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    A Ballad of Love and Glory: A Novel
    A Ballad of Love and Glory: A Novel
    A Ballad of Love and Glory: A Novel
    Ebook442 pages8 hours

    A Ballad of Love and Glory: A Novel

    By Reyna Grande

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    2023 International Latino Book Award Winner
    Finalist for the Texas Institute of Letters’s Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Fiction

    A Long Petal of the Sea meets Cold Mountain in this “epic and exquisitely wrought” (Patricia Engel, New York Times bestselling author) saga following a Mexican army nurse and an Irish soldier who must fight, at first for their survival and then for their love, amidst the atrocity of the Mexican-American War—from the author of The Distance Between Us.

    A forgotten war. An unforgettable romance.

    The year is 1846. After the controversial annexation of Texas, the US Army marches south to provoke war with México over the disputed Río Grande boundary.

    Ximena Salomé is a gifted Mexican healer who dreams of building a family with the man she loves on the coveted land she calls home. But when Texas Rangers storm her ranch and shoot her husband dead, her dreams are burned to ashes. Vowing to honor her husband’s memory and defend her country, Ximena uses her healing skills as a nurse on the frontlines of the ravaging war.

    Meanwhile, John Riley, an Irish immigrant in the Yankee army desperate to help his family escape the famine devastating his homeland, is sickened by the unjust war and the unspeakable atrocities against his countrymen by nativist officers. In a bold act of defiance, he swims across the Río Grande and joins the Mexican Army—a desertion punishable by execution. He forms the St. Patrick’s Battalion, a band of Irish soldiers willing to fight to the death for México’s freedom.

    When Ximena and John meet, a dangerous attraction blooms between them. As the war intensifies, so does their passion. Swept up by forces with the power to change history, they fight not only for the fate of a nation but for their future together.

    “A grand and soulful novel by a storyteller who has hit her full stride” (Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies), A Ballad of Love and Glory effortlessly illuminates a largely forgotten moment in history that impacts the US–México border to this day.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWashington Square Press
    Release dateMar 15, 2022
    ISBN9781982165284
    Author

    Reyna Grande

    Reyna Grande is the author of several books, including the bestselling memoir The Distance Between Us, where she writes about her life before and after she arrived in the United States from Mexico as an undocumented child immigrant, and the much-anticipated sequel, A Dream Called Home. She also co-edited an anthology by and about undocumented Americans called Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings. Her books have been adopted as the common read selection by schools, colleges and cities across the country.

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    Reviews for A Ballad of Love and Glory

    4/5

    18 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Love always finds a way. The horrors of war involving a greedy American government are made clear in this novel. The beautiful Mexican landscapes and its people are not very prepared for this assault; their own governmental infighting handicaps them. The hateful racism of the military towards anyone who isn't from America is astounding whereas the Mexican people embrace all. Thank you to Goodreads for a copy for my review.
    • 4/5
      "But wasn't life just like that? A powerful nation will always hunger for more power. And they will always find men like himself- starving wretches, so far from home and country and desperate to do right by their families- to do the dirty work."Everytime I read a BIPOC historical fiction book I fall more in love with the genre. A Ballad of Love and Glory by Reyna Grande was no exception. This was one of my most anticipated releases this year and it did not disappoint. Grande gives you lush storytelling seeped with Mexican history and culture, curanderismo and a love story that simmers slowly. Ximena is a fearless, determined and relentless protagonist. She is a force of nature and a dedicated advocate for her people. I loved Ximena's transformation and she grew her strength from helping to heal her people using her family's traditional medicinal practices. She is the heart and soul of the novel and serves as a gentle reminder that your country lives in your heart and traditions are carried with you regardless of geography. The novel shows us the dangers of trusting the U.S. over your own people and how throughout history U.S. land possessions being called war victories over certain lands were really acts of brute force against innocent people motivated by greed. We see the repercussions all over the Americas even today. Through her POV you get an in depth look at Mexican history and the unfolding of certain events that transpired during the Mexican American War. I learned so much from viewing the story through her eyes. So mush has been omitted and white washed in history. I found myself underlining so many lines to cross-reference and research. I had never heard of the Irish Battalion that ended up fighting for Mexico after leaving due to being tortured by the U.S. soldiers. It makes me wonder how different Irish-Mexican relations would like if the whole truth had been taught long ago. What would it look like if racism had not severed that relationship as well?I loved this book and found the storytelling compelling and captivating from the start. I appreciated that the love story wasn't the main focus and that it grew slowly out of heartbreak, loneliness, commonalities and circumstances. There are never winners in war but the biggest victims are the poor and working people who's only wish is to live a peaceful life with their families. There are moments that will make your heart race and then break. Some of my favorite moments were the tender ones between Ximena and her grandmother. I highly recommend this one if you are interested in learning more about Mexican history and you appreciate enthralling storytelling. Thanks to @atriabooks for the gifted copy.
    • 4/5
      Many historians consider American’s Mexican War of the 1840s to be an unjust war, one primarily waged to grab land for the extension of slavery and thus of human greed. Because of this motive and rampant nativism in the US Army, many immigrant soldiers deserted the American army to join the Mexican forces. This story tells of these soldiers’ formation of the Saint Patrick’s Battalion (many immigrants were Irish) and of their historical leader John Riley. Atop these historical nuggets of suffering and contention, Grande places a love story with a strong female protagonist.In this work, Riley, a native of Ireland, and his love Ximena, a native of Mexico, unsuccessfully try to fight off American invaders. Ximena serves the army as a nurse while Riley leads the battalion. Riley’s soldiers have left American forces because of ethnic mistreatment. They fight courageously, and many die at the hands of the Americans. Saint Patrick’s Battalion ends up hanging from nooses in the largest mass execution in US history – a point of American shame.Of course, as a patriotic American, this story seems to pick the wrong side for me. My studies on the Mexican War have convinced me that it was indeed an unjust war. Even the great president Abraham Lincoln agreed in his objections while in Congress. Nonetheless, this book contains strikingly negative portrayals of Americans – including nativism, hubris, and war crimes. The reader should be prepared for these. I would have liked for Americans to have been painted in a more nuanced light, but I also fear that such a portrayal might not have been reflected in the historical record. It also reminds me of more recent events in my country’s imperfect history.Precisely because this book hits on such tender points does it deserve to be read today. Further, nativism, immigration, and America’s southern border are political hot points in the news today. Reading this book makes me think that their roots lie in deep history, perhaps embedded in human nature. Regardless, discomfort is a reason to read a book, not to eschew it. Such is true with Grande’s novel. It reminds us that human nobility transcends race, religion, or nationality; instead, it is something bound up with loyal love and glory.
    • 4/5
      First off, this is a war story with a little romance thrown in. This is part of a Christmas gift I received from my youngest son. Part of the reason I didn't care for it was because of all the blood and gore part. While it is fiction, it is supposed to be of the US and the Mexican War and the greed part of the war.It is heavily balanced on the Mexican side but I don't know by how much. This is not for the under 18 readers and I've given it a 4* rating. There is a lot of violence and nasty talking in this. While it had a lot of feels in it, this is just not what I enjoy reading.

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    A Ballad of Love and Glory - Reyna Grande

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