Fruit of the Drunken Tree

by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Seven-year-old Chula lives a carefree life in her gated community in Bogotá, but the threat of kidnappings, car bombs, and assassinations hover just outside her walls, where the godlike drug lord Pablo Escobar reigns, capturing the attention of the nation.

“Simultaneously propulsive and poetic, reminiscent of Isabel Allende...Listen to this new author’s voice—she has something powerful to say.” —Entertainment Weekly

When her mother hires Petrona, a live-in-maid from the city’s guerrilla-occupied neighborhood, Chula makes it her mission to understand Petrona’s mysterious ways. Petrona is a young woman crumbling under the burden of providing for her family as the rip tide of first love pulls her in the opposite direction. As both girls’ families scramble to maintain stability amidst the rapidly escalating conflict, Petrona and Chula find themselves entangled in a web of secrecy.

Inspired by the author's own life, Fruit of the Drunken Tree is a powerful testament to the impossible choices women are often forced to make in the face of violence and the unexpected connections that can blossom out of desperation.

• ISBN10: 0525434313
• ISBN13: 9780525434313
• Publish Date: 4 June 2019 (first published 31 July 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Vintage Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780525434313

Reviews

[clementine]

A well-developed sociopolitical atmosphere is betrayed by underdeveloped or unbelievable characters. I do find it difficult to connect with child narrators in general, especially because they tend to suffer from an unbelievable sophistication of thought. Chula was no exception here. Petrona, though pivotal to the plot, wasn't quite as developed as I would have liked her to be. I found her positioning fascinating, but her inner life was lacking: things simply happened to her. There were some questionable representations here, too - the only explicitly Black character is the bad guy, and you could read the end as punishing Petrona - a servant living in the slums of Bogota - for her sexuality. An interesting debut, but not quite everything I wanted it to be.