bibliophilelinda's review against another edition
5.0
Wow...lyrical and powerful. Three generations of strong, revolutionary women from Uruguary during the 1910's through the 1980's. A wonderful book that spoke volumes to me about the trials and tribulations my Argentine family went through during WWI, WWII, the military dictatorships, and the dirty wars. Loved the book wholeheartedly.
anniesmanybooks's review against another edition
4.0
Beautifully written historical novel and family saga, set in Montevideo, Uruguay in the 1900s. Lyrical and moving, this novel portrays three generations of very different women and their struggles, work, loves and losses, but its greatest achievement for me was the vivid depiction of the history and culture of Uruguay. Recommended!
Read for my Around the World challenge.
Read for my Around the World challenge.
snownotsowhite's review against another edition
5.0
Carolina De Robertis continues to amaze me, and with each word I fall in love with her more and more. Her words buoy me and comfort me. Like Perla, this book has my heart and soul.
melwyk's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fabulous book -- complex, with a huge cast of characters who are all fully realized, even if not always likeable. The unsung star of the book is Uruguay itself, specifically Montevideo. I learned reams about the history and culture and landscape of Uruguay without even realizing it. The setting was so skillfully interwoven into the story, and such a key element in the events of all their lives, that it became just as important as the family dynamics. Of course, there are many, many dramatic events in the years that this book covers, so simply by living where they did, this family was in for some upheaval. From women's rights to civil war to gender identity and more, this story has it all. Yet it doesn't feel "issue-heavy". It feels like a sprawling family saga with lush surroundings, unfamiliar enough to me to be truly fascinating while reading.
Full review
Full review
mdabernig's review
3.0
Part of me really loved this book beyond the rating I gave it, but the issues I had with small parts of it just won't go away.
The story centres around three generations of women in the one family and we get their story one after the other. We start with Parajita, a miracle child who meets a young Venetian gondola maker when he comes to Uruguay and quickly marries him. The two are young and in love and for a while their lives are blissful until real life invades and the spectres from Ignazio's Venetian childhood gets in the way when Parajita falls pregnant. They have children, but soon cracks appear in their marriage as Ignazio starts drinking and gambling and it culminates one night when he hits Parajita and flees the house in shame leaving her to raise the children herself. Parajita starts earning money and having an independent life as she raises her children until one day Ignazio returns, wanting to prove himself to her.
Once the family is eventually reconciled their daughter, Eva, quits school and goes to work for a friend of her father's. No one is aware at the time that her father's friend has less than pure intentions with the child and by the time that Eva realises what has happened, she has left it too late. The man gives Eva a pair of shoes, and uses them as evidence of her stealing from him when she runs home after the first time he assaults her and tells her parents that that is why she ran home before she could explain anything and making it impossible for her to refuse to go back.
This section of the book was quite difficult to read and Eva, from a child suffering so cruely, to the adult who is estranged from her father and running away from home with a childhood friend is an interesting character. I must confess though, for much of her section when she arrives in Argentina and then when she returns to Uruguay with her own family, I found her a very difficult character to like and it bothered me her behaviour to her husband who had given up so much for her.
One of the main things that bothered me about this book was that it seemed impossible for a strong female character to be strong unless it was contrasted by a weak male and this was particularly evident in Eva's marriage. We are met with her husband, a good man, a doctor, someone who went against expectation to provide her a good home that she manipulated into marrying her. She then, in a fit of rebellion, manages to make it impossible for them to remain in their home and then blames him as she starts an affair with the friend she had originally ran away to Argentina with who is now a transexual and refuses to return to Argentina when they are able. It's complicated, but perhaps it was just me, but I just found Eva, for the most part, hard to root for despite her tragic childhood.
The final part of the story centres on Salome, Eva's daughter who is quiet and studious and suddenly finds her self engulfed in a revolution. She starts full of great ideas and beliefs, but eventually brutal reality catches up and she gets captured, tortured, raped and imprisoned, refusing to flee when the rest of her group does because she's pregnant and thus being imprisoned for years only to come out years later to find out life has moved on. The man she loved and had a relationship with before has moved on and married one of the women who had been imprisoned with her, her friends have all moved on, her family is all older and her daughter is now in America being raised by her brother.
There was a lot about this book that I loved, the very end few scenes are beautiful and the characterisation is always good and each of the women have a very distinctive character (for better or worse.) My main issue was the way the writer wrote the men in the book. Outwith Ignazio and to a lesser degree Roberto, the male characters in the book were at best one dimensional and inferior and I say this as a woman, but I don't need to have strong women at the expense of strong men - it defeats the purpose for me.
This book is definite worth a read though. The issues I had with it don't detract from the story or how hard it is to put it down at times.
The story centres around three generations of women in the one family and we get their story one after the other. We start with Parajita, a miracle child who meets a young Venetian gondola maker when he comes to Uruguay and quickly marries him. The two are young and in love and for a while their lives are blissful until real life invades and the spectres from Ignazio's Venetian childhood gets in the way when Parajita falls pregnant. They have children, but soon cracks appear in their marriage as Ignazio starts drinking and gambling and it culminates one night when he hits Parajita and flees the house in shame leaving her to raise the children herself. Parajita starts earning money and having an independent life as she raises her children until one day Ignazio returns, wanting to prove himself to her.
Once the family is eventually reconciled their daughter, Eva, quits school and goes to work for a friend of her father's. No one is aware at the time that her father's friend has less than pure intentions with the child and by the time that Eva realises what has happened, she has left it too late. The man gives Eva a pair of shoes, and uses them as evidence of her stealing from him when she runs home after the first time he assaults her and tells her parents that that is why she ran home before she could explain anything and making it impossible for her to refuse to go back.
This section of the book was quite difficult to read and Eva, from a child suffering so cruely, to the adult who is estranged from her father and running away from home with a childhood friend is an interesting character. I must confess though, for much of her section when she arrives in Argentina and then when she returns to Uruguay with her own family, I found her a very difficult character to like and it bothered me her behaviour to her husband who had given up so much for her.
One of the main things that bothered me about this book was that it seemed impossible for a strong female character to be strong unless it was contrasted by a weak male and this was particularly evident in Eva's marriage. We are met with her husband, a good man, a doctor, someone who went against expectation to provide her a good home that she manipulated into marrying her. She then, in a fit of rebellion, manages to make it impossible for them to remain in their home and then blames him as she starts an affair with the friend she had originally ran away to Argentina with who is now a transexual and refuses to return to Argentina when they are able. It's complicated, but perhaps it was just me, but I just found Eva, for the most part, hard to root for despite her tragic childhood.
The final part of the story centres on Salome, Eva's daughter who is quiet and studious and suddenly finds her self engulfed in a revolution. She starts full of great ideas and beliefs, but eventually brutal reality catches up and she gets captured, tortured, raped and imprisoned, refusing to flee when the rest of her group does because she's pregnant and thus being imprisoned for years only to come out years later to find out life has moved on. The man she loved and had a relationship with before has moved on and married one of the women who had been imprisoned with her, her friends have all moved on, her family is all older and her daughter is now in America being raised by her brother.
There was a lot about this book that I loved, the very end few scenes are beautiful and the characterisation is always good and each of the women have a very distinctive character (for better or worse.) My main issue was the way the writer wrote the men in the book. Outwith Ignazio and to a lesser degree Roberto, the male characters in the book were at best one dimensional and inferior and I say this as a woman, but I don't need to have strong women at the expense of strong men - it defeats the purpose for me.
This book is definite worth a read though. The issues I had with it don't detract from the story or how hard it is to put it down at times.
athenameilahn's review against another edition
5.0
The writing is truly beautiful. There is so much emotion, so many gorgeous metaphors and turns of phrase. So glad I picked it up.
I liked how the book was almost like connected but separate stories. Each focused on one woman. Pajarita, the grandmother made appearances in her daughter Eva’s section (the 2nd) and granddaughter Salomé’s (the 3rd), but each woman explained her own life with such rich detail.
I didn’t k ow anything about Uruguay before picking this up, but now I’d like to know more. The connections to Cuba and dictatorships more broadly makes me think of Haiti & Chile.
Each section offered closure but not conclusion. Or conclusion but not closure? It all made sense. Highly recommend.
I liked how the book was almost like connected but separate stories. Each focused on one woman. Pajarita, the grandmother made appearances in her daughter Eva’s section (the 2nd) and granddaughter Salomé’s (the 3rd), but each woman explained her own life with such rich detail.
I didn’t k ow anything about Uruguay before picking this up, but now I’d like to know more. The connections to Cuba and dictatorships more broadly makes me think of Haiti & Chile.
Each section offered closure but not conclusion. Or conclusion but not closure? It all made sense. Highly recommend.
jlwalkerknoot's review against another edition
1.0
Gag me with a spoon :( May win the award for worst book I've read in 2013...
elizabethreading's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
tctimlin's review against another edition
4.0
This is a must read. Beautifully written. powerful story of several generations of Uruguayan mothers and daughters.