Summary and Reviews of The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea

The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea

The Hummingbird's Daughter

by Luis Alberto Urrea
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Readers' Rating (3):
  • First Published:
  • May 1, 2005, 512 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Apr 2006, 528 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

A spectacular novel as grand as a western sunset, the story of a girl coming to terms with her destiny, with the miraculous, and with the power of faith. It is the tale of a father discovering what true love is and a daughter recognizing that sometimes true love requires true sacrifice.

From one of America's most beloved authors, a tale of miracles and passion

Teresita is not an ordinary girl. Born of an illiterate, poor Indian mother, she knows little about her past or her future. She has no idea that her father is Don Tomas Urrea, the wild and rich owner of a vast ranch in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. She has no idea that Huila, the elderly healer who takes Teresita under her wing, knows secrets about her destiny. And she has no idea that soon all of Mexico will rise in revolution, crying out her name.

When Teresita is but a teenager, learning from Huila the way plants can cure the sick and prayer can move the earth, she discovers an even greater gift: she has the power to heal. Her touch, like warm honey, melts pain and suffering. But such a gift can be a burden, too. Before long, the Urrea ranch is crowded with pilgrims and with agents of a Mexican government wary of anything that might threaten its power.

A spectacular novel as grand as a western sunset, The Hummingbird's Daughter is the story of a girl coming to terms with her destiny, with the miraculous, and with the power of faith. It is the tale of a father discovering what true love is and a daughter recognizing that sometimes true love requires true sacrifice. Full of cowboys and outlaws, Indian warriors and cantina beauties, silly men who drink too much and desert women who in their dreams travel to the seashore, The Hummingbird's Daughter is Luis Urrea's majestic masterpiece, the story of one girl's life and the swollen heart of all Mexico.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

The Washington Post - Joanne Omang
To the very end, The Hummingbird's Daughter is a book of surprises and savory treasures. Urrea's much-praised recent work, The Devil's Highway, was a journalistic re-creation of the deaths of 14 Mexicans who crossed illegally into the U.S. southern desert in 2001. He has loosened his expressive reportorial skills to write lyrical fiction, and we can only be grateful.

Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Urrea effortlessly links Teresita's supernatural calling to the turmoil of the times, concealing substantial intellectual content behind effervescent storytelling and considerable humor.

Kirkus Reviews
Only at the end does Urrea fully evoke Teresita's incandescent spiritual power-that, otherwise, is a mildly engaging look at life on a prerevolutionary Mexican ranch, with amusingly irreverent touches.

Library Journal - Lawrence Olszewski
... though he excels at describing the atmosphere of a familiar world, the dialog is often stilted, and the telling of the insurrection and miracles lacks conviction.

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Beyond the Book



Urrea (pronounced oo-RAY-ah) was born in Tijuana, Mexico. His father was Mexican, his mother from New York. When he was three his family moved to San Diego where he grew up and attended college. He currently teaches at the University of Illinois (Full bio)

The Hummingbird's Daughter is based on the real-life story of his Great Aunt Teresita, the 'Saint of Cabora'. She was born in 1873 to a 14-year-old Indian girl impregnated by a local rancher. Raised in poverty by an abusive aunt she managed to learn music and to read and also exhibited great healing powers. At 16 she was raped and lapsed ...

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