Helena Maria Viramontes

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Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes is a novel telling of Mexican immigrants living as second-class citizens in California. Ms. Viramontes is a short-story writer, and this is her first published novel.

Estrella is a young lady, about to become a woman. Her mother had a very difficult life and both of them barely make a living as farm laborers in California.

Being pushed into the margins of society, Estrella and her show more first love, Alejo, try to fight back. Both of them must navigate the meek existence, as well as being invisible persons to the system that welcomes them as low-wage workers.

Even though this was a short book, it wasn’t a fast read. The story revolves around immigrants working in the fields. Welcomed laborers, unwelcomed guests.

The writing is very good, there are many descriptions which, frankly, seem to be filler to the story. I, however, worked in agriculture for a bit so I’m familiar with what the author tried to write about. Frankly, she did an excellent job describing the fields and work in the industry.

Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes touches many themes including Chicano culture, consumerism, working conditions of the sub-culture, injustice, and more.

While I read much praise for the vivid descriptions, I felt that the book is most poignant when the characters are interacting. The sense of desperation they feel everyday is something that’s felt on almost every page.

The story is very insightful and sad, it’s not going to change any minds though. It took me awhile to realize that this is actually two stories, which caused some confusion when I first started the book.

This is a slow book, not much is happening especially at the beginning. When tragedy strikes, the narrative also slows down as it is very difficult, intimidating, and scary for the family to get, or even ask for, help. Whether they get that help or not is a whole entire story altogether.

If you’re in a book club, this is a perfect book for it. It’s short, with many themes, and an overabundance of opportunities for discussions which went if in tangents even in my own head. show less

In this novel, Viramontes gives us a snapshot of a migrant worker family. Estrella (Star), 13, the oldest of 5 kids, who has her first love interest and is starting to chafe at the family's situation. Her mother, 33, abandoned by her first husband, tired, kind, organized, and doing her best. Her stepfather, Perfecto, about 70 and feeling his age, with adult kids of his own he has lost track of. Alejo, 15 or so, is Estrella's love interest, from Texas, working the fields with his cousin.

This show more book touches on Estrella's wish to be in school, the horrible heat and backbreaking labor, the cruelty and rudeness of the greater community to the migrants who are so necessary to their own livelihoods, the pesticides, her mother trying to get her work done while watching her youngest children, their cramped quarters, and offers chapters on a variety of incidents. It very much felt YA (middle school, not high school) to me (which is fine and appropriate, but not my thing these days)--it glosses over the worst parts. Perfecto wishes he could see his adult children, but it does not get into what that really means. It does not examine why Estrella's mother (33) has partnered with Perfecto (70ish)--is this a love match, or is this a match of convenience for both? We do not even get the truth of Alejo's illness--pesticides or dysentery? The bad things are touched on, but then glossed over. Which is not necessarily inappropriate for a middle school crowd, for example.

I would be very interested in reading an adult book of a similar scope, I am sure they are out there. show less

If you aren't careful you might miss it. If you try to read it fast because it appears to be an easy read you'll do yourself a disservice. If you take the time to roll the lines around in your mouth, to savour them, you'll love this. Perfecto's hands, the peach, maggots and dirt...

If your a fan of Viramontes' short stories you'll not be disappointed in this read. Nothing is lost in the longer format... images are still uncomfortable, characters so close to the surface, line after line beg show more for a pencil.
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Ok, but didn't really blow me away. The flow from one time or point of view to the next blends together and is almost dreamlike, which was interesting, and seeing the ways in which the main character was made to grow up was both touching and saddening. Other than that... *shrug*