Veracruz - Hardcover

Wright, Rosalind

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060155418 ISBN 13: 9780060155414

Publisher: Harpercollins, 1986

After the death of her mother, Lucy visits her sister, Beatrice, who is living in Veracruz with her husband and daughter, and unexpectedly falls in love during the Mexican Revolution

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From Publishers Weekly:

Something interesting must have happened in the Mexican port city of Veracruz during the years 19111914. But you would be hard pressed to find evidence of it in this tedious historical novel. The period was one in which charismatic revolutionary Francisco Madera unseated corrupt Porfirio Diaz, ushering in an epoch of instability with international repercussions. Yet while plots and counterplots must have abounded during the Madera years, little of that intrigue is conveyed here. Instead, we have the domestic minutiae of the book's main characters, among them: the wife of an American coffee plantation manager and her bereaved sister, who falls dangerously in love; a spiritualist trying to establish a new religion among the city's prostitutes; a man whose fate seems tied to that of his physical double, President Madera; and an adventurous American plantation owner who dabbles in Mexican politics. Chief among the book's flaws is that none of these characters provides the strong center the novel needs as the plot winds its way in desultory fashion toward a tepid climax. 20,000 first printing; $20,000 ad/promo.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

Beatrice Ramsey has never come to terms with her infant son's death. Still grieving eight years later, she finds herself uprooted from Kansas to Mexico when her husband, Lawrence, inherits a share of a coffee plantation. Once there, Beatrice must cope with separation from Lawrence as well as unresolved childhood conflict when her hated sister visits Veracruz. The time is 1911. Francisco Madero has just been elected president and revolution is imminent. Well written and skillfully plotted, this lengthy historical novel conveys the turbulence of the era. Wright is at her best in desribing the Mexican countryside and local culture. The eerie seance scenes in which Beatrice attempts to contact her dead baby are riveting. Unfortunately, Wright has peopled her book with a multitude of unlikeable characters who fail to arouse our sympathies. Still, recommended. Florence Scarinci, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, N.Y.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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