Sofia's Saints

by Diana López

Book Overview

Since her mother's death twelve years earlier, thirty-year-old Sofía Loren Sauceda has lived in the same house where she grew up. Although she must work as a waitress to make ends meet, Sofía indulges... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1931010072
• ISBN13: 9781931010078
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Bilingual Review Press (AZ)
• Length: 147 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Satisfying read

This is a wonderfully written book especially considering it is her first. Sofia is looking for magic and the answers to her life while trying to make a living as a waitress and selling her art. She burns the images of saints into wood. The book immerses the reader in the Corpus Christi Tejano culture. I couldn't wait to see how the story would end. I felt satisfied with the whole story. It is like a circle that is complete.

Inspirational and wonderful

I very much enjoyed reading this relatively short novel of a 30-year-old woman in Corpus Christi, caught in her mix of some of life's usual problems. I loved the hobby of creating wood carvings having innovative, contemporary takes on saints, and some of the 1st person thoughts she shares are thoughtful and beautiful. For example, she talks about parallel conversations, like two trees in close proximity, their branches entangled but only because of their nearness, each really wholly a part of its own. I adored the family she works for in the restaurant, and I even loved the landlord Mr. Vela, who struggles with having to free her from the home she's lived in her whole life. The greatest thing about this, to me, was that the author was careful to only show part of the history here until the very end, where a release of how special this relationship really was is brought out. My only regret in the story is Sofia's relation with David, whom I never thought should figure into the story as strongly as he does, and in the very end I feel we reached a bit of a contrived Hollywood resolution. However, this is a wonderful book. I look forward to reading more work of this author, and am grateful to The New Orleans Review for having cited this book in their book reviews section, the place I found out about it.

New Chicana Lit

Sofía's Saints, López's first novel, is a strong contribution to Chicano Literature. This Tejana crafts an engaging narrative around the life and experiences of a Chicana who bridges her faith in her Art with the strength of friends in the absence of familia. Once a "milagro" occurs, the life of Sofía is cast in an equal amount of mystery and discovery. López is a talented young writer who will surely create more blessings in the years ahead.

A novel of self-examination and renewal of purpose in life

Sofia's Saints by Diana Lopez is the introspective story of Sofia Loren Sauceda, a 30-year-old Latina woman who has lost her mother twelve years ago, and now may lose the house where she grew up. Confronting issues from her past and her own misconceptions about art, men, miracles, money, and more, Sofia's Saints is a profound and highly recommended novel of self-examination and renewal of purpose in life.