Fruit of the Drunken Tree

Posted on 03 August 2018 by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

In the vein of Isabel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a mesmerizing debut set against the backdrop of the devastating violence of 1990 s Colombia about a sheltered young girl and a teenage maid who strike an unlikely friendship that threatens to undo them bothThe Santiago family lives in a gated community in Bogot , safe from the political upheaval terrorizing the country Seven year old Chula and her older sister Cassandra enjoy carefree lives thanks to this protective bubble, but the threat of kidnappings, car bombs, and assassinations hover just outside the neighborhood walls, where the godlike drug lord Pablo Escobar continues to elude authorities and capture the attention of the nation.When their mother hires Petrona, a live in maid from the city s guerrilla occupied slum, Chula makes it her mission to understand Petrona s mysterious ways But Petrona s unusual behavior belies than shyness She is a young woman crumbling under the burden of providing for her family as the rip tide of first love pulls her in the opposite direction As both girls families scramble to maintain stability amidst the rapidly escalating conflict, Petrona and Chula find themselves entangled in a web of secrecy that will force them both to choose between sacrifice and betrayal Inspired by the author s own life, and told through the alternating perspectives of the willful Chula and the achingly hopeful Petrona, Fruit of the Drunken Tree contrasts two very different, but inextricable coming of age stories In lush prose, Rojas Contreras sheds light on the impossible choices women are often forced to make in the face of violence and the unexpected connections that can blossom out of desperation. Best Read Fruit of the Drunken Tree [ by ] Ingrid Rojas Contreras [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr Wow What an incredibly moving and touching story Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras delivers a vivid, profoundly engrossing coming of age story that is told through two young girls who couldn t bedifferent, yet, they share a connection that is unheard of given the circumstances Fruit of the Drunken Tree begins with the primary narrator, Chula, studying a photo of a young girl she once knew in Bogota Chula and her family live a relatively comfortable life behind the walls Wow What an incredibly moving and touching story Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras delivers a vivid, profoundly engrossing coming of age story that is told through two young girls who couldn t bedifferent, yet, they share a connection that is unheard of given the circumstances Fruit of the Drunken Tree begins with the primary narrator, Chula, studying a photo of a young girl she once knew in Bogota Chula and her family live a relatively comfortable life behind the walls and gates that protect them from the violence that ravages through Columbia Chula recounts the time that Petrona, the other narrator, is hired to work in her home as a housekeeper Petrona, although a little older than Chula, lives in a village that s been pillaged by the local guerillas The burden of supporting her family rest on her young shoulders and it s heartbreaking.Actually much of this story is heartbreaking Although Contreras writing is poetic, I couldn t stop feeling anxio...via my blog Mam said Pap had to work far away because there were no jobs in Bogot , but all I knew was sometimes we told Pap about things, and sometimes we didn t The Santiago s lives behind a gated community may as well be a different world entirely from where their new, thirteen year old maid Petrona comes from Despite their differences, or perhaps because of them, Chula is drawn into a friendship with her Where Chula and her sister Cassandra spend via my blog Mam said Pap had to work far away because there were no jobs in Bogot , but all I knew was sometimes we told Pap about things, and sometimes we didn t The Santiago s lives behind a gated community may as well be a different world entirely from where their new, thirteen year old maid Petrona comes from Despite their differences, or perhaps because of them, Chula is drawn into a friendship with her Where Chula and h...When I was young, I was frequently chastised for being too sensitive I wasn t a wimpy sort of kid I just felt everything deeply If I was happy, I was practically delirious When I really felt something, I was frequently accused of being melodramatic I truly was not trying to get attention I was just a little different from my very tightly wound family I projected thoughts and feelings onto everything from animals to bedsheets I remember the weighty impact certain realizations made on When I was young, I was frequently chastised for being too sensitive I wasn t a wimpy sort of kid I just felt everything deeply If I was happy, I was practically delirious When I really felt something, I was frequently accused of being melodramatic I truly was not trying to get attention I was just a little different from my very tightly wound family I projected thoughts and feelings onto everything from animals to bedsheets I remember the weighty impact certain realizations made on me when I became aware of them the vast number of people in the world each living their own life of which I was completely unaware, the horror of being homeless, my cousin Katie who died in a household accident before I ever knew her and w...Set in Bogota, Colombia in the 1990s, Fruit of the Drunken Tree is an incredibly well crafted novel told mostly from the perspective of Chula, an upper middle class girl living a happy life with her older sister, mother, and father Alternating with Chula is the perspective of Petrona, a poor girl from the Hills where Chula s mother was raised Determined to help girls who were in that position, Chula s mother always hires poor girls to clean their house, and Petrona is the latest Petrona s ent Set in Bogota, Colombia in the 1990s, Fruit of the Drunken Tree is an incredibly well crafted novel told mostly from the perspective of Chula, an upper middle class girl living a happy life with her older sister, mother,...I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.Chula grows up in a wealthy Colombian family, spending her days getting into trouble with her sister and marveling at her family s graceful but mysterious maid, Petrona This story, brought to life by the magic and anxiety of Chula s imagination, starts of as the account of a quaint and innocent school girl However, as Colombia gets embroiled in the chaos of Pablo Escobar s nefarious dealings and the violent crime of narcotics I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.Chula grows up in a wealthy Colombian family, spending her days getting into trouble with her sister and marveling at her family s graceful but mysterious maid, Petrona This story, brought to life by the magic and anxiety of Chula s imagination, starts of as the account of a quaint and innocent school girl However, as Colombia gets embroiled in the chaos of Pablo Escobar s nefarious dealings ...This book was equal parts heart wrenching and beautiful The writing in this book has been compared to the writing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and I would absolutely agree with that comparison My parents are Colombian and I have visited Colombia several times, although not recently Her descriptions brought back so many memories for me and I was astonished by how wonderful her descriptions were Despite my heritage, I am unfamiliar with Colombian history I still found it easy to follow the plot This book was equal parts heart wrenching and beautiful The writing in this book has been compared to the writing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and I would absolutely agree with that comparison My parents are Col...I want to give EVERYONE this book.This is a powerful and beautifully written book In the tradition of masterful Latin American writers, this story conveys the history of Colombia in the early 1990 s, the time of FARC, Pablo Escobar, kidnappings and violence It s the story of families and relationships and how the political circumstances affected everyone The story is told from the po...With her father away at work, Chula lives with her sister, Cassandra and her mother in Bogota, Colombia in a kingdom of women With the na vet of childish wonder pimpled with desperation Chula comes of age amidst civil unrest, car bombs, first loves and news of The G...full review on my blog I cannot wait for this novel to come out I will definitely be adding this to my library.This was a great book I m an advocate for diverse literature but I do understand I do not read many books about the Hispanic Latin American community This is the second book I read that is written by a Colombian author I loved the strong female characters in this book enjoyed the writing I wish there was a bitexplanation about the historica...

03 August 2018

Ingrid Rojas Contreras