This historical novel started slowly for me, but by the end it had captured my heart and my head. I especially appreciated the way Urrea brought to life a setting I rarely encounter in fiction, rural late 19th century Mexico. I want to learn more about the historical woman who inspired this book.

The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Urrea is the true story of a strong-willed, teenage Mexican girl in the 19th century. She was said to have miraculous healing powers, inspired the common people to value their native identity, and in the end helped bring about the Mexican Revolution. Can't get over it. A poetic page-turner.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️This was definitely a book that I grew to appreciate the deeper I got into it. The Hummingbird’s Daughter is largely a coming of age story about a half Indian half Yori young girl growing up in Northern Mexico in the late 1800’s. I was more than halfway done when I took the time to search Porforio Diaz to realize this book was much more historical fiction than magical realism. I suppose I would have known if I knew any Mexican history. Nevertheless, I was thoroughly charmed by the author...

This review has been revised on completion. Teresita, the Hummingbird's daughter, existed. She is an acknowledged saint. In this book you learn about her life in Mexico, until she was forced to leave at the age of 19. You learn about Mexico (food, lifestyle, religious beliefs and customs) and about the Mexican Civil War that took place in the last decade of the 1800s. You learn about her role in this war. Teresita was a distant cousin to the author. Although based on known fact, it is a novel. T...

I have had a hard time saying farewell to these people! I loved this sweeping saga, set in late 1800's Mexico, focused on Teresita Urrea, the illegitimate daughter (of the title) of Don Tomas Urrea, the landowner and Padron of a huge ranch. Born with special healing powers, Terecita was called on throughout her life to help birth babies, heal the sick and prophesize. Audiobook thrillingly narrated by the author, who spent 24 years researching the story of his "aunt" Teresita. I think the less yo...

I still dream of this book. And a year later, I am still looking for this book, remade. Like an old girlfired or a wife now dead that will be the ideal all other women in a man's life are compared to. Damn...how can I describe this...My last two years of undergrad, I focused primarily on Female Medieval Mystical Writers. I love how these women brought their faith into their bodies, and write from there...bringing god into themselves as a lover, a layer of skin, a wealt. I love their absolute con...

"The Hummingbird's Daughter" quickly made my list of 25 favorite books ever. Every one of the 20 years Luis Alberto Urrea spent on this story was worth it. There are few books I consider perfect, and this is one: Urrea deftly makes every word, comma, character nuance and plot twist seem straightforward and simple, yet there's so much going on here. He takes the barely sketched history of his aunt Teresita--the "Saint of Cabora" who helped inspire the Mexican revolution--and breathes life into a

Rating: an irritated single star.Someone needs to explain to me why this book is great. I don't think it's even good. It's The Song of Bernadette for the 21st century, written in prose as flat and featureless as the deserts it describes. In this it's no different from Franz Werfel's prose, at least as it is translated into English.I'm as irritated by the untreated mental illness of the young girl as I am by the author's celebration of it as Divine Revelation or whatever. Characters see the child...

The thing that struck me most about The Hummingbird’s Daughter was its “campfire” quality. I imagined it being told by a particularly gifted grandfather. Urrea is no grandfather yet, but his pure storytelling ability is second to none. He creates beautiful rhythms in simple language. Each of his chapters is structured as its own little tale. He dispenses comedy and heartbreak in equal measures. And he doesn’t hold back, trusting his natural instincts to tell the story as the story itself begs to...

Bella Melodía Mexicana de Santa de Cabor4.25 starsMexican author Urrea's mystical mural of a tale following a female saint, known as the "Mexican Joan of Arc" ("Everything the government does...is morally wrong"). Born the love-child of a young wealthy Mexican rancher and a poor Indian girl named "Hummingbird," who abandoned her shortly after birth, she was raped, beaten and apparently died at age 15 and came back to life. Thereafter, she has near-messianic powers of healing as well as precogni...

This is a phenomenal, picaresque story. Teresa (Teresita) Urrea, the Hummingbird's daughter, possessed me, made me want to dig my bare feet in the earth and rub rose petals and lavender all over my body. She is now my beloved hero of contemporary literature. Strong, courageous, formidable, guileless, beautifully vulnerable, compassionate, quick-witted, and luminescent, Teresa is a modern-day *saint* without the dismal, pious sobriety of one. She is more like a noble iconoclast. She hikes up her

I really slogged through this. I’m not sure why I had such a difficult time reading it. I’m glad that I did. I ended up enjoying it but I wasn’t wild about it. It's well written, I liked some of the characters including Huila and Teresa; many of the characters were interesting, although often infuriating. I read as a skeptic but that shouldn’t have detracted from my enjoyment as it hasn’t with other similar themed books. The book was disturbing, violent and depicted many atrocities that humans c...

Certain authors excel at crafting gritty and realistic recreations of the world we live in; others are expert at transforming our world into a more magical and fantastical one. Luis Alberto Urrea, in an astounding feat of alchemy, does both. Within the novel’s sprawling 499 pages, his depiction of Teresita Urrea – his real-life great-aunt, anointed the “Saint of Cabora” – becomes increasingly intoxicating and unputdownable.In a sprawling yet controlled epic, we meet Teresita – the illegitimate d...

I didn’t get into the story until about one hundred pages in, but!, please stay with it, it is amazing and during that time you are introduced to the many people that have given this book life. Note: (because I read a review) Please understand that this book is about a culture, a culture that unless you were brought up with could be difficult to understand the undertones and language that was/is used to express one’s self. Like any cultural book, read with an open mind and enjoy something new. N...

“She learned that women were braver than men. Braver and stronger. She learned that she herself could one day stretch open as wide as a window, and it would not kill her.”First read Luis Alberto Urrea’s Hummingbird’s Daughter nearly 13 years ago. It is still incredible! Something about Urrea’s ability to evoke the landscape and capture a mood really drew me into this story. The mix of the lyrical and the historical evokes the political and social upheaval of the period. And then there is Urrea’s...

5 stars doesn't do this book justice. This book is definitely in my top 10. It was such a great read. So much history and visual beauty put into the book. I liked it more based on its true events and La Santa de Cabora was an ancestor of the author. I couldn't get enough of Teresa's story. It flowed nicely together. I see why it got great reviews any website I looked at. Can't wait to see if Urrea's other books are as good as this one. I'm a sucker for historical fiction of any country. :)

This is a marvellous book that I would recommend to everyone who:Is a fan of Magical RealismIs interested in Mexican HistoryIs intrigued by Catholic sainthood and Wants to learn about “curanderas” (healers or medicine women)Although parts of it, like descriptions of the extreme poverty, are very difficult to read, there is so much beauty in the book to balance it out. This compelling novel is based on the real life person Teresa Urrea, who was the great aunt of the author Luis Alberto Urrea. Urr...

A young Indian girl in Mexico who was known as "The Hummingbird" gave birth to Teresita in 1873. The mixed race baby was the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy rancher. After being abandoned by her mother, Teresita was watched over by the healer Huila who taught the girl about medicinal herbs and midwifery.Teresita was brutally attacked as a teenager, and was thought to be dead. During her wake she returned from the dead. She possessed miraculous powers of healing, and thousands of pilgrims floc...

Luis Alberto Urrea can read to me any time he wants to. Oy! What a voice and how well he reads. This book becomes magical with his voice. Although presented as a book of fiction, there is much truth told from 20-years of research and family tales of a distant relative who became known as the "Saint of Cabora." A story that mixes pre-revolutionary Mexico with folk tales and a touch of magic realism. A wonderful ride.

This is a very interesting story about a real woman who lived in Mexico in the late 19th century. She was the author's great-aunt, and he grew up hearing stories and legends about her. Beginning in 1985, the author began twenty years of research leading to this novel. Teresita was considered the "Saint of Cabora," although she did not think of herself in that way. She was born the bastard daughter of Don Tomas Urrea. At birth, she had a strange triangular mark on her forehead. The curandera said...