The Secret of the Bulls

by José Raul Bernardo

The Secret of the Bulls is a thoroughly enchanting and lush romantic novel, a passionate family saga that brings to life the brilliantly-colored world of prerevolutionary Cuba. It is a love story, the story of Maximiliano and Dolores's lifelong passionate love for one another, anchored firmly in a world where love stories are larger than life, where desires are shamelessly hot, where male pride is fierce, and family loyalty sacred.
Bernardo's original and spellbinding novel explores three generations of love and passion, forbidden kisses, and enduring family pride. The Secret of the Bulls is an epic, lusty novel, sometimes comic, sometimes tragic-a novel that seeks to understand the psychology of machismo in a culture steeped in both tradition and tragedy.

Genres: Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful book about family and relationships. And a lot about sex, too. But it read so easily and the characters and their lives and passions were interestingly intertwined with everyone else. At first I was afraid it was going to be like “A Hundred Years of Solitude”-type book, but thankfully it was not.

[R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It started well, stumbled for most of the middle, but finished strongly. Some of the characters were well developed, and some I found to be superfluous. At times, it felt like the old penthouse forum with a gratuitous litany of who’s zoomin who and how. And boy did that sentence just date me!

Another pet peeve, get your Orishas right if you’re going to use them. I’m not an expert, but I think the author got some aspects of the Santeria deities incorrect. The cultural flavor is an important part of the novel’s texture, so due care is warranted. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can correct me if I’m wrong. Not being sure, I did not take this into consideration in the rating given.

But all’s well that ends well as some characters learn to go beyond their cultural programming and bend with circumstances. If I could give it 3.5, I would. A 3 would be unjust, so a 4 then.

[Boris Oatmeal · Rating 5 out of 5]

leí este libro un cálido verano y me lo saborié con to' y anhelos caribeños. después me enteré que originalmente fue escrito en inglés y eso me decepcionó. pero pa'l carajo aún es parte de mi canon literario y le quiero dar un beso a quien sea que lo tradujo a español y después a quien sea que lo acomodó en los anaqueles del taller puertorriqueño en filadelfia.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable read. Felt like I was there. I love the perseverance and goal-minded characters. You'll fall in love with them.

[Mya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful story of family, love, and lust set in early 1900's Cuba.

[VALENTINA KIMARO · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

[keith koenigsberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some publisher trying to ride on the coattails of the excellent Like Water For Chocolate by picking up a bland book written by a Central American author and putting it in a teal book jacket. Saga of a Cuban Family. Big deal.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

My parents divorced when I was only a baby so the only image I had of love and passion came from t.v. I did not know what it meant to be a latina, let alone a latina in love. I always wondered why I seemed so different from my white friends in my views on relationships and what it means to lose yourself in someone else. This book showed me that there are just some things a latina is born with, she does not need to be taught.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know I read this book, but can't say that I remember that much about it. It must not have been that great...

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

good story, interesting, a bit spicy..i read it after Like Water For Chocolate and remember liking it.

[Drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

The SECRET OF THE BULLS by Jose Bernardo (1997)

[Grant Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book in it's original language: Spanish.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Well written, and an interesting story, but as I got more into the book it became more about the "Machismo" of the male characters. The women were also strong

[Erika Cornejo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book!! I couldn't stop reading