My third book by Caro de Robertis!

This book started off pretty rough for me. Whether it was the writing style or the story, I really struggled getting through Pajarita's portion. However, after that, I practically devoured the rest of the book. It felt much more like what I'd come to associate de Robertis with: lyrical writing, complex women, the influence and impact of the government on their lives.

Still, I really enjoyed how each section felt uniquely their own in terms of writing, each character given their own identity. 

I wasn't getting on well with the writing style, it's a bit too lyrical and flourishing for my taste. Above all, less than 30 pages in, I already found the general tone too graphic for me. It's the kind of throwaway mention of violence and other brutal events that I think few authors handle in a way that I can actually appreciate and endure through. Looking at other reviews I got the sense it'll only get worse later on, so I'd rather stop here. 

The first book I read in Spanish this year and also the longest book I've ever read in Spanish! And it felt very very long... 

It tells the story of Uruguay through three generations of women, starting around 1900 and ending in the 1980s. 

For the whole first part (Pajarita, a girl from the countryside who marries an Italian man and moves to Montevideo) and most of the second part (her daughter Eva who has to leave school and work at age 11 to support the family) I was FURIOUS AT MEN !!!! The male characters were all horrible: getting drunk, gambling away their money, sexually abusing young girls, being unreliable and awful partners and parents, while the women suffered the consequences. But it was totally believable and realistic (which makes it worse...)

The third and last part follows Eva's daughter Salomé, who as a teenager gets involved in the Tupamaros (a left wing guerilla group in the 60s/70s). This part was my favourite, and it made the other parts make sense as you see how each woman influences their daughter's life and choices. It was also the most emotional part, but I wasn't furious at men any more but FURIOUS AT THE WORLD and really sad for all the people caught up in this kind of thing across the world. Again, especially because it's true.

This was a long summary, but it had to be, because this book was so BIG. Not only long, but so much happens in every chapter, and so many characters come and go. Despite that, I feel like the characters were very well written and complete, which is impressive. 

It took a while to get into the swing of reading in Spanish (totally different from speaking Spanish, who knew they had so many words 😭) but it was poetic, and I absolutely loved getting to know more about the country. I would definitely recommend it to anyone wondering about Uruguaian history and culture.

Started off slow and charming, got more and more captivating and poetic with each generation. By Salomé’s story I was in love with the world, the characters, and the voice; beautiful and poetic. I sobbed at the end, a beautiful, gut wrenching, terrible wonderful chronicle of love.