Eccentric Neighborhoods.

• Author: Mujica, Barbara

Eccentric Neighborhoods by Rosario Ferre. New York Plume, 1999.

Rosario Ferre's exuberant tale of two families--the landed Rivas de Santillanas and the self-made Vernets--weaves a century of Puerto Rican history into the adventures and personal struggles of a plethora of fascinating characters. When Valeria Bofil marries Alvaro Rivas de Santillana in 1900, the first thing she does is hire a schoolmaster to teach her how to read because her father raised her in total ignorance. Rivas is the heir to large sugar plantations and cares more about crops than education, but doesn't stand in her way. As a reaction to her upbringing, Valeria insists that her five daughters receive a university education, not because she wants them to become independent women, but because she thinks it will make them more appealing to potential suitors.

As it turns out, not all the girls make such great matches. Clarissa, the narrator's mother, is among the most successful. A sensitive, moody, and devout woman, Clarissa marries Aurelio Vernet, son of a Cuban who emigrates to Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War. An astute businessman with training in electrical engineering, Aurelio amasses a fortune, making a killing in the cement business. As sugar begins to decline, the cement enterprise takes flight, and the Rivas-Vernet family becomes among the richest and most influential in Puerto Rico. Aurelio, a Freemason who feels that the United States liberated Cuba from Spanish abuse, becomes a strong supporter of North American progressivism and passes on his ideology to his son.

Siglinda, the second Rivas sister, is a fun-loving socialite who marries Venancio Martini, a shrewd and corrupt politician who becomes a leader of the Partido Republicano Incondicional, the statehood party. Dido, a poet, gives up her literary aspirations to marry Antonio Torres and lead a conventional life. Artemisa, a shrewd businesswoman who tries to save at least part of the family land, falls madly in love with Don Esteban de la Rosa, a leading sugar baron, at age forty-four. Unfortunately, the slow-moving suitor makes some bad investments and dies, leaving Artemisa to grow old alone. Lakhme, the youngest of the sisters, is a gorgeous clothes horse who winds up marrying three times. Her first husband, Tom, is an ex-marine who dies of a heart attack; Rodrigo, a Spaniard who imprisons her in his home in Moslem Rabat, is so possessive that she escapes; Edward, an uppity North Carolinian...