.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Irish/Cuban family in Pennsylvania. Some really good stories, but too many threads that crisscross in a rather disorganized fashion--one never gets to really know or care about anyone. A decent vacation book, though.

[Mont · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Irish immigrant travels to Cuba as a photographer during the Spanish-American War and meets the sensitive and poetic Mariela Montez. She bears him fourteen daughters and, finally, a son, Emilio. A paean to the feminine.

[Whiskey Tango]

An Irish immigrant travels to Cuba as a photographer during the Spanish-American War and meets the sensitive and poetic Mariela Montez. She bears him fourteen daughters and, finally, a son, Emilio. This novel is a paean to the feminine.

[Pati · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all of Hijuelos' works, but this one is my very favorite.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic story about one family the severalgenerations. I didn't want it to end.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

extraordinary, vibrant, erotic

[Serena Vinter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh...I couldn't even finish this book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

a beautiful story of a large family in small-town penn-- told in the classic latin epic-family-saga style.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book. Long....I almost put it down, and then a line in the book would resonate with me and I stuck with it and am very glad I did.

[VerJean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in 2007. Memory dims about some of the specifics of the family story.
I know that I liked it and it was quite long, but was disappointed for it to end.
I would read it again.
Read in 2007.