Our Lady of the Night: A Novel

Mayra Santos-Febres is a master storyteller. The setting is Puerto Rico during WWII, and follows the rise of a real life madam, Isabel la Negra. But the story is not told in linear order. And interspersed between chapters filled with narrative plot are feverish prayers said by isolated or sidelined characters in the story. One is left with the feeling that the reader doesn't know the whole story.
There is much attention to detail throughout the book making me think Santos-Febres did her research regarding the time period. She consistently names the streets her characters take throughout the book, allowing readers familiar with the locations to place themselves in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

DNF pg. 77.
No rating; didn't read enough to fairly give it one.

I picked this one up because the actual person that the book is about sounded like an interesting topic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_la_Negra).

However, the style of the book, very heavy on poetic language and internal monologues, and, in what I read, light on actual historic detail, just didn't grab me. It may just have been my mood at the time, but I ended up leaving my copy of the book in Puerto Rico. Hopefully someone else will find and appreciate it!