Tales from the Town of Widows: & Chronicles from the Land of Men
By James Canon
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
In the small Colombian mountain village of Mariquita, a band of guerrillas storms in to protest the country's ruling government. They arrive with propaganda and guns, and when they depart they have forcibly recruited all the town's men, leaving behind only a few—the priest and a young, fair-skinned boy disguised as a little girl.
In their wake, Mariquita becomes a sinking wasteland filled with women who quickly resign themselves to food shortages, littered streets, and mourning. Without men, life is hopeless, and getting along, nearly impossible. But, Rosalba viuda de Patiño, wife of the former police sergeant, sees a different fate for the town of widows. She declares herself magistrate and promises to instill law and order while restoring the failing economy and infrastructure. Reluctantly, the women agree to join forces. A utopia emerges, one that ironically resembles the ideal society the guerrilla group claims to promote.
Deft, rich, and darkly humorous, Tales from the Town of Widows is a captivating exploration of gender and sexuality that uses the ongoing conflict in Colombia as a backdrop. It presents a fascinating portrait of ill-fated wives and the war that helped them build a peaceful, equality-based society.
Exquisitely wrought, remarkably original, James Cañón's stunning debut marks the arrival of an unforgettable new literary talent.
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Reviews for Tales from the Town of Widows
36 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex. Sex, sex, sex and more sex. Brief or sordid or sad, hopeful, youthful or entrepreneurial. This is not a sexy book but the subject does come up once or twice (or indeed more). Strangely (or maybe not) the only tender encounters are between two men or two women. The stories of the women's lives, where men are portrayed as brutes, are interspersed with stories of the men's lives, as guerillas, paramilitaries etc, where they show their more human sides. There is the feeling that the author is using the book to present his ideal of a new world order and only occasionally are you made to feel that this may be swallowing too much.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5In a small, poor village, all of the men are taken away by rebel groups. This novel details the way that the women, individually, and collectively, deal with their lives in the absence of men. In alternate chapers, we read see short scenes of the men away from the village. I enjoyed some of the individual stories of the folks (particularly the "Other Widow") but overall, it feels flat. It just didn't have much emotional resonance.The overall theme of the novel was better portrayed in Charlotte Perkins Gillman's "Herland"
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tales From the Town of Widows serves up rich stories of how a small town of very unique women cope after their husbands, dads, sons and brothers are forced to go fight in the Colombian civil war for a band of guerrillas, or be shot on the spot. A few men are killed for resisting, but the majority reluctantly head out into the chaos of that devastating conflict. The women left behind consider the guerrillas' order a death sentence for their men. Their isolated, prosperous town rapidly decays, along with the morale of the inhabitants. Ultimately, those who stay devise a new, matriarchal society that, while far from Utopian, plays to the the residents' strengths. Spliced between each chapter is a heartbreaking chronicle of a different man caught up in the 40+-year war. James Canon tells a story that is vivid, amusing, magical and heartbreaking. The offbeat, bittersweet tale makes for a good read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Interesting take on gender in Latin America, a gentle fantasy with a satisfying tone of hopefulness. Bold and adventurous for a first novel!