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| Bilingual Review Press, 1992 |
Unconfirming. Unapologetic. Quixotic. Rebellious.
Ana Castillo’s debut novel, THE MIXQUIAHUALA
LETTERS, was “groundbreaking” and largely misunderstood. Mainly because the
book was not a novel per se, instead the 138-page book is a collection of
letters from Teresa to her friend Alicia, an artist.
Readers are cautioned at the beginning of the
book that they have three options on how to move forward – “for the conformist,
the cynic and the quixotic.” Depending
on which option the reader takes that would determine his journey and satisfaction
at the end.
The letters are only from Teresa’s point of
view, but they contain enough substance to flesh out both women, and to highlight
their adventures. Confronted with strict
societal roles and rules of conduct, Teresa and Alicia rebel. They leave their
husbands, travel to Mexico by themselves and proceed to drink, smoke, and sleep
around. They act like men, and that can be very threatening. Teresa and Alicia are not conformists;
they may be a little quixotic; and, they are definitely cynical. And by the end of
the correspondence, readers are left with two defiant women boldly proclaiming
their independence.
SUMMARY: This
epistolary novel was written as a tribute to Julio Cortázar’s HOPSCOTCH, and examines Latina forms of love, gender conflict, and female friendship. This
groundbreaking debut novel received an American Book Award from the Before
Columbus Foundation and is widely studied as a feminist text on the nature of
self-conflict.
#THROWBACKTHURSDAY
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