Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Hummingbird's Daughter

The Hummingbird's Daughter
The Hummingbird's Daughter
Author: Luis Alberto Urrea
The prizewinning writer Luis Alberto Urrea's long-awaited novel is an epic mystical drama of a young woman's sudden sainthood in late 19th-century Mexico.It is 1889, and civil war is brewing in Mexico. — A 16-year-old girl, Teresita, illegitimate but beloved daughter of the wealthy and powerful rancher Don Tomas Urrea, wakes from the stra...  more »
Info icon
ISBN-13: 9780316154529
ISBN-10: 0316154520
Publication Date: 4/3/2006
Pages: 528
Edition: Reprint
Rating:
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 61

4.1 stars, based on 61 ratings
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

drkgoddess avatar reviewed The Hummingbird's Daughter on + 14 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Written with a lot of heart. I was hoping for a little more supernatural elements, but since this is technically about a woman who actually existed I suppose it can't be too supernatural.
c-squared avatar reviewed The Hummingbird's Daughter on + 181 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I really loved this book, which did remind me of Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez, although it's been a while since I've read anything by him. So maybe it's more that it reminds me of how I remember GGM: epic, earthy Magical Realism.

I love the sharp contrasts of Urrea's writing -- between the earthiness of the setting, the every day magic that takes place and the spiritual side of Teresita; in the various levels of POV, from very distanced, generic descriptions (the People, lengthy lists) to intimate details of individual lives. He created a book which is both sweeping and intimate, which made me feel alternately comfortable and outraged.
stephkayeturner avatar reviewed The Hummingbird's Daughter on + 35 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
This book had me weeping more than once. The incredibly moving story of Teresa Urrea, The Hummingbird's Daughter, is based on a true historical figure who inspired a Mexican revolution, and who also happens to be a distant relation of the author, Luis Alberto Urrea. The first sections describe in realistic detail the impoverished childhood of a mixed-race girl, bastard daughter of a landowner and an Indian worker who abandons her child. However, the girl receives wealth beyond gold when she is taken in by a gifted medicine woman. When Teresa's own powers bloom, she astonishes everyone around her. A gripping tale of a truly good person facing down the evil of our world.
Read All 11 Book Reviews of "The Hummingbirds Daughter"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

kellilee avatar reviewed The Hummingbird's Daughter on + 66 more book reviews
This book is beautifully written and I had the added pleasure of listening to the unabridged audiobook read by the author. This meant that each Mexican name or word was perfectly pronounced and the pace and timing of the poetic prose was set forth before me just as it was intended to be heard. As Urrea explains in an interview, this book is a blend of nonfiction (years and years of research), poetry and storytelling. This exquisite combination brings Teresita, soon to become the Saint of Cabora, magically to life in Nineteenth Century Mexico.
reviewed The Hummingbird's Daughter on + 628 more book reviews
Magnificient book. I much prefer Urrea to Marquez, actually.
teresalukey avatar reviewed The Hummingbird's Daughter on + 5 more book reviews
So vivid, so beautiful, so sad all at once. I absolutely loved Teresita, she is a beautiful person, who passes no judgement. What else must I say?


Genres: