In the Name of Salome by Julia Alvarez

Leaving Asia and heading over to Latin America, we will be discussing the book In the name of Salome by Julia Alvarez.

Here's a summary of the book:

The Dominican Republic's most famous poet and her daughter, a professor in the United States, are the remarkable protagonists of this lyrical work, one of the most moving political novels of the past half century. Born in 1850, Salom called a revolution into being with her fearless poetry. Even as an adolescent, she saw her pseudonymous poems inspire bloodshed in the streets. Camila, born in 1894, followed the fortunes of her famous family into exile, first in Cuba, then on her own in the U.S., where she became an academic's academic.

The novel's protagonists are based on real characters, yet by offering history through the lenses of both the poet and the scholar, as well as by portraying male-dominated events from the perspective of female activists, Alvarez conveys purely Latin American revolutionary idealism with an intellectual sensuality that eschews magical realism. 

We're meeting on Sunday October 30th at 2pm at Cumaica Cafe in the SOMA/Van Ness neighborhood.

Next Book (November):

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni