A Beautiful Tale of Mexico

"To say that I enjoyed this book would be an understatement. It is beautifully written, paced well, and emotionally provocative. The characters are each memorable and serve their purposes excellently. The scenes are not simply told; they are painfully recounted by the narrator, whose reluctance in telling her story may evoke sympathy from even the most impartial of readers. The author's style syncs well with the plight of her narrator, dripping with thoughtful metaphors that skilfully describe the setting, the characters' appearances, thoughts, and feelings, and the action. Details both large and small are given equal importance via their imaginative comparisons which make the reader wish he or she possessed, even if only for a moment, the author's mind's eye. The author's poetic diction seems grammatically inconsiderate, but upon further thought it only reinforces its antiquity and helps the reader believe that this story was indeed written by its narrator: Maria the Native half-sister of Martin, son of Hernan Cortes. The author's writing ranges from silky descriptions of forbidden romances to scorching depictions of inner turmoil and passionate violence. The love and sadness characters feel for each other may be easily felt by the reader. The wise innocence of children is successfully contrasted with the superficial and often self-destructive concerns of adults. The loathing that is caused by the prejudices of the time, both of self and of others, elicits sympathy and contempt in equal measures. Strewn with beautifully alive descriptions and metaphors, this is the most obvious strength of the novel. The overarching theme of the novel appears to be racial and cultural identity within the context of 16th century Mexican history. The main character, Martin Cortes, agonizes over his place within his family and Spanish society as a biracial, or mestizo, man living with the high status of a conquistador. He despises the dark color of his skin and feels that it makes him ugly despite the attention he receives from beautiful women. His younger brother, also his father's preferred heir, constantly taunts and belittles Martin for his Native blood. This rivalry is further compounded when the love of his life, Venera, is betrothed to his younger brother over him and it is implied that his mixed race is the reason. When he arrives in his birthplace of Mexico he finds himself immediately torn between it and his adopted home of Spain. His Native half-sister and half-brother, the revolutionary Atl (my favorite character), have designs for him to appeal to the Spanish king on their beleaguered people's behalf, while his brother-in-law Luis works to secure his inheritance from the clutches of his prejudiced younger brother. Whether he chooses one or the other, or accepts his mixed heritage for what it is, is this character's major test within the narrative. This is foreshadowed by the long journey across the Atlantic when he comes to view the ship's crew as basically good-natured despite being of different races than himself. The ship's captain describes the the back-and-forth voyages as being a sort of limbo between the two shores, and one which they inhabit in perpetuity. This section of the book is a particular favorite of mine. The narrative suffers from quite a few grammatical errors which can be fixed easily. Some word choices are a little puzzling while others are unique. I hope that if the author does choose to rewrite or edit this novel that she does not do away with the intricate idiosyncrasies which bless this story with its antiquated feel. The bittersweet ending is heartbreaking but altogether necessary. It affirms the need to recognize the suffering involved with one's heritage and also to accept and honor it for what it is. I fell in love with this book from the beginning pages and truly hope it will find its way out of the limbo between creation and publication. Well done, Ms. Guillen, and best of luck to you!"