Fruit of the Drunken Tree
| Author | Ingrid Rojas Contreras |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | |
| Cover artist | Emily Mahon |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | July 31, 2018 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 306 |
| ISBN | 978-0385542722 Search this book on  . |
| 813/.6 | |
| LC Class | PS3618.O5355 F78 2018 |
Fruit of the Drunken Tree is a novel by Ingrid Rojas Contreras set in Colombia during the early 1990s. It was published in 2018. A paperback reprint was published June 4, 2019 by Penguin Random House. The work was at least partly based or inspired by the author's life experiences growing up in Colombia during the time when drug lord Pablo Escobar was alive and in the news in the early 1990s. The novel also touches on political violence in Colombia including paramilitary and communist factions. The novel's narration switches between two of the main characters although the majority of the narration is from the main character, Chula's, voice. One of the novel's overarching themes is how physical, emotional, and economic violence is inflicted disproportionately on women at the hands of men (and even young boys).
Characters[edit]
- Chula Santiago, a seven year old growing up in a gated community in Bogota, Colombia isolated and sheltered from the political and economic realities that country is experiencing.
- Petrona Rodriguez, The Santiago family's teenage live-in maid. Her family lives in one of Bogota's "invasions" (slums). At times naive but other times clearly desensitized to the violence of real life living outside a gated community can expose one to. Petrona has been traumatized by violence that has hit home. Her sometimes mysterious behavior puzzles and charms Chula.
- Cassandra Santiago, Chula's older sister.
- Mama Santiago, Chula and Cassandra's mother who herself grew up or is at least familiar with life in an invasion. Somewhat superstitious but pragmatic.
- Papa Santiago, Chula and Cassandra's father who works for an American oil company and is away from the family for extended periods of time. Once a communist but now a capitalist. Maintains a healthy skeptical outlook in life, is a good story teller but is known to exaggerates some personal experiences.
Reception[edit]
"One of the most dazzling and devastating novels I’ve read in a long time...Readers of Fruit of the Drunken Tree will surely be transformed." --San Francisco Chronicle[1]
"Simultaneously propulsive and poetic, reminiscent of Isabel Allende...Listen to this new author’s voice — she has something powerful to say." --Entertainment Weekly[2]
References[edit]
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