Amazon.com Review
In The House on the Lagoon, a wealthy Puerto Rican woman decides to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a novelist, much to her husband Quintin's chagrin. Isabel Monfort writes what she knows--the history of her family and Quintin's family, dating back to the turn of the 20th century. When Quentin discovers the work in progress, he is dismayed at her factual errors and unhappy that she reveals so many family secrets. Every couple of chapters, Quintin interrupts Isabel's narrative to tell his version of events and worry aloud about his marriage. At first, he tries not to let his wife know he's reading the novel, but soon he cannot resist writing comments in the margins. This "he said/she said" format allows Rosario Ferré to explore sexual divisions in Puerto Rican society and evaluate the blurred boundaries between fact and fiction. Ferré also examines Puerto Rico's severe economic and racial divisions in evocative ways. She describes when Quintin's sisters were children, and they grew weary of playing with one of the servant's babies--the two girls decided it might be more fun if the baby were white, so they painted her. The lead paint made the infant deathly ill, and she had to be rushed to the hospital. "Another half an hour of being white, and Carmelina would have died." Isabel remarks.
At times this book is confusing because there are so many characters to keep track of, but the family tree at the beginning of the text makes it a bit easier to follow. Isabel is an engaging narrator who has plenty of racy and tragic stories to tell. The House on the Lagoon is a fascinating introduction to Puerto Rican history and culture. --Jill Marquis
From Library Journal
The Puerto Rican-born Ferre is a prolific writer in Spanish of poetry, criticism, children's books, and fiction (e.g., Sweet Diamond Dust, Ballantine, 1989), but this is her first novel to be written originally in English. A superb storyteller, she here interweaves the passions and struggles of two families?of Isabel and of her husband, Quintin?and several decades of Puerto Rican history, with conflicts of race, class, and changing relations with Spain and the United States. This is a novel within a novel: the character Isabel is writing a novel chronicling the two families, descendants of Spanish, Corsican, and New England ancestors. Quintin discovers her manuscript and, beginning with marginal notes and comments, ultimately writes his own interpretation of the events. Thus, at another level, this is a novel attempting to answer the question: What is a novel? A fascinating work; recommended for literary collections.?Mary Margaret Benson, Linfield Coll. Lib., McMinnville, Ore.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
Rosario Ferré (1938–2016) was born in Puerto Rico, where her father served as governor. She earned a doctorate in Spanish from the University of Maryland and is best remembered for her novels and short stories. Her literary career began with the publication of the controversial literary journal Zona. Carga y Descarga in 1972, and her first short story collection, The Youngest Doll, was published in 1976. She served as a faculty member at the University of Puerto Rico, Rutgers University, and Johns Hopkins University. In 1992, Ferré was awarded the Liberatur Prix award at the Frankfurt Book Fair for the German translation of her novel Sweet Diamond Dust. She was a finalist for the National Book Award for her novel The House on the Lagoon in 1995. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Brown University and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in creative arts. She was also the recipient of the prestigious Medal for Literature of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture in 2009.
