Cantora: A Novel - Hardcover

Lopez-Medina, Sylvia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0826313752 ISBN 13: 9780826313751

Publisher: Univ of New Mexico Pr, 1992

Synopsis

Amparo, a young woman, looks back on four generations of the Perez women through the family stories she heard from her Aunt Pilar

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

ocation of four generations of Mexican women who defy tradition to discover themselves. Distanced from her heritage, Amparo is nevertheless spellbound by the histories of her grandmother, aunt, and mother. Listening to the ancestral music, Amparo learns to hear its strains woven throughout her life.

Review:

Born and raised in the United States and now an adult, Ampora seeks to unravel her family's history - the lives of her mother Teresita, her Aunt Pilar, and her grandmothers - Rosario from Mexico and Isobel from Spain. Ampora's probing curiosity about family stories that have been alluded to breaks into full song as histories are revealed. Ampora fondly remembers Grandmother Rosario's private altar where she "would bless me in Spanish, chanting benedictions, filling the room with magic;" Aunt Pilar, who always treats Ampora with a special tenderness and is so different from the other relatives; the tension between her parents and her mother's unwavering defense of her daughter. She remembers meeting with Grandmother Isobel every Saturday morning for the much dreaded embroidery lessons, made easier by her grandmother's love and determination. But when Ampora marries a man not of her grandmother's choosing, Grandmother Isobel tells her: "today you will break faith with your ancestors...I cannot witness this destruction. Never forget who you are! Never forget where you come from!" Through Ampora's memories, her quest for answers about her family past and her questions about how she lives her own life, she begins to understand how history can repeat itself and to learn the chorus of her song. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Holly Smith

About this edition

• Publisher: Univ of New Mexico Pr
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0826313752
• ISBN 13: 9780826313751
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320