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Daughters Of The Stone

by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa

Our price: LBP 39,000Unavailable

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Overview
Readers reviews (5)

Product Details

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Publishing date: 01/09/2009
Language: English
ISBN-13: 9780312539269
ISBN: 0312539266

Synopsis

A lyrical, powerful debut novel about a family of Afro?Puerto Rican women, spanning five generations, detailing their physical and spiritual journey from the Old World to the New.

It is the mid-1800s. Fela, taken from Africa, is working at her second sugar plantation in colonial Puerto Rico, where her mistress is only too happy to benefit from her impressive embroidery skills. But Fela has a secret. Before she and her husband were separated and sold into slavery, they performed a tribal ceremony in which they poured the essence of their unborn child into a very special stone. Fela keeps the stone with her, waiting for the chance to finish what she started. When the plantation owner approaches her, Fela sees a better opportunity for her child, and allows the man to act out his desire. Such is the beginning of a line of daughters connected by their intense love for one another, and the stories of a lost land.

Mati, a powerful healer and noted craftswoman, is grounded in a life that is disappearing in a quickly changing world.

Concha, unsure of her place, doesn’t realize the price she will pay for rejecting her past.

Elena, modern and educated, tries to navigate between two cultures, moving to the United States, where she will struggle to keep her family together.

Carisa turns to the past for wisdom and strength when her life in New York falls apart.

The stone becomes meaningful to each of the women, pulling them through times of crisis and ultimately connecting them to one another. Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa shows great skill and warmth in the telling of this heartbreaking, inspirational story about mothers and daughters, and the ways in which they hurt and save one another.

Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa was born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York City. She taught in the New York City school system before becoming a young-adult librarian. Dahlma has won the Bronx Council on the Arts ACE and BRIO awards, as well as a Literary Arts Fellowship. She lives in the Bronx.

In the mid-1800s, Fela, taken from Africa, is working at her second sugar plantation in colonial Puerto Rico, where her mistress is only too happy to benefit from her impressive embroidery skills. But Fela has a secret. Before she and her husband were separated and sold into slavery, they performed a tribal ceremony in which they poured the essence of their unborn child into a very special stone. Fela keeps the stone with her, waiting for the chance to finish what she started. When the plantation owner approaches her, Fela sees a better opportunity for her child, and allows the man to act out his desire. Such is the beginning of a line of daughters connected by their intense love for one another, and the stories of a lost land.

Mati, a powerful healer and noted craftswoman, is grounded in a life that is disappearing in a quickly changing world. Concha, unsure of her place, doesn’t realize the price she will pay for rejecting her past. Elena, modern and educated, tries to navigate between two cultures, moving to the United States, where she will struggle to keep her family together. Carisa turns to the past for wisdom and strength when her life in New York falls apart.

The stone becomes meaningful to each of the women, pulling them through times of crisis and ultimately connecting them to one another. Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa shows great skill and warmth in the telling of this heartbreaking, inspirational story about mothers and daughters, and the ways in which they hurt and save one another.

"Rejoice! Here is a novel you've never read before: the story of a long line of extraordinary Afro-Puerto Rican women silenced by history. In Daughters of the Stone, Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa rescues them from oblivion and richly, compellingly, magically, introduces them to literature?and to the world."?Cristina Garc?a, author of A Handbook to Luck

"This is a remarkable first novel, both magical and deeply real, that vividly renders the power of storytelling to a diasporic people. The story of each woman in her own time and place is like a luminous fiber, meticulously spun from hay into gold, which woven together creates an unforgettable history, grounded in a black stone that symbolizes the legends and rituals of the Old Ones, but spiraling into a wider world that connects stone to memory and earth to continents. I am happy to add such a clairvoyant new voice to the Latina literary heritage. Llanos-Figueroa's 'Fela,' with her embroidery skills, her dreaming, and her dance of loss and survival, is kindred spirit to my own 'Concepci?n.' I could not resist the magnetic pull of these stories."?Alicia Gaspar de Alba, author of Calligraphy of the Witch

"This commanding exploration of women's history will resonate with readers of strong African American feminist narratives like those of Toni Morrison and Ntozake Shange. With its unflinching description of slavery, it should also appeal to readers of slave narratives like Charles Johnson's Middle Passage and Manu Herbstein's Ama: A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade."?Library Journal (starred review)

?[A] compelling debut . . . Beautifully told by Llanos-Figueroa, this is an unforgettable saga of the magical beliefs binding one family for generations.”?Booklist

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Daughters of the Stone
From Amazon

I just finished reading this book, and I absolutely loved it. Haunting story that I won't be able to quit thinking about for quite some time. The characters were bewitching and as their stories unfolded I felt that they were speaking to me; that they were my ancestors. I absolutely love this book!!!

Great Read
From Amazon

I loved the stories of these women of Puerto Rico. Even though it was a novel, much history of the country was told and I found it enlightening.

Very Disappointing
From Amazon

The dialogue between the two professors criticizing the quality of the character Carisa's work had to come from a true incident about of quality of this author's work. The book was full of clichés and stolen plots from other books. Every generation had isolation from her parents for the most mundane reasons. One child was upset with her mother because her practices created isolation, another daughter was mad because she believed her mother drove the father away, another daughter upset because her mother has a nervous breakdown. None of the characters had any depth and their expressions of feelings were nominal and unbelievable. The characters were just plain old bland. I couldn't even discriminate between the chapters because of the dull storylines and characters. Then the author negates any validity of the Yoruba religion by her making it seem supernaturally learned. Ifa/Lukumi/Santeria is a religion that has been verbal passed down for centuries. The rituals have been learned by initiates from people who were trained in the religion. However, the characters in this book know the religion only through dreams or instinct. The author could have just made a fantasy book with characters that speak Spanish phrases and refer to Puerto Rican plants and towns. Read "Mama Day" by Gloria Naylor or "Practical Magic" by Alice Hoffman if you want to read magical-realism books with adventure and interesting plots and characters. This author actually stole some ideas from both authors, but Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa didn't express the creativity to make turn the idea of childhood isolation and gifts into her own story. P.S. When I was reading the parts with the character Ms. Jackson I had to laugh at her dialect because it reminded me of Mamie from Gone with the Wind. I was just waiting for the words "Miss Scarlet, Miss Melanie, Mr. Rhett" to come out of her mouth.

Great book
From Amazon

I love the stories of the women and the setting in Puerto Rico. I can relate to this story and it brought back fond memories of my abuela. This book covers family, love, sacrifice, pride and traditions.

Great read!
From Amazon

A few ups and downs in the writing, but a great story, characters, and unifying thread nonetheless. It's one of those books that picks one person per generation and follows the family history through important time periods. That genre can be tiresome, but I thought it worked well enough here, b/c there was a lot of inter-connectivity between the generational characters. I didn't know much about Puerto Rican history before and know a bit more now. :) I struggled a little bit with all the Spanish phrases in the book, much of which was left untranslated, but only some of which was actually obvious in meaning. But none of it affects the reader's ability to follow the storyline overall. Those who enjoy books about women making sacrifices, especially in relationships, in order to pursue their own dreams and stay true to themselves will enjoy this book.