Dreams of the Centaur: A Novel

By Montserrat Fontes

Book Overview

"Dreams of the Centaur" brings to light for the first time in fiction the tragic enslavement of the Yaqui Indians by Porfirio Diaz's regime at the turn of the last century. Through the lives of the Ducals--a Mexican family who has created a ranch out of the desert--this "Western saga brimming with the heart and soul of Mexico . . . is an extraordinarily rich novel" ("West Coast Review of Books").

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 039331605X
• ISBN13: 9780393316056
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Length: 349 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 1.0" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Terrific Novel!

An excellent book, meticulously researched and convincing. The characters are easy to connect with, and the story of the Durcal family in turn-of-the-century Mexico is intriguing, enlightening, and an absolutely first-rate piece of fiction.

A rich text, filled with the painful history of Mexico

Dreams of the Centaur, a book which I read some 5 years ago and still affects me, tells the story of the ramifications of the miscegenation of the Native Indians and the descendents of the conquistadors. It is a complex tale that incorporates both the heinous massacre of the indian natives and the beauty of the Mexican culture as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys well researched and thoughtful commentary on a difficult subject.

Delicate handling of little known political issues re: Yaqui

I flew through the book, completely engaged in the characters, the period, the politics of the removal of Yaqui indians from their homeland under Diaz. Great prose and a view of a time and place in Mexico we know little about.