How does this book differ to other books you have read in this genre, or did it challenge your presumptions about the genre?
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dennis mcgraw
dennis mcgraw
2 years ago

great book

PAULETTE
PAULETTE
2 years ago

What is this genre called? It seems to cross genres.

April
April
2 years ago

I read All Over Creation, by Ruth Ozeki, just before I read this novel and they have a very similar feel — about family and forgiveness and facing the past. I recommend it for someone wanting a similarly heartwarming novel.

Judy Worth
Judy Worth
2 years ago

Another book I have read in this genre is American Dirt by Jeanine Cummings. Ms. Cummings writes ” historical ” fiction, but has no actual Mexican ancestry like Ms. Valdez Quade. Her grandmother is Puerto Rican, and she did research for her portrayal of a Mexican woman fleeing her country. However, it really seemed more like a work of fiction that did not come alive for me as a genuine cultural portrayal. The intergenerational struggles of the Padilla family really came alive for me in The Five Wounds.

Sandy B
Sandy B
2 years ago
Reply to  Judy Worth

I read American Dirt and thought that it was a book that could make Americans understand the PLIGHT of the immigrants. There was not a chance for inter generational struggle in American Dirt—the main character’s family were all murdered!

Dee
Dee
2 years ago

I, too, wondered what to call this genre. Google lists this as Domestic Fiction. In that I do learn about an area and culture, I saw it first as Ethnic Fiction, but it really is at its core about family, the issues facing any family and, in spite of the resentments and disappointments among family members, the ultimate sense of family as refuge and belonging.

Cathryn
Cathryn
2 years ago

I find it interesting the question asks for thoughts about this “genre.” After finishing the book, I sensed the topics could be universal for any peoples living in poverty, families impacted by addiction, racial stereotypes, past mental and physical trauma(s) and the incredible strength of matriarchs to hold a family together as much as they are physically and emotionally to do so.

Margaret
Margaret
2 years ago

Bless Me Ultimata represented a slice of the village life several generations ago. Now the young people of the Espanola Valley do experience Angel’s struggles, and the struggles of her family.

Colette Mancke
Colette Mancke
2 years ago
Reply to  Margaret

I loved Bless Me Ultima and at the same time seeped for the suffering

Sharon
Sharon
2 years ago

This story was realistic, more so than most stories about individuals with problems. The endings were not easy and some lessons were not learned even at death. But, they were real in their feelings, they just lacked communication which was something that should have been taught to the young girls in their Smart school

Pat Wright
Pat Wright
2 years ago

I am not sure what this genre is.

Colette Mancke
Colette Mancke
2 years ago

I was lucky enough back in the 70’s to earn a degree in Latin American literature. So I’ve read a wide variety in that genre. To me this book was a glimpse into a culture so not everything is solved in the book which was realistic to me. Poverty puts a tremendous strain on people and their development and success and failures.

Sandy B
Sandy B
2 years ago

I never heard of anyone attending Mass. I thought that was strange.