Book Recommendations
Fruit of the Drunken Tree
By Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Fiction, Coming of Age, Hispanic & Latino, Family Life, General | 320 pages
2 recommendations
“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
“Simultaneously propulsive and poetic, reminiscent of Isabel Allende...Listen to this new author’s voice — she has something powerful to say.”
--Entertainment Weekly
Seven-year-old Chula lives a carefree life in her gated community in Bogotá, but the threat of kidnappings, car bombs, and assassinations hover just outside her walls, where the godlike drug lord Pablo Escobar reigns, capturing the attention of the nation.
When her mother hires Petrona, a live-in-maid from the city’s guerrilla-occupied slum, Chula makes it her mission to understand Petrona’s mysterious ways. Petrona is a young woman crumbling under the burden of providing for her family as the rip tide of first love pulls her in the opposite direction. As both girls’ families scramble to maintain stability amidst the rapidly escalating conflict, Petrona and Chula find themselves entangled in a web of secrecy.
Inspired by the author's own life, Fruit of the Drunken Tree is a powerful testament to the impossible choices women are often forced to make in the face of violence and the unexpected connections that can blossom out of desperation.
--San Francisco Chronicle
“Simultaneously propulsive and poetic, reminiscent of Isabel Allende...Listen to this new author’s voice — she has something powerful to say.”
--Entertainment Weekly
Seven-year-old Chula lives a carefree life in her gated community in Bogotá, but the threat of kidnappings, car bombs, and assassinations hover just outside her walls, where the godlike drug lord Pablo Escobar reigns, capturing the attention of the nation.
When her mother hires Petrona, a live-in-maid from the city’s guerrilla-occupied slum, Chula makes it her mission to understand Petrona’s mysterious ways. Petrona is a young woman crumbling under the burden of providing for her family as the rip tide of first love pulls her in the opposite direction. As both girls’ families scramble to maintain stability amidst the rapidly escalating conflict, Petrona and Chula find themselves entangled in a web of secrecy.
Inspired by the author's own life, Fruit of the Drunken Tree is a powerful testament to the impossible choices women are often forced to make in the face of violence and the unexpected connections that can blossom out of desperation.
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Veronica Allan
"As preparation for an Explore trip to Colombia I sought out Colombian authors and found Ingrid Rojas Contreras, and I’m so glad I did! Contreras, now living in the US, achieved immediate acclaim for this, her first, and somewhat autobiographical, novel. The main characters are two young sisters who live in a large house in a wealthy, gated suburb of Bogota in the 1990’s during Pablo Escobar’s reign of terror. Their very self-absorbed mother hires a maid, Petrona, herself only a teenager and fascinating to the two girls. Petrona’s home life is lived in cardboard shack in Bogata’s hillside slums. Deftly weaving together the lifestyles of the poor and middle classes, Contreras, who grew up in Bogotá herself, reveals the terrible insecurities of childhood in a world of anarchy and violence. Although this book is by a female author with female main characters I’d like to point out that my husband also read it in preparation for our trip to Colombia, and loved it. It is a fast read that will keep you riveted to the lives of ordinary Colombians enduring an extraordinary period of history. Colombia is now a safe destination and it’s astonishing to find places like Medellin, once one of the world’s most dangerous cities, so transformed and open for tourism!"
Veronica Allan
"Both my husband and I read this book as preparation for an Explore trip to Colombia earlier this year. Set in Bogota, it describes the lives of two sisters growing up in the dangerous era of Pablo Escobar’s narco terrorism. The author, who is Colombian, cleverly includes the life of the privileged, the sisters, and that of the poor, their maid. The children live in a big house in a gated community, but they are adventurous and strong-willed which inevitably leads to escapades beyond their boundaries. The maid, whose family lives in a cardboard shack in the hills that surround the city, falls prey to a boyfriend involved in criminal activities. The friendship that develops between the younger sister and the maid endures despite the gulf between them, but further elaboration would lead to spoilers. I recommend Ingrid Rojas Contreras to any curious reader, and if you are contemplating an Explore trip to Colombia, it should be an essential introduction to the country’s troubled past and a talented literary voice."
