Description
Book SynopsisA moving and powerful novel about the lives of the men, women, and children who endure a second-class existence and labor under dangerous conditions as migrant workers in California’s fields.
“Viramontes depicts this world with sensuous physicality...working firmly in the social-realist vein of Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.”—Publishers Weekly
One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years
At the center of this powerful tale is Estrella, a girl about to cross the perilous border to womanhood. What she knows of life comes from her mother, who has survived abandonment by her husband in a land that treats her as if she were invisible, even though she and her children pick the crops of the farms that feed its people. But within Estrella, seeds of growth and change are stirring. And in the arms of Alejo, they burst into a full, fi
Trade ReviewPraise for Under the Feet of Jesus “Brilliantly executed...intense...exhibits a command of the potential magic inherent in the written word that most writers can only aspire to...a remarkable voice.”—
Sunday Oregonian “Captivating...vivid.”—
Orlando Sentinel “Lyrical...a compelling debut...Viramontes displays gifts of understanding and storytelling unusual for a first novel.”—
Kirkus Reviews “A beautiful story...Her writing is tactile and sonorous, but there is something more...I wanted to meet Viramontes’ characters, squat down, and eat with them.”—Alfredo Vea, Jr., author of
La Maravilla “Tempers a restrained fury at social injustice with lovely lyrical grace...Viramontes has a keen eye for finding beauty.”—
Elle “Gives a fierce poetic voice to the lives of
Piscadores in the California vineyards and orchards...Viramontes writes with an irresistible authority that compels our recognition and wonder.”—Judith Grossman, author of
Her Own Terms “A literary feat and a powerful political statement.”—
Seattle Times & Post-Intelligencer “A lyrical tale… Viramontes’ images linger, and the book will linger for a while, too.”—
Washington Post Book World"A moving, heartbreaking tale of loss and survival."—Julia Alvarez, author of
How The García Girls Lost Their Accents and
In the Time of the Butterflies“Stunning...blends lyricism, harsh realism and concern for social justice.”—
Newsweek“The best literary fiction makes its villains out of situations rather than people, and finds its heroes not in noble victors but in the spirit of ordinary men and women. In this lyrical tale of a fruit-picking family in some nameless weedy place, there is no sadistic overseer, unless it is the pitiless sun, which sucks sweat and hope from laboring bodies. Viramontes's novel comes the closest of any yet to universalizing this appalling life.”—Joanne Omang,
The Washington Post“An exciting read...Throughout this rich novel, Viramontes brings us into her world and we fall under her spell.”—
Los Angeles Times Book Review “A remarkable tale...a wealth of robust colors and magic...Readers will take to the lushness of
Under the Feet of Jesus like a thirsty traveler to a well.”—Thomas Keneally, author of
Schindler’s List
