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January 3, 2000
Following the author's two previous collections, El Milagro and Days of Plenty, Days of Want, and written in the bilingual idiom of the Southwest, this is a volume of 11 charmingly simple, imagistic stories about several varieties of love: the desperate love of a mother for her son away at war; the love that refuses to fight when a relationship is abused but that takes a delicate revenge; the aching of young loves separated by time and distance; the love of a woman who writes letters to her long-dead husband; the loving prayers of old women for the characters of a telenovela whose lives seem so turbulent. There is a sweet (not saccharine) depth of feeling here, matched by the author's depth of cultural wisdom. Bits of regional lore are sprinkled throughout--like the very precise instructions for making a petition to a local saint (actually a young lover killed by a jealous husband a century before) or the recipe for a lovers' breath freshener. Poems, letters, promesas left on altars and verses of songs are interwoven with the stories to create an earthy yet innocent celebration of romantic longing.
February 15, 2000
How do I love thee? Let Martin count the ways. Just as she did in El Milagro and Other Stories, oral historian Martin draws on the oral literature of the Arizona Mexican American community to tell 11 love stories: an epistolary "Arranged Love," a lyrical "Lost Love" with a surprise ending, the poignant "Mother's Love" for her war-scarred son, and the unexpected humor of "Forbidden Love." Occasionally, the realization of this love relies on nonliterary elements--the story called "Desperate Love" relies on herbal recipes, "Frustrated Love" on magic spells, and "Enchanted Love" on prayers to St. Valentine. These short stories transcend their regional milieu to tell universal amorous truths. Written with finesse and without pretension, they are charming and appealing. Recommended mostly for public libraries.--Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC Lib., Dublin, OH
Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.