Bitter Grounds

by Sandra Benítez

Spanning the years between 1932 and 1977, this beautifully told epic is set in the heart of El Salvador, where coffee plantations are the center of life for rich and poor alike. Following three generations of the Prieto Clan and the wealthy family they work for, this is the story of mothers and daughters who live, love, and die for their passions.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Book Club, Latin American, 20th Century, Contemporary, Latino

464 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 1997

About the author

Sandra Benitez was born in Sandy Ables, Washington D.C. and spent ten years of her childhood in El Salvador while her father was based there as a diplomat. She attended high school in Missouri from aged 14 and subsequently graduated with a B.S. (1962) and M.A. (1974) from Northeast Missouri State University.

In 1997 she was selected as the University of Minnesota Edelstein-Keller Distinguished Writer in Residence. In 1998 she did the Writers Community Residency for the YMCA National Writer’s Voice program. In the spring of 2001 she held the Knapp Chair in Humanities as Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of San Diego.
(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Tara Chevrestt · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I was expecting: A historical fiction novel following three decades of women and showing the world of coffee plantations, the workers struggles, and the history of El Salvador.

What I got: A telenovela following three decades of "desperate housewives" and showing the world of extramarital affairs and who is having whose baby.

The conclusion: I didn't love it. In all fairness, the beginning was great. I was thoroughly enjoying the life and stuggles of Mercedes. But when Mercedes died, it all became about spoiled rich Elena and her cheating spouse and then Mercedes's daughter running after a married man and all these women started having babies. So and so is in love with so and so, but she is having so and so's baby who is married to yet another so and so... and it goes on. I bailed with a quarter yet to go. If I want a telenovela I get the Spanish channel.

[Book Concierge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweeping historical epic covering three generations of two families: the Tabors, who are aristocratic land-owners; and the Prieto clan, the servants/peasants employed by the Tabors. Through these families the reader learns something of the history of El Salvador from about 1932 to 1975, including the role of the Church, the military, and the influence of the United States on the politics of this nation. But the main story line of the novel remained focused on these two families and their interaction over several generations.
.
I really enjoyed the way Benítez showed these two classes interacting. As much as they felt they were different and as much as they were kept apart (or at least the upper class tried to separate themselves from the lower class), they were inextricably linked and their lives held many parallels. Mothers and daughters disagreed; husbands betrayed their wives; children refused to listen; secrets were kept; and everyone was addicted to the radio soap opera, Los Dos (and yet never recognized how that story line also paralleled their real-life stories).

This won the American Book Award in 1998.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a version of the classic upstairs-downstairs story line set in El Salvador. Four generations of two wealthy coffee plantation owners an corresponding generations of servants who work in one of their households populate this saga that spans from the 1930s to the 1970s. Although armed uprisings frame this novel, it did not turn out to be nearly as political as I anticipated. Rather, births and deaths, love, friendship and betrayals, new business ventures, cooking meals and loyalty between master and servants dominate the pages. For those who enjoy reading of the rich and those who support their life style, this is the perfect book. Any reader not familiar with the social tension in El Salvador in the 20th century may find this interesting. But if you are looking for clever prose, insightful writing or a unique story line, this will be disappointing.

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

Argh! I need a book from El Salvador, but I just can't do it--the prose is so cliche-ridden and disjointed and all-around awful. Whoever called this "beautifully told" should be fired.

[Daniela Kuri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro me dejo impactada por la manera natural en la que te absorbe para que te sintás en El Salvador. Super recomendádisimo si estás fuera del país y extrañás los paisajes, el clima, y la forma de ser de su gente. Es un retrato de El Salvador pintado desde las experiencias de mujeres de dos diferentes clases sociales por tres generaciones que te explican con sencillez como el país llegó a ser lo que es hoy.

What I loved about this novel is the way in which it absorbs the reader to transport them to El Salvador. I highly recommend it if you're a fellow salvadoran abroad or just a curious reader who wants to experience our country through its weather, landscapes, lifestyle and even the ways of its people. Bitter Grounds is an accurate portrait of El Salvador painted through the eyes of three generations of women of two different social classes that explains in beautiful simplicity how our country came to be what it is now.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked it mostly because it starts off RIGHT near me! west is the best, man. no, it was good for other reasons too. like the fact that showed the lives of the rich and the poor between the time of the matanza and the civil war in el sal. for example. i recommend. hell, i{m giving this book another star.

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I referred to Sandra Benitez's "Bitter Grounds" in conversation the other day as El Salvador's answer to "Gone with the Wind," and that is fairly accurate. This novel offered a rich, atmospheric escape and a cast of flawed but loveable and sympathetic characters among both the landed gentry class and the peasant class working as pickers on a coffee plantation. This is an epic saga that spans the lives of three generations of women, and though it was interesting, it at times reads like a soap opera that goes on and on with no clear central purpose. I suspect that was Benitez's intention, since her characters keep referring to a popular telenovela called "Las Dos," whose parallels to the characters' lives can't be ignored.

While this story was enjoyable, it was not a page-turner. At times, it was little preachy, and I thought she sprinkled in a bit of Magic Realism but not enough to be consistent, which was disappointing. The overall effect was that the novel suffered from an identity crisis--politics, romance, melodrama, magic realism. I gave it three stars because Benitez was successful in creating a cast of characters I truly cared enough about to stick it out to the bitter end of this 445-page novel.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't want this book to end. Loved it. I do have a personal connection to El Salvador having traveled there 5 times, including 3 mission awareness trips where we have visited the homes of the very (materially) poor and spent time with our sponsored children. Have also been to most of the places mentioned in the book which also helps this story resonate with me. (And have been to where Fr. Grande was murdered and to his burial site.) With all that aside, I know I would have loved this book anyway. What a great story teller Ms Benitez is. (And I also met her, years before I had any interest in El Salvador, and she signed my copy of Alla donde el mar recuerda which I also loved.) Check it out if you enjoy intergenerational sagas set in different cultures.

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Bitter Grounds shortly before taking a trip to El Salvador and am so glad I did. Having some knowledge of the history and upheavals that occurred in this small country gave me so much more appreciation regarding the lovely people and countryside. The civil war is still a very recent event, but thankfully now it appears to be a safe and beautiful country to visit. I loved the book and believe Sandra Benitez did a wonderful job developing the characters and events. I will definitely be reading more of her works.

[Merreh65 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely worth reading--expanded my understanding of Central America and the underlying problems of class and great wealth disparity there.
The author does a good job of creating believable characters on both sides of the great divide and evoking sympathy for all of them.

[Jacquie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saga familiar que narra la vida de tres generaciones de mujeres ,desde la década del 30 a los 70 del siglo XX en El Salvador
De manera magistral, la autora entremezcla la vida de mujeres de distintos estratos sociales como: Mercedes y Elena, Magda y Jacinta, Florencia y María Mercedes, abarcando vivencias personales y familiares de cada uno de ellas, matizandolos con aspectos culturales, sociales y políticos.
De esta forma Sandra Benitez nos muestra dos familiar de muy diferente posición social, aunque iguales a la hora de amar, de las pérdidas, de la valentía y la amistad; dos familias unidas, que a pesar de las diferencias, mantienen un estrecho vínculo, a pesar de los hechos y a través de los años.
Me gusto mucho.

[Sherrie Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars
An epic novel that takes you on an epic journey
Reviewed By Sherrie Miranda on September 12, 2017
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
This is an epic novel that tells the story of El Salvador's civil war. How it began in 1932 when the oligarchs sent soldiers to massacre Indians so they could steal their land. But it is told in a way that allows you to see the perspectives of all the characters, rich or poor.
The story is heartbreaking at times, but also beautiful in the details of how each one helps others to survive and even thrive. Having studied El Salvador's civil war, I can tell you honestly that there are details in here that no one knows about. For instance, why so many children died from diarrhea & dysentery. There are also details that only a small number of people know about.
This is one of the best books I've ever read. And I have read hundreds!
Learn the story behind: Publish "Crimes and Impunity in New Orleans.” and help us meet our goal. @indiegogo
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Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” will be out en Español very soon! It is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P11Ch... 😉

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

2019 PopSugar en español: 6. Un libro que tenga “enojado/molesto”, “dulce”, “amargo/amargado” o “sexy” en el título
2019 Q2: All the world's a stage: 11. Read a book with a melodramatic plot

_A todos los que he querido los he perdido en un charco de sangre.

[Gladys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, Sandra even though you are not salvadorean you really capture the essence. I couldn't stop reading the book and thinking what other place you would mentioned. I really enjoyed reading this book.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out as the historical fiction I thought it would be then got very slow and dull and kind of cheap romance like. Plowed through and finished it but wouldn't give is more than 3 stars.

[Sandra The Old Woman in a Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. A three generation family saga. I enjoy learning history through novels. I knew so little about El Salvador, just basic headlines. This brought to life the chronic struggle between land owners and workers overlaid by one corrupt government after another. Some reviewers thought it was a soap opera - well welcome to real life. I enjoyed the way a radio soap opera is followed by the women across the decades; how the stories on the radio were not that far from reality. But then I watched General Hospital for years. And I have lived long enough to know our lives are actually not that far off from a soap opera. So I enjoyed the book.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gave me some history of El Salvador and why so many of its citizens want to leave and seek asylum in the United States, told through personal lives of an elite family and a servant's family, which were entwined. What would be a good follow up?

[Mrs. Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one book where after I finished it, I had to remain in silence for quite a while. It is such a powerful testament to the story of the history of El Salvador told through an epic story of two families. It follows the Prieto family starting in the 1930's all the way through four generations who all serve the same aristocratic family who own a coffee plantation. What really is the forefront of this book is the story of the injustices that occur in El Salvador throughout half a century and how both families are at mercy to the violence that occurs. Each family ends up losing a great deal to senseless violence that like a true epic, this story speaks to the needlessness of everything that was occurring in El Salvador.

The Prieto family is first drawn into the violence when Ignacio, a coffee plantation worker, gets drawn into a strike that is occurring among the workers of this plantation. He is killed in the violence that ensues leaving his family Mercedes, Jacinta, and Tino to fend for themselves. Tino is lost is the ensuing violence and is adopted by a guardia who ironically was going around the countryside just killing the native people. Jacinta and Mercedes think Tino is lost and killed and not until the end of this book does this storyline play out. This leaves Mercedes and Jacinta who end up becoming servants in the home of the aristocratic Contreras family. The book from there follows the next two generations of the Contreras family and of the Prieto family as they serve the Contreras family.

What I found to be most striking in this book was how Benitez portrayed both sides of the violence that was occurring unemotionally, which in my mind made the story much more powerful. This book tells both sides of the story, shows the faults of each side, and ultimately unabashedly points out how senseless and needless all of the violence that occurring truly was. This conflict is powerfully illustrated when Benitez states, "When all is said and done, there are the few who have and the most who don't. Between the two, there's a chasm with no bridges to link them" (347). This quote was said by one of the characters in the book who in a good-natured way gets drawn into fighting for the rights of the poor. However, sadly, she ends up becoming as evil as the government that she condemns through using violence to get what she and her group wanted to achieve. Again, her choice to use violence causes horrible and senseless death to occur and effects both of the families.

Although the quote above stated there is no bridge between the "haves" and the "have-nots", the stories of these two intertwined families testifies otherwise. Their lives become intertwined throughout the generations, their daughters become friends and yet sadly class always wins, leaving the Contreras family the wealthy upper class, and leaving the Prietos as the family that serves them. This truly is one of the great tragedies that pulls on your heart strings throughout the book. You find yourself caught up equally in the stories of both families and just as dismayed when some horrible event occurs to one character or another. I think this is where Benitez's brilliance lies in her writing of this book. You, as the reader, feel just as passionately for all the characters and ultimately feel the senselessness of everything that ensues. You want to change the events. You want to speak to the characters so that they could help one another. But ultimately, what you are witnessing is the story of a country at war with itself.

Benitez describes this struggle when she says, "It might be a tragedy, but that's the way it is. One person's failing is another person's gain. To survive in this world you have to deal with reality" (350). I found myself however rejecting this idea throughout the book. Why did the events that occur have to occur? I think that Benitez wanted us to question the events as well. Ultimately, what resided with me throughout this book is that the violence, the class system did not matter. What really mattered were the stories of the people told in the book. What summed up my take-away from this book was stated well when it said, "You must start to live your life by the light of what you yourself would want carved on your stone" (302). I love this idea. So much in this book could have been avoided if characters could have just stepped away from what others were telling them to do, and just did what was right.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one book where after I finished it, I had to remain in silence for quite a while. It is such a powerful testament to the story of the history of El Salvador told through an epic story of two families. It follows the Prieto family starting in the 1930's all the way through four generations who all serve the same aristocratic family who own a coffee plantation. What really is the forefront of this book is the story of the injustices that occur in El Salvador throughout half a century and how both families are at mercy to the violence that occurs. Each family ends up losing a great deal to senseless violence that like a true epic, this story speaks to the needlessness of everything that was occurring in El Salvador.
The Prieto family is first drawn into the violence when Ignacio, a coffee plantation worker, gets drawn into a strike that is occurring among the workers of this plantation. He is killed in the violence that ensues leaving his family Mercedes, Jacinta, and Tino to fend for themselves. Tino is lost is the ensuing violence and is adopted by a guardia who ironically was going around the countryside just killing the native people. Jacinta and Mercedes think Tino is lost and killed and not until the end of this book does this storyline play out. This leaves Mercedes and Jacinta who end up becoming servants in the home of the aristocratic Contreras family. The book from there follows the next two generations of the Contreras family and of the Prieto family as they serve the Contreras family.
What I found to be most striking in this book was how Benitez portrayed both sides of the violence that was occurring unemotionally, which in my mind made the story much more powerful. This book tells both sides of the story, shows the faults of each side, and ultimately unabashedly points out how senseless and needless all of the violence that occurring truly was. This conflict is powerfully illustrated when Benitez states, "When all is said and done, there are the few who have and the most who don't. Between the two, there's a chasm with no bridges to link them" (347). This quote was said by one of the characters in the book who in a good-natured way gets drawn into fighting for the rights of the poor. However, sadly, she ends up becoming as evil as the government that she condemns through using violence to get what she and her group wanted to achieve. Again, her choice to use violece causes horrible and senseless death to occur and effects both of the families.
Although the quote above stated there is no bridge between the "haves" and the "have-nots", the stories of these two intertwined families testifies otherwise. Their lives become intertwined throughout the generations, their daughters become friends and yet sadly class always wins, leaving the Contreras family the wealthy upper class, and leaving the Prietos as the family that serves them. This truly is one of the great tragedies that pulls on your heart strings throughout the book. You find yourself caught up equally in the stories of both families and just as dismayed when some horrible event occurs to one character or another. I think this is where Benitez's brilliance lies in her writing of this book. You, as the reader, feel just as passionately for all the characters and ultimately feel the senselessness of everything that ensues. You want to change the events. You want to speak to the characters so that they could help one another. But ultimately, what you are witnessing is the story of a country at war with itself.
Benitez describes this struggle when she says, "It might be a tragedy, but that's the way it is. One person's failing is another person's gain. To survive in this world you have to deal with reality" (350). I found myself however rejecting this idea throughout the book. Why did the events that occur have to occur? I think that Benitez wanted us to question the events as well. Ultimately, what resided with me throughout this book is that the violence, the class system did not matter. What really mattered were the stories of the people told in the book. What summed up my take-away from this book was stated well when it said, "You must start to live your life by the light of what you yourself would want carved on your stone" (302). I love this idea. So much in this book could have been avoided if characters could have just stepped away from what others were telling them to do, and just did what was right.

[Maria Fitzpatrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot was okay and the writing was just okay. There was nothing really special about this book. I agree with the reviewer who said it was like a soap opera, not really what I would call historical fiction. Because it won an award I expected exceptional writing and was disappointed.

[caffeinated reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Listen, for all your words
you cannot know.

In Salvador, coffee is
red-roofed estates,
high walls crowned with shards of glass.
uniformed servants hurrying over marble
toward a buzzing at the door.

In Salvador, coffee is
trips abroad,
languid Miami shopping;
dewy hands
plunged between
voile and cambric and silk.

You say, but for the golden hope of coffee
few men would get ahead.
I say, when the people harvest,
all they reap is bitter grounds.

In Salvador, coffee is
filled berry baskets
tied around waists;
bloodied fingertips
wrapped with strips of rag;
sisal arms
reaching up again to pick.

In Salvador, coffee left
in tins, pottery mugs, china cups,
never grows cold.

In Salvador, coffee steams while it sits.”

Izalco, El Salvador in 1932 is a place where no savior is in sight. Coffee farmers who have been working on their small farmlands, and whose fathers and grandfathers worked on that same farmland growing coffee, woke up one day being told that the land is not theirs. And so it was in 1932 that Mercedes Prieto left her homestead with her daughter Jacinta. The evening before, Ignacio Prieto, her husband, was brutally gunned down in the finca of Don Pedro to serve as lesson to other coffee pickers who harboured thoughts of overpowering the landowners.

Mercedes would thereafter join the household of Elena Contreras of the finca La Abundancia as a domestic. This would start three generations of women bound to each other as master and servant and ties of friendship but not quite. Mercedes and her progeny knew very well that much as they were valued and loved by their masters, they were still servants in that place - servants who could not go to the exclusive schools where the children of the finca went and who were expected to schedule their child-bearing so as not to skew the activities of their masters.

Interspersed through the lives of the women are the stories of their loves, of long-running radio soap opera episodes whose plots were not much different from their own joys and tragedies, and how coffee has all held them captive in its clutch.

Bitter Grounds end in a note not any less explosive as how it opened. It would take a third generation Prieto, Maria Mercedes, to undertake an action in 1977 which her grandafather Ignacio hesitated to do 45 years before. It would also take that many years to resolve the question which haunted her grandmother and namesake Mercedes throughout her life.

The book ends with the following epilogue: “The story continues, as all stories do until life itself is done. In a country named The Savior, 1980 brought full-scale civil war. By 1992, when peace was signed, 75,000 had died; 300,000 had fled, and 5 million remained, these filled with hope on bitter grounds.”

The book won the American Book Award in 1998.

[Booknblues · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bitter grounds, coffee, a harvest many of us crave and one who many in the land of the Savior or El Salvador depend upon as Sandra Benitez tells us in her three generation saga, Bitter Grounds. This richly textured American Book Award Winner, is a sort of rich man, poor man, upstairs, downstairs, set in El Salvador from 1932 through 1977.

It is a compelling read and Sandra Benitez grabs the reader and transports her to El Salvador with the first sentence:

“The parakeets ascened in a rustling roar of wings from the amate and primavera trees. Chattering rowdily, they hailed the rising sun. They flew toward the southern sea cresting in a line of shimmering foam tha broke and then evanesced along the black volcanic shore. The birds wheeled, banking in a long graceful turn before heading back over the forest they had roosted in; they soared toward breakfast in maicillo fields twenty kilometers away. Jabbering, the birds glided and dipped over the alluvial plain furrowed by rivers and streams coming down from the highlands. Across the plain, they trailed a hasty shadow over squares of cattle ranches and rectangles of scattered farms; they sailed past the spot where four hundred years before, don Pedro de Alvarado and his conquistadores defeated the mighty arm of the Pipil. But such a victory exacted its toll for in the fierce skirmish, Alvarado took an arrow in the leg, a wound from which he would never recover.”

And that wound to the leg portends the history of the characters which inhabit Bitter Grounds. Sandra Benitez fleshes out her heroines of each generation, Elena and Mercedes, Magda and Jacinta and Florencia and Maria Mercedes. All are strong and vulnerable, wise and foolish and all are haunted by decisions that will shape their paths and those who follow them.

The familiar structure of the family saga worked well to bring an understanding of the mid-twentieth century history of El Salvador. Sandra Benitez, skillfully fleshed out the intricacies of the culture, the economy and social structure of the country for a reader unfamiliar with it can gain understanding and insight, while at the same time entertaining with a wonderful story. She infused her story gracefully with small elements of magic realism which inhabit many books by Latin American authors.

I would not hesitate to pick up another book by this author.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bitter Grounds is at once a reflection on the persistent nature of inequality, and how persistently people will fight against it, even if they are unsuccessful.

In terms of writing, plot and character development, this book is not spectacular. Still, it has a lot going for it. Benitez uses fiction to capture 5 decades of intense social upheaval in El Salvador. Her choice of setting is fantastic and the story tries to depict inequality and movements for social change. The story begins with Mercedes and her daughter Jacinta losing everything in the peasant massacre of 1932 and then becoming servants to the very people who destroy their family. It then ends in the lead up to the civil war in the 1980s, with Jacinta losing her daughter who is fighting the same injustices that led to her family's massacre in 1932.

This is the type of work I would label "feminist fiction": the story is about women and is told mainly from the perspective of women. Male characters are only developed through their relationship with the female characters. This is one perspective in literature that can be unique and empowering. However, I have to criticize two of Benitez's choices. First, the story highlights class struggle and the struggle of the indigenous farmers against the landed elite. But at times, Benitez seems to almost put these issues aside for the cause of "women's solidarity". There are moments when she alludes to a bond between Mercedes and Elena, Jacinta and Magda that almost seems to transcend the class struggle and their servant-mistress relationship. I think this is a really ridiculous message, that sadly, appears too often in stories about women. Thankfully, there is far less of this delusional inter-class solidarity in Maria Mercedes's relationship with Flor. The second issue is with how the women in the story relate to men- mostly through loving, passionate relationships with lots of great, mutually satisfying sex. Not that women can not have healthy relationships with men, but I think the story could have benefited from a more realistic and balanced treatment of gender relations. After all, patriarchy is a form of inequality that reinforces most other forms of social injustice.

[Jack Gralewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book that I read is called Bitter Grounds. The author of the book is Sandra Benitez and the publication date is September 4, 1997. The story that she tells is fictional but based on real facts and events from El Salvador in the mid 1900’s. It focuses on explaining the life of a family who goes through many obstacles and challenges throughout their lives. There is lot’s of death, passion and love in the writing. I like to read books that have a lot of imagery and I felt like the author’s writing style was getting in the way of me fully understanding the text, Therefore I couldn’t imagine the setting very good.

I think a reason why I couldn’t connect with the text is because the author uses different and bigger words/phrases than I’m used to. I remember reading the first couple pages of the book and thinking to myself “what the heck,” it was a challenge to adjust to but after a couple chapters I kind of got the hang of it. This is the first sentence of the book: The parakeets ascended in a rustling roar of wings from the amate and primavera trees, to me that makes zero sense. I broke down the sentence by researching a couple of the words, now I can understand it. I can tell that the author writes in a very descriptive and knowledgeable way. All in all, to figure out the context was a challenge but once you can understand it the book is a lot more meaningful and deep.

Overall the book was not that bad but definitely not my favorite. I would personally rate this book a 3 out of 5. I think that if someone was really interested in El Salvador's history this book would be perfect for them, this seems more like a read for adults. I think that the author did a amazing job of illustrating the characters very well, I always felt lots of empathy for them. She wrote in such a real way, I feel like I lived through the challenges with them.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished! Am I elated because now can go back to my Iles bok? Well,yes & no. I did like this book - mostly because I delighted in the author's wonderful use of DETAIL - but in general I did not care for her writing style. I found her first part too Hemingway-esque in its use of language and therefore sort of demeaning to the simple 'rustics' being discussed:"Me Tarzan...Me stupid"

Also, I was offended in the way that Benitez just sprinkled in a taste of Magical Realism without really developing it - like "This is a book about Latin America, therefore it must contain Magical Realism."

The characters were fairly well developed, although I found the change in Nanda a bit jarring. And, I liked the way the author carried the same characters through several generations. Is this therefore a historical novel? I don't think so. At least it didn't feel like one to me.

It was an easy read - and as I said, Benitez' use of quirky little details - mostly to establish character - were wonderful.

[Maco Zaldivar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hacía años que tenía pendiente este libro, estaba en mi mesita de luz. Sandra Benítez nació en Puerto Rico, pero vivió en El Salvador y en México; ahora reside en los Estados Unidos y su novela es una referente. Con la historia ganó el premio American Book en 1998.
La novela es una saga familiar que transcurre en El Salvador en el siglo XX, donde las mujeres son determinantes.
A través de la novela, vemos los avatares del país, además de los cambios políticos, económicos y sociales.
El libro sirve de disparador para seguir investigando. Estas son mujeres fuertes que logran hacer cosas que sus antepasados y familiares no pudieron.
La novela ocurre en El Salvador, pero bien podría darse en cualquier otro país de América Latina. Me encantó y lo recomiendo.

[Sam Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe if I stuck with this book a little longer I would actually like it, but I'm halfway through the second chapter and giving up. I don't usually read this type of fiction, but a book about mothers and daughters in El Salvador sounded very appealing. Unfortunately, the first mother depicted, Mercedes, is a flat caricature.

Here's a couple of passages that turned me off:

"To show respect, Mercedes had lowered her gaze, but the priest's words confused her. Goyo was not an unbeliever. Mercedes and Ignacio had known Goyo and Pru for twenty-five years, and the compadres believed, as she and Ignacio did, in the gods of their people. In Xipotepec, the god of corn. In Tlaloc, the god of rain. In Tzultacah, the god of the earth." (p. 12)

I would probably let this slide in a different genre, but if I'm going to take the time and energy to read general fiction I expect more.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why it took me so long to read anything by Sandra Benitez. She lives in my area, and I've even been to an authors' panel at the Loft that included her. There are many Minnesota authors that I follow, such as Louise Erdrich, Faith Sullivan, William Kent Krueger, and Lorna Landvik. Benitez adds the voice of a Latin American. Born in El Salvador, she writes a saga of several intertwined families of peasants, servants, and wealthy landowners, through 3+ generations. Their careers, loves, and especially their mother-daughter relationships are overlaid with El Salvador's history of social division, union protests, and massacres. My one disappointment with the book was the abrupt reference in the last chapter to what happened to one key family member, missing for many years but always a motivating presence in the story.

[Susan Fetterer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have liked all of Sandra Benitez' books. I've had the privilege of having her come to my book club for a discussion of her work and I have a particular affinity for her stories. She writes about what she knows and is genuine, engaging. A huge advantage of living in a larger metropolitan area which has a significant literary community, both writers and publishing houses, is having the opportunity to meet with authors. Their willingness to get together with their readers is mutually beneficial and can later be filed in the "I'm so glad we took advantage of this opportunity" part of our memories. If you have traveled to Central America, are planning a trip there, know people from that part of the world, I recommend reading her books.





folks.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book! Extremely well-written, it pulled me along page after page. Covering vast swaths of the history of El Salvador (where Benitez is from), from 1932 to 1977, it follows multiple generations of two families, basically. In some ways it is a book about women and their relationships with one another and with men. But is is also about the struggle for justice in a world of oppression, wealth and poverty, hope and despair, defeat and survival, violence and grace in the midst of it, and the sacrifices love makes.