The Hummingbird's Daughter

The Hummingbird's Daughter

by Luis Alberto Urrea

This historical novel is based on Urrea's real great-aunt Teresita, who had healing powers and was acclaimed as a saint. Urrea has researched historical accounts and family records for years to get an accurate story.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Magical Realism, Book Club, Historical, Latin American, Fantasy

499 pages, Hardcover

First published May 17, 2005

About the author

Luis Alberto Urrea is the award-winning author of 13 books, including The Hummingbird's Daughter, The Devil's Highway and Into the Beautiful North (May 2009). Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Luis has used the theme of borders, immigration and search for love and belonging throughout his work. A Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2005 (nonfiction), he's won the Kiriyama Prize (2006), the Lannan Award (2002), an American Book Award (1999) and was named to the Latino Literary Hall of Fame. He is a creative writing professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago and lives with his family in the 'burbs (dreaming of returning West soon!).

Reviews

[J.L. Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

“She learned that women were braver than men. Braver and stronger. She learned that she herself could one day stretch open as wide as a window, and it would not kill her.”



First read Luis Alberto Urrea’s Hummingbird’s Daughter nearly 13 years ago. It is still incredible! Something about Urrea’s ability to evoke the landscape and capture a mood really drew me into this story. The mix of the lyrical and the historical evokes the political and social upheaval of the period. And then there is Urrea’s writing style. Maybe it’s just me, but when I read magic realism I think revolution. It is also super interesting to me that Urrea took stories about a distant family member, Teresita Urrea, combined that with historical research on her, and wrote a book that feels something like folklore. 4.5 stars



Wonderful to meet Luis Alberto Urrea at the Harvard Bookstore! He uses his storytelling abilities during this event to talk about the inspiration behind his latest novel, The House of Broken Angels. Can I convince him to do a reading in Wyoming??

[Cara Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Hummingbird's Daughter" quickly made my list of 25 favorite books ever. Every one of the 20 years Luis Alberto Urrea spent on this story was worth it. There are few books I consider perfect, and this is one: Urrea deftly makes every word, comma, character nuance and plot twist seem straightforward and simple, yet there's so much going on here. He takes the barely sketched history of his aunt Teresita--the "Saint of Cabora" who helped inspire the Mexican revolution--and breathes life into a brave, compassionate, lively young heroine with a sense of humor. This book has everything: history, family conflict, coming-of-age, social issues, politics, sex, love, violence, religion, Native American healing and a delightful sprinkling of magical realism.

I was so impressed, I took a chance on recommending Urrea's "Into The Beautiful North" as the first read for the new book club I've joined, though I knew nothing about it. Mr. Urrea didn't let me down: yet another masterpiece about another young Mexican woman, a century later. Mr. Urrea has now joined the ranks of those authors whose books I'll read simply because their names are on the cover.

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hummingbird's Daughter was a beautiful historical fiction novel with its roots in the Urrea family legend about a great-aunt who was thought to be a saint, Mexico's Joan of Arc. Her fame rose during the time of the Mexican Revolution as they were preparing to overthrow the Porfirio Diaz regime in the latter nineteenth century. Luis Alberto Urrea researched the family legends for twenty years before he was ready to publish the book about Teresita, born of an illiterate and poor Indian mother called little Cayetana the Hummingbird. But she had no idea that her father was Don Tomas Urrea, the rich and famous owner of a vast ranch in the Mexican state of Sinoloa.

"On that long westward morning, all Mexicans still dreamed the same dream. They dreamed of being Mexican. There was no greater mystery."

"Every Mexican was a diluted Indian, invaded by milk, like the coffee in Cayetana's cup. Afraid, after the Conquest and the Inquisition, of their own brown wrappers, they colored their faces with powder, covered their skins in perfumes and European silks and American habits. Yet for all their beaver hats and their lace veils, the fine citizens of the great cities knew they had nothing that would ever match the ancient feathers of the quetzal. No cacique stood atop any temple clad in jaguar skins. Crinolines, waistcoats, Operas, High Mass, cafe au lait in demitasse cups in sidewalk patisseries."

"Death is alive, they whispered. Death lives inside life, as bones dance within the body. Yesterday is within today. Yesterday never dies. Mexico. Mexico."

Raised by an abusive aunt, Teresa approached Don Tomas Urrea's ranch in search of the medicine healer Huila because her aunt told her Huila would know who she was. Seeing Don Tomas Urrea, she followed him into the house. After exploring a world she never imagined, including digging her toes in the plush and colorful carpet, she encountered Don Urrea. There is a delightful exchange as Don Tomas explains to her about the workings of the grandfather clock as compared to his gold-plated pocketwatch. It is at that time that Don Tomas has recognized this little girl as his own child and he takes her into his home. And this amazing child had exhibited healing powers and, as a result, had been taken under the tutelage of Huila.

The Hummingbird's Daughter is a beautiful book, and I am looking forward to reading the sequel, Queen of America. I was able to view a video of Luis Alberto Urrea at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library as he talked about the writing process of this book. It was a delightful 1-1/2 hours. Urrea has become one of my favorite contemporary Latin-American writers. He talked about his mother being from the American South and how important that literary culture was to him, specifically William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor, in influencing his writing.

[Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bella Melodía Mexicana de Santa de Cabor
4.25 stars

Mexican author Urrea's mystical mural of a tale following a female saint, known as the "Mexican Joan of Arc" ("Everything the government does...is morally wrong"). Born the love-child of a young wealthy Mexican rancher and a poor Indian girl named "Hummingbird," who abandoned her shortly after birth, she was raped, beaten and apparently died at age 15 and came back to life.

Thereafter, she has near-messianic powers of healing as well as precognitive visions. Dubbed the "Saint of Cabor," the poor adore her. Both the Government and Church fear her power to bring all her peoples together and possibly cause a revolt against the oppression of the two entities.

Had I known more about Mexican history in the late 1800s when the book is set, in the years leading up to the revolution in 1910, I would have more appreciated the allegorical parts.

Warm, well-drawn characters populate a solid story line that I relished even though the novel never quite hit on all cylinders for me.

[switterbug (Betsey) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a phenomenal, picaresque story. Teresa (Teresita) Urrea, the Hummingbird's daughter, possessed me, made me want to dig my bare feet in the earth and rub rose petals and lavender all over my body. She is now my beloved hero of contemporary literature. Strong, courageous, formidable, guileless, beautifully vulnerable, compassionate, quick-witted, and luminescent, Teresa is a modern-day *saint* without the dismal, pious sobriety of one. She is more like a noble iconoclast. She hikes up her skirts and rides a horse better than any man, eats like a lumberjack, and engages in astral projection. She denounces organized religion and behaves more like a pantheist. She can heal with her hands, bandy words with politicians, and flirt with the infamous.

The author based this work of fiction on real events in the life of an eponymous blood relation, circa 1880 (when the story also takes pace). He spent 20 years in the research and writing, which is evident in the stirring, complex, yet easily digestible, mouth-watering narration of this novel.

Teresa is the illegitimate daughter of wealthy (and married) south-of-the-border rancher Don Tomas and a fourteen year-old peasant Indian woman who fled Sinaloa for greener pastures. Raised initially by her mean-spirited aunt, her adventurous spirit eventually delivers her to the house of her father at a tender, young age. The protective, flinty Huila, a medicine woman who works for Don Tomas, apprehends Teresa's destiny and mentors her in the art and botanical science of healing. Huila is also aware that Teresa has a native and inherited shamanic talent way beyond midwifery and organic medicine.

Filled with a sprawling and vivid cast of characters--vaqueros, caballeros, Indians, pilgrims,politicians, the wealthy as well as the indigent, apostates as well as the devout, this is a colorful, astutely comical allegory that is ripe with thought, action, and spirit. It is a story of familial love and redemption and the vastness of the soul. It is a tale of adventure that you won't want to end. (Rumor has it that a sequel and a film is in the works.)

Luis Alberto Urrea is an exuberant storyteller oozing an alchemical mixture of warmth, humor, satire, and vigorous vitality. His style is a reminiscent witch's brew of the best of outlaw and magical realism--The Milagro Beanfield War; Lonesome Dove; a dose of Garcia-Marquez; a glittering sprinkle of Isabelle Allende. But it is its own mystical and magical epic story of community and faith, of an unforgettable daughter and the people who loved her.

[Richard Derus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rating: an irritated single star.

Someone needs to explain to me why this book is great. I don't think it's even good. It's The Song of Bernadette for the 21st century, written in prose as flat and featureless as the deserts it describes. In this it's no different from Franz Werfel's prose, at least as it is translated into English.

I'm as irritated by the untreated mental illness of the young girl as I am by the author's celebration of it as Divine Revelation or whatever. Characters see the child as blessed instead of needing help. And yes, yes, autres temps autres moueurs. I am not living in those times and therefore judge the work by my time's standards. That's reasonable to do since the author is from the same time I am, not from the times he's chosen to write about.

So very, very, very not recommended.

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars doesn't do this book justice. This book is definitely in my top 10. It was such a great read. So much history and visual beauty put into the book. I liked it more based on its true events and La Santa de Cabora was an ancestor of the author. I couldn't get enough of Teresa's story. It flowed nicely together. I see why it got great reviews any website I looked at. Can't wait to see if Urrea's other books are as good as this one. I'm a sucker for historical fiction of any country. :)

[Connie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young Indian girl in Mexico who was known as "The Hummingbird" gave birth to Teresita in 1873. The mixed race baby was the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy rancher. After being abandoned by her mother, Teresita was watched over by the healer Huila who taught the girl about medicinal herbs and midwifery.

Teresita was brutally attacked as a teenager, and was thought to be dead. During her wake she returned from the dead. She possessed miraculous powers of healing, and thousands of pilgrims flocked to her home. Teresita was called the Saint of Cabora and "the Mexican Joan of Arc". This was an unsettled time in Mexican history under the dictator Porfirio Diaz. Teresita attracted unwelcome attention from the Mexican government and the Catholic Church who feared her influence on the poor.

The book was written in lyrical, earthy language and included lots of adventure and humor. It had a large cast of characters from all walks of life, and vivid descriptions of Mexico. Teresita was a real person in the author's ancestral family who stood up for the rights of the Indians in Mexico. She was a strong woman who possessed great compassion. Her calling involved the power of healing and a fervent faith in God, aided by a dose of magical realism. The book was a winning combination of history, fiction, and Indian legends.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really slogged through this. I’m not sure why I had such a difficult time reading it. I’m glad that I did. I ended up enjoying it but I wasn’t wild about it. It's well written, I liked some of the characters including Huila and Teresa; many of the characters were interesting, although often infuriating. I read as a skeptic but that shouldn’t have detracted from my enjoyment as it hasn’t with other similar themed books. The book was disturbing, violent and depicted many atrocities that humans commit upon one another, but I’ve read plenty of books such as those and loved them despite the gore and tragedy.

This book did inspire me to research the peoples in these places and this time that are described in this novel. This book is a work of fiction but is based on a real woman from an actual place and time, and the history is interesting. I think I’d rather have read a non-fiction book about the subject.

So, I don’t know whether it’s because while reading my tolerance for human frailties was especially low or what it was, but the story just didn’t grab me.

However, it’s epic in scale and has some beautiful descriptions and I wouldn’t want to dissuade anyone from reading it, especially because I’m glad that I read it for my book club; otherwise I would not have read it, or stuck with it had I started. I guess this doesn’t sound like a rousing endorsement but I would recommend this book if you’re interested in Mexico’s history and peoples.

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review has been revised on completion.

Teresita, the Hummingbird's daughter, existed. She is an acknowledged saint. In this book you learn about her life in Mexico, until she was forced to leave at the age of 19. You learn about Mexico (food, lifestyle, religious beliefs and customs) and about the Mexican Civil War that took place in the last decade of the 1800s. You learn about her role in this war. Teresita was a distant cousin to the author. Although based on known fact, it is a novel. This book is a beautiful example of what can be achieved through historical fiction.

I have listened to the audio version of The Hummingbird's Daughter, and I loved it. It is narrated by the author, so I was a bit skeptical - I mean, he is not a trained narrator! On the other hand, being the author, means he knows what lines he wants to emphasize. He suceeded. It is SO good. The writing is full of imagery. Since I listened to an audio, I sucked on every sentence. I feel the imagery is stronger because of this. So if I you choose to read the book, my advice sould be read it slowly. A word of warning: the imagery is both gtusome and beautiful. You might need a strong stomach for some ot it. There is quite a bit os Spanish thrown in. I did not have any trouble with that, although I do not know Spanish. By the end of the novel I adored the way the author/narrator inbibed the Spanish dialect into the novel.

The imagery is what will remain most vivid in my memory of this novel. Three examples:

- Her hair reached to her bottom which was like a "plump peach".
- There is a child, born smiling, after the prolonged suffering of childbirth.
- There is the first time Teresita enters the patron's house and is confronted with the grandfather clock, with its pendulum and rythmic beating. For her it is a tree with its heart thumping.
- And the flowers that you experience in all their colors and fragrances and shapes and sizes.

Perhaps it is because the imagery of horrible, heartwrenching depictions (for example sores with pus and vermin and stench) contrasts so abruptly with beauty, that I was blown away.

Beyond the wonderful imagery, the book teaches about past events and about a different culture. One need not be a devout, believing person to appreciate the events. Teresita is not unbelievable. she cannot cure everyone. She was educated in the science of herbs. Being a true sceptic, I never had trouble accepting "strange mystical events". There is always another explanation to fall back on.

Perhaps I so liked the book because the messages imparted were realistic and yet upplifting at the same time. Good and bad were intertwined. The value of family is wonderfully shown. And I grew to love Teresita's father. All his weaknesses only made him more human. I understood his preference for bees over humans. When he pats the pig on the head.... You will meet Huila and so many others, whom you will grow to love.

Luis Alberto Urrea has written a follow-up book entitled Queen of America: A Novel, The theme is significantly different. While the first is about the indigenous people of Mexico and their lives at the end of the 19th century, the latter is about the Spanish immigrant ewperience in the in newly industrialized America of the 20th century. Both follow Teresita, the Saint of Cabora.

[Jalilah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a marvellous book that I would recommend to everyone who:
Is a fan of Magical Realism
Is interested in Mexican History
Is intrigued by Catholic sainthood and
Wants to learn about “curanderas” (healers or medicine women)

Although parts of it, like descriptions of the extreme poverty, are very difficult to read, there is so much beauty in the book to balance it out. This compelling novel is based on the real life person Teresa Urrea, who was the great aunt of the author Luis Alberto Urrea. Urrea spent 20 years writing this novel and researching the life of this remarkable woman who was and is revered as a Saint, but was at one point considered " The most dangerous girl in Mexico" by the authorities. She was never canonized by the church.
This is a very powerful book that I love!

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sep 19, 1120pm ~~ Review asap.

Sep 20, 1145am ~~ One of my reading projects for 2022 was to read certain books that I had collected and then never got around to reading. I chose certain authors, assigned them one quarter of the year, and began my journey. This author was penciled in for the fourth quarter but for various reasons I finished the other authors early so here we are. There are three more books by Urrea on my project list.

The Hummingbird's Daughter tells the novelized story of an actual person: Teresa Urrea, a distant relative of the author. She was born in Mexico, the illegitimate child of Tomas Urrea, patron of a large hacienda in the state of Sinaloa, and became a lightning rod for Revolution during the Porfirio Diaz years. Not entirely by her own choosing. She simply wanted to help people. But she faced her destiny with courage and love.

Teresa was taught to be a healer while she was a child. I loved her old teacher Huila, a healer and midwife herself. I was impressed with the author's respect for the beliefs of the native people, no matter from which group they were. I never got the sense that the author himself looked down upon them, even though many of the various characters did. Just as people still do in Mexico today.

The author also captured the essence of Mexico in the pre-Revolution days of the late 1800's. The greed, the hatred, the fear. Above all the injustice and cruelty of the government and the Church. The Yaqui people are a focus of the story. You can easily verify the horrors they endured simply for being who they are, for being free people who only wanted to continue their lives the way they had lived them for centuries. it is a wonder any Yaqui survived beyond those years.

This book shows the reader the spirit not only of the woman who became known as Saint Teresa but of the Indigenous People of Mexico. Spain may have taken over the country, but even after 500 years no one can conquer the spirit of the People. It endures. It flies. Even now.

[GG Stewart’s Bookhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t get into the story until about one hundred pages in, but!, please stay with it, it is amazing and during that time you are introduced to the many people that have given this book life.

Note: (because I read a review) Please understand that this book is about a culture, a culture that unless you were brought up with could be difficult to understand the undertones and language that was/is used to express one’s self. Like any cultural book, read with an open mind and enjoy something new.

Now my review:
I feel like I went down a rabbit hole with this book. I was introduced to Magical Realism Literature and its approach to historical fiction. Except that for me this book is like home, my culture, my upbringing, and the lives of my ancestors. I was taken back to my childhood. Mi tierra Mexicana.

This book is real, by that I mean it has everything, a story of cultural, religious and political conflict, of a country in its infancy, family drama, love, violence, Native American healing, all brought together in a beautiful web of family history. Teresita is sixteen and caught at the beginning of Mexico’s 1889 civil war. An illegitimate but loved daughter of a wealthy and powerful ranch owner Don Tomas. Luis Alberto Urrea takes you from her birth to her escape into Arizona in this book. Her upbringing by a curandera (healer) and her struggles with her faith, her teachings, and two worlds, her Yaqui/white heritage and her catholic/Native American healing worlds that are never meant to be so close. I enjoyed so much the humor and the life that he gave to the people that lived so long ago. You can close your eyes and feel the warmth in your bare feet as you dig your toes into the earth, the smell of the fires burning as the tortillas, corn, beans, and nopalitos are cooking in the open fire. He brings the voices of the wild creatures that surround you at night alive…he brings all that is Mexico to life.

“On that long westward morning, all Mexicans still dreamed the same dream. They dreamed of being Mexican. There was no greater mystery.” Luis Alberto Urrea

[Cherisa B · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cross-section of humanity within the pages of this wonderful book is a real delight. At first merely a coming of age tale of a young girl, Teresita, the illegitimate daughter of Tomás, wealthy Mexican landowner and absent though dutiful husband and father, the story transforms into a morality drama where faith, the government, the Church, the military, and several social strata of late 19th century Mexico, clash. With humor, hope, love, and honesty, Urrea gives us not only the biography of one of his forebears, but an expansive, thoughtful, and entertaining meditation on this thing called the human condition.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Certain authors excel at crafting gritty and realistic recreations of the world we live in; others are expert at transforming our world into a more magical and fantastical one. Luis Alberto Urrea, in an astounding feat of alchemy, does both. Within the novel’s sprawling 499 pages, his depiction of Teresita Urrea – his real-life great-aunt, anointed the “Saint of Cabora” – becomes increasingly intoxicating and unputdownable.

In a sprawling yet controlled epic, we meet Teresita – the illegitimate daughter of a teen mother called “hummingbird” and the patron Tomas– right after she is deserted and left in the so-called care of a mean-hearted aunt. She is “adopted” by Huila, an old curaranda, who takes her under her wing and teaches her about desert herbs and plant medicine and the power of the unconscious. It is not long before she comes to the attention of Tomas, who accepts her as his daughter.

In a sensuous whirlwind of description, the land comes alive and our senses are besotted the noxious smells of pig sties the sharp smell of sweat, and the mouth-watering smells of Mexican foods, the bursting beauty of desert flowers and plants, the braying burros and squabbling crows. You feel as if you could step into the scene; that’s how perfectly it’s depicted.

When the novel levitates into magical realism, we’ve already signed on for the ride and put ourselves into Mr. Urrea’s very capable hands. The power of his words is that we do not merely escape from the world by entering this new one; rather, we gain a greater grasp of what it is to be human. As Teresita begins to heal with her hands and her father’s ranch is overrun by pilgrims, we stand in amazement with the People – the Greek chorus that is indelibly embedded into the pages of this book.

All of the narrative plays against the backdrop of a changing Mexico: approaching revolution, removal of Indians from their ancestral lands, southwestern border disputes, the Diaz government’s darkening suspicions and paranoia, the controlling hand of organized religion – all contrasted against one uneducated but wise girl’s healing message of love and healing.

The Hummingbird’s Daughter has it all – facts and legends that Mr. Urrea, a reporter, gathered from 20 years of research into his childhood, Western mythology, Catholic hagiography, Mexican folklore and more, interwoven with down-to-earth descriptions of poverty, warfare, torture, and grittiness. The result is pure effervescence, a testimony to the power of storytelling at its finest.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thing that struck me most about The Hummingbird’s Daughter was its “campfire” quality. I imagined it being told by a particularly gifted grandfather. Urrea is no grandfather yet, but his pure storytelling ability is second to none. He creates beautiful rhythms in simple language. Each of his chapters is structured as its own little tale. He dispenses comedy and heartbreak in equal measures. And he doesn’t hold back, trusting his natural instincts to tell the story as the story itself begs to be told: honestly. That this novel is based on the life of his ancestor Teresita Urrea (who just happens to be a Mexican folk hero), only adds to the feeling of immediacy of the telling.

Adventure and tragedy and love are given equal weight. The pacing is interesting in that it remains very even but never dull. For a book of 500 pages, it never feels slow or overwrought. In fact, simplicity is one of the first features I noticed as I read it. Included is only what is needed. Since it’s based on real events, the plot is not as tightly knitted as, say, a thriller, but there is an internal logic to the sequence of events, even ones that seem episodic.

The one other thing I feel compelled to mention is the good-naturedness of the writing. Maybe it’s Urrea’s willingness to crack a joke, to not take too seriously even the darker moments of his novel. Melodrama is completely absent.

One of the best books I’ve read in a while, and highly recommended.

[Suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had a hard time saying farewell to these people! I loved this sweeping saga, set in late 1800's Mexico, focused on Teresita Urrea, the illegitimate daughter (of the title) of Don Tomas Urrea, the landowner and Padron of a huge ranch. Born with special healing powers, Terecita was called on throughout her life to help birth babies, heal the sick and prophesize. Audiobook thrillingly narrated by the author, who spent 24 years researching the story of his "aunt" Teresita. I think the less you know about this book going in the better. Best to discover this story as it unfolds. The only thing that keeps me from being completely devastated by the book ending is knowing there is a follow-up, Queen of America. Will read that soon!

Why I'm reading this: I have wanted to read this ever since reading The House of Broken Angels two years ago. Reading with IRL reading buddy, Diane.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still dream of this book. And a year later, I am still looking for this book, remade. Like an old girlfired or a wife now dead that will be the ideal all other women in a man's life are compared to. Damn...how can I describe this...My last two years of undergrad, I focused primarily on Female Medieval Mystical Writers. I love how these women brought their faith into their bodies, and write from there...bringing god into themselves as a lover, a layer of skin, a wealt. I love their absolute conviction that there are worlds going on around us that we cannot see but that are real. I love how sure they are about their personal connection to the spiritual...it is not something that happens around them or to them but in every cell of their bodies and with every synaptic leap in their minds. So this book calls to that passion in me. A sensual spitituality. The whole book is sensual. There is gorgeous food and wet slick jungle mud, floating floral smells and white washed desert. The landscape this book leads you through is the land I love. Granted I have never been to Mexico but I know the desert. It is also a story on a grand scale...a whole life and all the lives connected to it which I can not resist.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very interesting story about a real woman who lived in Mexico in the late 19th century. She was the author's great-aunt, and he grew up hearing stories and legends about her. Beginning in 1985, the author began twenty years of research leading to this novel.

Teresita was considered the "Saint of Cabora," although she did not think of herself in that way. She was born the bastard daughter of Don Tomas Urrea. At birth, she had a strange triangular mark on her forehead. The curandera said this was a sign that she would be different and have special powers.

The story contains an interesting mix of Mexican history, legends, lore, and a little magical realism. I like the way the author never claims actual "miracles" attributed to Teresita. He points out that Mexican people historically love saints and miracles and magic and created myths far beyond the truth of the actual events.

The only reason I didn't give this four stars is that I was a little disappointed in the lack of depth. After twenty years of research, he could have given us more of what he'd learned about the traditions and experiences of the people in Mexico at that period in history. (I happen to consider three stars a perfectly solid, respectable rating, worthy of reading.)

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luis Alberto Urrea can read to me any time he wants to. Oy! What a voice and how well he reads. This book becomes magical with his voice.
Although presented as a book of fiction, there is much truth told from 20-years of research and family tales of a distant relative who became known as the "Saint of Cabora." A story that mixes pre-revolutionary Mexico with folk tales and a touch of magic realism. A wonderful ride.

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This historical novel started slowly for me, but by the end it had captured my heart and my head. I especially appreciated the way Urrea brought to life a setting I rarely encounter in fiction, rural late 19th century Mexico. I want to learn more about the historical woman who inspired this book.

[Paul Ataua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written and an interesting story, but not one that said much to me. I felt it won me over on prose, but lost me on content. I just wanted it to get a move on. Many of the events on route didn’t add much and a slimmer version might have been better appreciated.

[Nick Iuppa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Urrea is the true story of a strong-willed, teenage Mexican girl in the 19th century. She was said to have miraculous healing powers, inspired the common people to value their native identity, and in the end helped bring about the Mexican Revolution. Can't get over it. A poetic page-turner.

[Ashley Marie]

DNF @ 25%

As with House of the Spirits, I'll hold onto my paperback and see if I want to try it again eventually. Super bummed that I just don't seem to be in the mood for this right now.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.. this was extraordinary. Great writing, humor, family drama, unlikable and likeable characters, miracles, midwifery, buildup to the Mexican revolution. This is a feat of storytelling. A new favorite. The audio is read by Urrea and really enhances the book.

Where's the Pulitzer? I think Marilyn Robinson won that year for Gilead, which I also love, so I suppose I'll allow it.

[Carl R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe I should recuse myself because I’m so partial to magical realism, but I think from any perspective whatsover, The Hummingbird’s Daughter is a joy of a book. Luis Urrea is dealing here not just with history, but the history and politics of his family and of his family’s native land.
So, family saga/historical fiction, politics, religion (“Even worse than politics,” says one Captain), revolution, and more. A rich mix that would defeat a lesser writer, but Urrea is unquestionably up to the challenge.

We begin in the 1870’s when a Mexican Patron impregnates a young peasant girl, who walks away from her infant daughter. Said daughter turns out to be a precocious child and falls under the tutelage of the rancho’s curadora or healer/midwife. These people deal in spiritual matters every but as much as they do in herbs, and Huila, as the old woman is named, can spot a dreamer when she sees one. “Teresita” (as she names herself) soon becomes expert and understanding and guiding not only her dreams but those of others.

How this all affects the war between Porfirio Diaz and Mexico’s indigenous people, how it affects the life of the author, how it affects thousands of sick and ignorant nineteenth century people looking for any sign of hope in their poverty and misery, how women fare in a world of war and macho men--that’s the book. And I don’t want to tell more because it needs to be experienced in the writing rather than just talked about. And the experience is transporting.

The obvious reminders here are Garcia-Marquez and Allende, but influenced as he is by such, Urrea is his own man, and The Hummingbird’s Daughter, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer, deserved the prize. I don’t know if it was competing in the same year as The Tinkers (See Writer Working, March 13 ’11), which won one, but if so, boy, howdy, did the committee misfire.

The reason I picked this book up is that Urrea will be the leader of my group at the Tin House Writers’ workshop in Portland this summer. I’d never read anything of his before. Now I have, and “pleased” doesn’t begin to express how I much I’m looking forward.

[ROBYN MARKOW · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully atmospheric HF re-telling about Mexican healer Saint Teresita de La Cabrona. Born the illegitimate daughter of a field worker & the wealthy patron of a ranch in southern Mexico in 1875, Teresa is raised in poverty by her abusive aunt after her mother runs off. Hulila, the healer of the ranchero, notices the girl & senses her powers early on & takes her under her wing. Don Tomas’ , her father, is a non-believer who doesn’t understand why he fathered a girl who claims she saw God & the Virgin Mary after falling off a ladder & being pronounced as dead before coming miraculously back to life.
She then is guided by her mentor Huila on how to use her powers.

Soon, word gathers about the teenager & her magical abilities & people gather from all over to be healed by her. There’s also revolution in the air & Teresita , who is part-Indian, is v.vocal about their rights to owning land, which makes her an enemy of the Mexican govt .Filled with a colorful cast of characters , the author( who is distantly related to the MC) expertly mixes magic realism, tragedy & humor. At 500 pages ,this book is long ,but doesn’t feel like it is.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

It always seems that I have more to say about books I'm criticizing than books I loved. I suppose it's because I usually begin with high expectations, and when a book lives up to those expectation, there isn't much to say, but when it doesn't there has to be a reckoning. This book is one of those great books about which I do not have much to say.

This book struck the perfect balance of realistic and dreamy. Urrea brought the setting to life for me, so real it felt like I could touch it. He weaves magical realism elements into the story perfectly. In the back of books, I keep a running tally on a sticky note: pages numbers where there are quotes I want to write down and remember or points/messages/techniques that I really liked, and another list of page numbers where I found something that made me uncomfortable, something (potentially) objectionable, inconsistencies, or other criticisms. Going back through the "negatives," I was happy to see that once everything was taken into account, all "objections" evaporated. The only complaint I have, and it is minor compared to how much I enjoyed the book, is that the Tomochic thread didn't fit in as well as I'd like. It was confusing and I didn't really understand what was going on, especially having never before heard of Tomochic. It felt rushed, not fully developed, like he included it because it was an important event in Teresa Urrea history and not because his heart was in it.

All in all, this was a pretty luscious read and I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author spent 20 years writing this novel, which is a fictionalization of his real-life relative Teresita Urrea. She is known as the Mexican Joan of Arc and revered as the Saint of Cabora in Mexico. Teresita was a folk healer, advocate for the poor, preacher, and revolutionary. In 1891, she recovered from a serious illness to serve serve and heal the poor.

Her compassion earned her the passionate following of many indigenous people in Mexico, as did her sermons castigating the more nefarious actions of Mexican dictator Diaz and the Catholic Church in Mexico. Soon, Teresita and her followers paid a harsh price for their stand.

I can count this novel among my favorites. The writing is lyrical and vivid without getting bogged down into description. Instead, I felt immersed in place and time. There is a bit of magical realism along with displays of every human behavior including love, cruelty, humor, despair, courage, and faith. Urrea brought Teresita to life while also conveying the story of Mexico in the late 19th century.

[Sallie Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was definitely a book that I grew to appreciate the deeper I got into it. The Hummingbird’s Daughter is largely a coming of age story about a half Indian half Yori young girl growing up in Northern Mexico in the late 1800’s. I was more than halfway done when I took the time to search Porforio Diaz to realize this book was much more historical fiction than magical realism. I suppose I would have known if I knew any Mexican history. Nevertheless, I was thoroughly charmed by the author’s note at the end of my trade paperback copy. (And now I know a little bit of Mexican history!) Teresita Urrea was not only a real person but was also directly related to the author. Luis Alberto Urrea definitely has a way with words. I’m looking forward to reading his Pulitzer nominated piece of non-fiction, The Devil’s Highway.

ATY Goodreads Challenge 2022
Prompt #3 - A book with 22 or more letters in the title