The Way of the Saints
Date
2016-06-16
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MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa
Abstract
The Way of the Saints tells the story of three generations of Puerto Rican women: Paula,
Isabel, and Lizzy. It is a story of womanhood, spanning from Puerto Rico’s Nationalist
movement for Independence against American Imperialism to the doldrums of New York City’s factories to the upper echelon in its wealthy suburbs. Paula and her seven children move to the brutal and impoverished tenements of the Lower East Side. There, desperately seeking to uncover the roots to a family curse that has left her infertile, Paula’s youngest child Isabel begins an unquenchable quest for power. Initiated into the secret African-Cuban religion called Santeria, she rises in the ranks toward high priestess, risking losing not only her own life but her relationship with her only daughter. Lizzy, her child born of spells and sacrifices, grows up in Westchester in the 1980’s. Among the sprawling mansions, the golf clubs, and the yacht clubs, Lizzy’s mother Isabel secretly practices a jungle magic that leaves Lizzy paranoid, powerless, and riddled with fear. Juggling two worlds, ancient island spiritism and yuppy suburban materialism, Lizzy’s is a story of secrets and the wants and rages of women. It explores a girl’s quest for identity and freedom as she uncovers the surprising grace of magic found in words and the redemptive power of story.
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Keywords
Santeria, Novel, Puerto Rico, New York, Family, Identity, Women