Friday, May 04, 2007

Book Review: Aluburquerque by Rudolfo Anaya


As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was pleased to read Alburquerque after attempting Jalamanta. The latter was such new age tripe and difficult to read that I put it down after two evenings of trying to make it through. The story seems that it would have been good if the language itself was accessible. I started Alburquerque right away to make sure that I didn’t need to get rid of all the other Anaya books on my list. I don’t.

This is a great book about a young man, Abran, who finds out that he is adopted at the age of 21 in a letter from his mother written on her deathbed. He goes to her side and she dies that evening, but he doesn’t know who is father is. His mother kept this secret in her heart and only his father knows, but had promised Cynthia not to divulge the secret.

The coming of age story is set in the midst of a mayoral race in Albuquerque, and Abran agrees to fight for Frank Dominic, a rich man who uses his power and money to get what he wants. Abran’s search finds him true love, friendship, and eventually a confidence that “he is who he is” (a theme that keeps repeating itself throughout the book—an attempt to remind Abran that even without the knowledge of his biological father, he knows who he is).

Well-written, well-crafted and a very interesting book to read, Alburquerque will be on my “recommend to others” list for some time.

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