By accessing this site, you agree to our Terms and Conditions, our Privacy Policy, and the use of “cookies” and other technologies to collect information about your use of the website and develop targeted ads. To learn more about how these technologies are used and the information gathered by them, visit our Cookie Policy.
great book
What is this genre called? It seems to cross genres.
I read All Over Creation, by Ruth Ozeki, just before I read this novel and they have a very similar feel — about family and forgiveness and facing the past. I recommend it for someone wanting a similarly heartwarming novel.
Another book I have read in this genre is American Dirt by Jeanine Cummings. Ms. Cummings writes ” historical ” fiction, but has no actual Mexican ancestry like Ms. Valdez Quade. Her grandmother is Puerto Rican, and she did research for her portrayal of a Mexican woman fleeing her country. However, it really seemed more like a work of fiction that did not come alive for me as a genuine cultural portrayal. The intergenerational struggles of the Padilla family really came alive for me in The Five Wounds.
I read American Dirt and thought that it was a book that could make Americans understand the PLIGHT of the immigrants. There was not a chance for inter generational struggle in American Dirt—the main character’s family were all murdered!
I, too, wondered what to call this genre. Google lists this as Domestic Fiction. In that I do learn about an area and culture, I saw it first as Ethnic Fiction, but it really is at its core about family, the issues facing any family and, in spite of the resentments and disappointments among family members, the ultimate sense of family as refuge and belonging.
I find it interesting the question asks for thoughts about this “genre.” After finishing the book, I sensed the topics could be universal for any peoples living in poverty, families impacted by addiction, racial stereotypes, past mental and physical trauma(s) and the incredible strength of matriarchs to hold a family together as much as they are physically and emotionally to do so.
Bless Me Ultimata represented a slice of the village life several generations ago. Now the young people of the Espanola Valley do experience Angel’s struggles, and the struggles of her family.
I loved Bless Me Ultima and at the same time seeped for the suffering
This story was realistic, more so than most stories about individuals with problems. The endings were not easy and some lessons were not learned even at death. But, they were real in their feelings, they just lacked communication which was something that should have been taught to the young girls in their Smart school
I am not sure what this genre is.
I was lucky enough back in the 70’s to earn a degree in Latin American literature. So I’ve read a wide variety in that genre. To me this book was a glimpse into a culture so not everything is solved in the book which was realistic to me. Poverty puts a tremendous strain on people and their development and success and failures.
I never heard of anyone attending Mass. I thought that was strange.