Part biographical fiction, part historical fiction, The Hummingbird's Daughter is a delicious book, set in pre-Industrial, pre-Mexican Revolution Mexico. Following the early life of 'La Santa De Cabora' - Teresita Urrea, Urrea (the name is no coincidence, saint and author are related) seamlessly blends the influences of the Virgin of Guadalupe and the indigenous beliefs and practices of medicine women in creating Teresita's character. Soundly researched and beautifully written, I think my favorite thing about this book is that Urrea resists the temptation to be overly reverential in his treatment of Teresita.
Teresita has a sense of humor, makes mistakes, gets scared, and retains a sense of wonder, or at least joy, in the world around her, and Urrea does an outstanding job capturing the world of harsh reality and puffy-cloud fantasy that one imagines Teresita lived in.
An enjoyable, captivating book to read - for all of its 500 pages, this book grabbed me and made me finish it in a fraction of the time it took me to force myself to read the Interpreter of Maladies.
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