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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
May 2005, 512 pages
Paperback:
Apr 2006, 528 pages
A spectacular novel as grand as a western sunset, the story of a girl coming to terms with her destiny, with the miraculous, and with the power of faith. It is the tale of a father discovering what true love is and a daughter recognizing that sometimes true love requires true sacrifice.
From one of America's most beloved authors, a tale
of miracles and passion
Teresita is not an ordinary girl. Born of an illiterate, poor
Indian mother, she knows little about her past or her future. She
has no idea that her father is Don Tomas Urrea, the wild and rich
owner of a vast ranch in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. She has no
idea that Huila, the elderly healer who takes Teresita under her
wing, knows secrets about her destiny. And she has no idea that
soon all of Mexico will rise in revolution, crying out her name.
When Teresita is but a teenager, learning from Huila the way
plants can cure the sick and prayer can move the earth, she
discovers an even greater gift: she has the power to heal. Her
touch, like warm honey, melts pain and suffering. But such a gift
can be a burden, too. Before long, the Urrea ranch is crowded with
pilgrims and with agents of a Mexican government wary of anything
that might threaten its power.
A spectacular novel as grand as a western sunset, The
Hummingbird's Daughter is the story of a girl coming to terms
with her destiny, with the miraculous, and with the power of faith.
It is the tale of a father discovering what true love is and a
daughter recognizing that sometimes true love requires true
sacrifice. Full of cowboys and outlaws, Indian warriors and cantina
beauties, silly men who drink too much and desert women who in
their dreams travel to the seashore, The Hummingbird's Daughter
is Luis Urrea's majestic masterpiece, the story of one girl's life
and the swollen heart of all Mexico.
One
ON THE COOL OCTOBER MORNING when Cayetana Chávez brought her baby to
light, it was the start of that season in Sinaloa when the
humid torments of summer finally gave way to breezes and
falling leaves, and small red birds skittered through the
corrals, and the dogs grew new coats.
On the big Santana rancho, the People had never seen paved
streets, streetlamps, a trolley, or a ship. Steps were an
innovation that seemed an occult work, stairways were the
wicked cousins of ladders, and greatly to be avoided. Even the
streets of Ocoroni, trod on certain Sundays when the People
formed a long parade and left the safety of the hacienda to
attend Mass, were dirt, or cobbled, not paved. The People
thought all great cities had pigs in the streets and great
...
Urrea (pronounced oo-RAY-ah) was born in Tijuana, Mexico. His father was Mexican, his
mother from New York. When he was three his family moved
to San Diego where he grew up and attended college. He
currently teaches at the University of Illinois (Full
bio)
The Hummingbird's Daughter is based on the real-life story of his
Great Aunt Teresita, the 'Saint of Cabora'. She was born
in 1873 to a 14-year-old Indian girl impregnated by
a local rancher. Raised in poverty by an abusive aunt she
managed to learn music and to read and also exhibited
great healing powers. At 16 she was raped and lapsed ...
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