Under the Bridge: Stories from the Border/ Bajo el puente. Relatos desde la frontera.
Reviewed by Ana Katherine Bonfante, Berwyn, IL -- Críticas, 4/15/2008
Sanmiguel, Rosario.
tr. from the Spanish by John Pluecker. U.S.: Arte Público Press. 2008. 232p. ISBN 978-1-55885-514-4. pap. $14.95. FICTION
The author of Arboles o apuntes de viaje (“Trees or Notes from a Journey,” 2006), Sanmiguel has mostly written fiction set along the Mexico-Texas border. Continuing this tradition in this bilingual volume, she collects stories told by women from different backgrounds and ages whose lives have been marked by hardships: troubled relationships, low-paying jobs, underprivileged backgrounds, poor and dangerous housing arrangements, and illegal border crossings. Yet despite all the obstacles, they are able to prevail and survive. Many interesting characters inhabit these stories: China and Morra, two older women who live in and manage a brothel; Francis, who is trying to escape her troubled love affair with Alberto, who for years has chosen his wife over her; Alicia, a woman whose physical characteristics are always an enigma; Mónica or Moni, who ends up abandoned by her boyfriend in the middle of Rio Grande and left to cross the border alone. Unfortunately, the richness of these stories are not reflected in the English text: the native slang and the detailed descriptions of the characters’ surroundings get lost in the translation. Whereas Pluecker makes some stories feel as if told by someone whose native tongue is not English, the original Spanish narrative portrays more than that: lack of education, an underprivileged upbringing, or the slang of a certain Mexican region. However, this collection is highly recommended for readers with a vast understanding of Spanish, Mexican American, or Chicano history, or anyone interested in the cultural movements developing in the communities along the Mexican-American border.
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