Conquistadora

Good quality

I have read Esmeralda Santiago's When I was Puerto Rican and then wanted to learn more. Conquistadora opened my eyes to her passion about Latin American History and it's Spanish roots. Ana is just as real as the other female participants in a system of subjugation, degradation and despair. Her dreams of making a name for herself and ultimately her son Miguel turn into a nightmare. While earning her living off the backs of slaves she learns and lives a young but harsh life.I am a slave historian in training and nothing of fiction intrigued me quite like this book. Santiago's story of an ambitious girl from Spain wishing to follow in her ancestor's footsteps is proof that what we want from life and what life gives us are two different things. Santiago has also convinced me that in a system that was predominately man driven, a woman can be just as cold, distant and determined for success no matter who's expense which that success will come.I'd learned about Conquistodora's in my undergrad studies and this book has pushed me to learn more. A good read for those who think they know the true history of the enslavement of people's of African descent. Though fiction, the sights, smells, etc. were almost as real as what many of the actual slaves and enslavers went through. Great read.

I loved this book on so many different levels. As a native of Eastern North Carolina with family roots that go back to 17th-century Virginia, I was already well aware of the racial and social hierarchies of a New World slave economy. I live in the remnants of one. However, exploring those themes through a Hispanic, Catholic and Caribbean lens made the familiar foreign..... and much more interesting.I enjoyed the book's fast pace and deft weaving of historical detail into personal stories. The book is told through several different voices, the main one Ana's, the Conquistadora of the title. I appreciated the chapters examining the stories of the slaves and native people of the island, those these chapters could have been more numerous in my opinion.Some things I liked: The book takes care to note the distinct ways that women such as Ana are controlled in the patriarchal Spanish culture. Bits of Spanish are woven into the books narrative, which is also nice.My biggest complaint comes with the ending of the book -- it didn't leave me feeling satisfied, not so much in that I wanted something different to happen, but that it seemed rushed and anti-climatic compared to the great build of the book.Overall this book is a great summer read and does more to explore the darker parts of a New World slave economy than "Gone WIth the Wind" ever did.

I must say, as a Puertorican, I learned a lot my history. I now know how my ancestors from Spain, however distant they may be, treated their slaves, and how the sugar cane plantations operated.I commend Esmeralda Santiago for a very thorough job in researching before writing the book! She is a great Puertorican writer!I liked the book because I understood it. I am from Puerto Rico. I speak Spanish. I know the lingo. However, in too many occasions, the Spanish words and expressions used were not translated or easily inferred from the description or dialog. If I am going to recommend this book to my all English speaking club members, I will need to go back and make a glossary of words and expressions that are not translated and hard to infer, so the non-Spanish speakers understand it fully. It is a shame because it could be a wonderful learning experience for those that know very little about Puerto Rico in Spanish Colonial times.I am proud to be from Puerto Rico and I want to educate others in the United States about my background.

What a story! I can't believe this hasn't been made into a movie yet. I could barely put the book down, even when my eyes where half shut from sleepiness. This women conquered it all, all the way down to the bitter end. Esmeralda, you out did yourself with this novela; and you made each character come to life. I can totally see Selma Hayack as the main character if it were a movie. I hope someone in power to make this into a movie will do so and keep it as true to the book as possible. I am looking forward to more brilliant books from this author that deserves accolades for this body of work. And yes I have read her other books and love them all, but this one is extra special. This is a must read for anyone interested in reading something really good.

I,m not much on historical based reading, but glad I went with the "WISE" bookclub with this book. This is an interesting and easy read. I started and was drawn into the history, characters, and the storyline. Didn't want to put it down until I was finished. This book was a constant companion during hurricane, Irene. A must read for those who like strong characters, and interesting storylines. Warning: there are many spanish phrases and words used but always made plain in the text so just keep reading. I might get one of the author's other books to see just how good she really is. I highly reccomend this book. A good entertaining read.

This book is outstanding in its contents. It was in some parts very difficult to understand because of the continued use of the Spanish language. I affirm that for somebody that is ignorant to that language, the book will a tedious reading. The author did address this matter by 1) the use of italics or 2) in some cases the immediate translation to English, also in italics. But this, not being a continuous and expected method of bringing emphasis to the early nineteen hundred years epoch; it may have been confusing to some. Not withstanding this, the author did a first class presentation of that transition under the Spanish flag: from the shamefull era of masters and the servitude of the slaves. Not withstanding what I just said, I rate this book with 5-stars, because of its interesting presentation of an unbelievable story.

One day, I just had a craving to learn about Puerto Rican history... I am in London, UK and have no roots in the Caribbean, but just felt a sensation to know more since my knowledge of colonial history and slavery in the Spanish Caribbean was limited to a book called Monkey Hunting I read by Cristina Garcia which is set in Cuba. The following day I came to find it was the anniversary of the abolition and emancipation of slaves in Puerto Rico! Spooky...I am a big fan of this book. Alongside the excellent and in depth research, you tell it's written with a lot love by the author. The characterisation, the scenery, the internal monologues... it just blends well together to give a complex portrait of a country struggling to forge its own identity against the backdrop of being one of three colonies at that time who still practised slavery. The consequential regional tensions are expertly depicted.As much as it's a story about Puerto Rico, the author always give a credible portrait of early 19th century Spain and the various cultural influences that play a role in Puerto Rico's development and history.I won't give any pot spoilers away, but I'm so glad that the author has expressed her desire to make a trilogy. The characters are so fascinating, multi-layered and complex that there is definitely a lot of scope for more stories to come out of the hacienda, its proprietors and workers.The reason it has just missed out on 5 stars for me, is because towards the end some of the sub plots that the author spent so much attention to crafting and building in earlier chapters were rushed towards the end.Otherwise, I feel privileged I chose this to read as an exploration of Puerto Rican heritage and culture. Bring on the sequels!

please note my review is for the audio version of the book, namely theunabridged version in 14 CDs. I am giving it 2 stars for the following reasons:firstly the audio quality is excellent as one has come to expect from Random House Audio alias Listening Library, I admire when the author reads her own work and this is no exception only this author does not only read her novel but has interpretation skills which areremarkable. the novel is well written flows is very evocative and has very vividdescriptions so much so that it does transport you there.... and yes like one of the reviewer commented there are too many Spanish words and unless one understands the language, it is not easy to follow. There should have been either a glossary or notes to explain the meaning of Spanish words, i understand some but not all of them..... but is immorality a compulsory law that needs to be respected at all costs? Is disrespect towards the Catholic religion also a compulsory attitude that makes people get far or high in other people’s estimation?I am not sure if this novel has a point, what is she aiming at what does shewant to prove if anything? everybody knows slavery was not right or fair.I praise the author for choosing the physical connotations of Ana, the main character, not as the usual tall and beautiful, possibly thoughnot necessarily blonde but why did the author decide to give her suchcharacteristics like heartlessness, she is overconfident and stubbern at timesarrogant and very self centered. Many times she behaves as if she were the onlyvictim, innocence in person and she is very good in turning the tables.at the beginning one could perhaps sympathize with her but she sort of lost it for me when she did not behave appropriately with her best friend, of course it had to be in a convent because if it wasn’t, the author might have died from absence of enough disrespect for the Catholic religion, she lost it for me when she slapped her slave and when she refused to assume responsibilityfor what she did, ok ultimately there are no saints here but in my opinion Ramonwas right when he told her that she should have stopped the two twin brothers from taking turns in her bed, even if it is true at thebeginning that they took advantage of her in the bed department but when she learntthe truth she should have said something, she should have stopped them and madeclear that she could have a child and should they continue they would never knowwho the father would be. true they should have imagined the consequences of their action but it isalso true that she manipulated the both of them to get what she wanted, she knewof their immaturity, so if they are to blame so is she, even more so in fact. onehas also to assume that even though she knew she might get pregnant, she did not even care who the father was … who cares? There were no DNA tests at that time, the child of one is like the child of the other…. Disgusting. Despite the author's efforts to justify her they did notwork for me, if the author is really justifying her. time and time again shepoints out Ana did not complain for her hard work of course she did not, sinceshe was the cause of all the mess and distruction around her, it would have beenstupid.at face value perhaps it's a book of protest: thinking of the 'qualities' of the main character, perhaps the author is tracing a parallel between her and how los conquistadores must have been and perhaps looking at the book from this perspective the author is simply describing what was and should have never happened, sowing the seed in the reader of disgust and revolsion towards Ana, her manipulative ways and her great luck. unless this is an allegorical bookwhere Ana is a symbol of something and consequently what is around her and whathappens are also a symbol, the content of this book does not make sense.It is Ana’s first husband (and later son) amongst other things one tends tosympathize with at the end, the point is she, ‘in love’ with her best friend as she was, was never inlove with him, on the contrary she is domineering in manipulating all the peoplearound her to get what she wanted and she gets it. at the beginning she evengets sick on purpose to get her own way, also when her husband dies she is notcrying for him but for herself, she only thinks of herself.the marriage between Ana and Fuentes however is even too predictable and the death of the 2 brothers is too convenient toleave Ana in the arms of her ultimate lover, like the death of her first son is convenient so that she has no ties with her first husband’s family and all belongs to her and her new family, as she of course has a son with her second husband who will inherit the land.At the beginning this novel had great potential to be either a great novel with a happy ending or a great historical non-romantic novel and the result is the book is neither of those. the author loses herself.... one never understands what side she is on, if any.I almost cried for the missed opportunity here ... I did not research the historical information but I trust the reviewer who said they were not correct because I happened to read and review a book that stated some facts as ‘historical’ but they were so unrealistic that I searched and searched and never found anything to backup those claims. In any case the language was beautiful, the landscapes were beautiful, the description of slavery and people's lives were vivid and detailed, why did the author have to spoil everything with people behaving badly? It makes me sad to think … another book with criticism against the Catholic religion … yeah as if believers of other religions were all perfect, as if religion has always been treated in the right way ….. yeah right.I would not recommend this book to anyone and not only for the passages of sex and violence.

Had a hard time getting past the first chapter, but after that was accomplished, I found Conquistadora to be a fascinating read. Strong characters and Mrs. Santiago showed us the good and bad sides of human nature in this very riveting novel.b.c.