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River of Angels
The West was a place where anything was possible, and Los Angeles was the heart of that promise. Alejandro Morales introduces two very different families and an unpredictable river to explore the allure of Southern California and the history of Los Angeles.
From these two families of bridge builders emerges a story of interconnectedness, a unique system of relations linking both sides of the river. Through the Rivers and the Kellers' families, we enter a multi-cultural sphere of darkness and despair juxtaposed with hope and joy; times of violent discrimination contrasted with loving acceptance. Although these two families come from different backgrounds ethnic, social, and linguistic their lives and fortunes become inextricably linked through their children, whose illicit love affair leads to tragedy, their families infected, wrenched apart by racism and the pseudo-science of eugenics propounded during the 1950s.
River of Angels is a richly detailed look at those who have lived on both sides of the Native people, Europeans, Latinos, blacks, and Asians, people making their home in the West, sojourners in need of bridges of understanding. Acclaimed novelist Alejandro Morales excavates the layered history of Los Angeles in this stirring epic of love, loss, sin and redemption.
From these two families of bridge builders emerges a story of interconnectedness, a unique system of relations linking both sides of the river. Through the Rivers and the Kellers' families, we enter a multi-cultural sphere of darkness and despair juxtaposed with hope and joy; times of violent discrimination contrasted with loving acceptance. Although these two families come from different backgrounds ethnic, social, and linguistic their lives and fortunes become inextricably linked through their children, whose illicit love affair leads to tragedy, their families infected, wrenched apart by racism and the pseudo-science of eugenics propounded during the 1950s.
River of Angels is a richly detailed look at those who have lived on both sides of the Native people, Europeans, Latinos, blacks, and Asians, people making their home in the West, sojourners in need of bridges of understanding. Acclaimed novelist Alejandro Morales excavates the layered history of Los Angeles in this stirring epic of love, loss, sin and redemption.
267 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2013
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January 30, 2016
Alex is invited to the Los Angeles Central Library to hear a famous author. Uncomfortable with the crowd Alex decides to explore, and is enthralled by photos from the 1930’s showing the construction of the city’s bridges. Lost in the faces of the Mexican workers, the present fades away and is replaced with the past world of the city of Los Angeles where Abelardo Ríos and his wife Toypurina live at their home bordering El Río de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de la Porciúncula (the Los Angeles River) in 1882. Read the rest of the review on my blog (are you following my blog?): http://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.c...
Displaying 1 of 1 review