Bookverdict.com

Mi nombre es Malarrosa. (My Name Is Malarrosa) Rivera Letelier, Hernan. Chile: Aguilar: Santillana. 2008. 254p. ISBN 978-956-239-582-3. pap. $19.99. FICTION Does a child's name influence his or her character and destiny? Best known for his novels, including two Chilean National Book Awards, Rivera Letelier chronicles the rise and fall of Malarrosa ("Bad Rose"), who is condemned at birth owing to the mistake of the civil registration official. The daughter of unlucky, poker-playing vagrant Saladino Robles, Malarrosa grows up in Yungay, a lawless and crumbling saltpeter mining town in the Atacama desert. She seems as ethereal as the ever-present desert mirages. But when her father acquires a new talisman, her life becomes more closely bound by the primitive town, still marked by the workers' uprising at San Gregorio and subsequent massacre that left hundreds of workers dead. Thought this is a vivid, lyrical evocation of life in a Chilean desert town, with an unhurried narration that matches the slow pace of village life, at times the chapters stray from the main plot to relate merely loosely interconnected events. Malarrosa's magical powers, an unknown killer, and the death of a schoolteacher are never fully developed and thus bring little to the story. In addition, it's hard to understand some of the decisions made by the enigmatic Malarrosa. Recommended only for academic libraries.-Alison Hicks, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder Lib. Copyright 2009 Media Source Inc. ...Log In or Sign Up to Read More