Treasures in Heaven (Latino Voices) - Softcover

Alcala, Kathleen

3.52

23 ratings by Goodreads

9780810120365: Treasures in Heaven (Latino Voices)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0810120364 ISBN 13: 9780810120365

Publisher: Northwestern University Press, 2003

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To escape a scandal that sent her husband into exile, Estela abandons the safety of her hometown and travels with her infant son to the roaring nineteenth-century metropolis of Mexico City. Hoping to begin her life anew, Estela declares herself a widow and goes in search of her former lover - and only true love. Estela's romantic ideals are quickly destroyed; her lover is married, and Estela realizes that to be a woman in Mexico "without family was to be derided, degraded, and disgraced. Born into misery, a woman brought her children into it, ate it with her tortillas, and was buried in it."

When Estela is introduced to an elegantly independent creature named La Se�orita, her combination of naivete and intelligence, individual will and compliance is enough to intrigue La Se�orita. Born into wealth, and refusing to relinquish control of her considerable funds, La Se�orita is a protofeminist whose cause is to fight for "the plight of women in Mexico." Together, the two start an increasingly dangerous movement for social change that foreshadows the Mexican Revolution. It is Estela's ability to take satisfaction from "the repair of the world" that teaches her that the promise of treasures in heaven should never outweigh the gift of a life that is really lived.

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About the Author:

Kathleen Alcal� was born to Mexican parents in Compton, California. She received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association award for her first novel, Spirits of the Ordinary (Chronicle Books 1997), and the Western States Book Award for her second novel, The Flower in the Skull (Chronicle Books 1998). Treasures in Heaven received the 2001 Washington State Book award. Alcal� lives with her husband and son near Seattle.

From Publishers Weekly:

This last installment in Alcal 's trilogy of loosely linked novels, which began with the award-winning Spirits of the Ordinary and The Flower in the Skull, resumes the story of well-born Estela and her young son, No . Escaping the scandal surrounding her family and fugitive husband, Zacar!as, Estela and No leave their small town for a new life in turn-of-the-century Mexico City. Soon running out of money and hope, Estela contacts her former lover, handsome Dr. Victor Carranza, only to discover that he is married. Victor helps Estela by introducing her to liberal-minded "La Se$orita," a woman of wealth and style, who uses her money to help the poor. She hires Estela to run a school for the children of prostitutes. Both Estela and No become involved in the birth of Mexico's social revolution, coming of age in a corrupt society where the rich enjoy material treasures, the wise enjoy spiritual treasures and the poor must wait for their "treasures in heaven." Alcal 's extensive research provides pertinent information about the political and economic turbulence preceding the Mexican RevolutionDfrom underground feminist actions to the contradictory roles of the Catholic Church as both agent of insurrection and supporter of the government. Alcal 's championship of the redemptive power of change, one's duty to community and family, equality of the sexes and spiritual enlightenment still resonate, but her saga has lost much of its freshness. Unfortunately, the dynamic historical facts aren't enough to redeem a weak plot and banal characters. The Flower in the Skull disappointed many of those who enjoyed Spirits of the Ordinary; regrettably, this third volume will not restore readers' faith in Alcal , and may fare poorly. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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