In this translation of her dramatic work, The Day of the Moon, novelist Graciela Limón tells a story of forbidden loves. The novel spans the twentieth century, the Southwest from Mexico to Los Angeles, skin colors, the sexes, religious boundaries, life and death, and four generations of a family named Betancourt. Among its members: Don Flavio, who believes that chance may win one a fortune, but only ruthlessness can hold onto it … his secretive sister, Brígida… and his beautiful, golden-haired daughter Isadora, who refuses to submit to her father’s dictates, however terrible the cost to her — and everyone around her.
Behind them all stands the silent figure of the runner Jerónimo Santiago, one of the native Tarahumaras who work on Don Flavio’s hacienda. Though they may wish to deny it, the Betancourts are pursued by Jerónimo —even in death— to the deepest, most hidden recesses of family memory.
“Murder, dismemberment, casting out, imprisonment, love, loyalty and the lives of the spirits sweep through the pages of this novel and make it hard to put down.” -San Antonio Express-News
“Limón gradually reveals the entire story in all of its complexity… This attention to detail provides much of the richness of this fine novel.” -Multicultural Review
GRACIELA LIMÓN is the critically-acclaimed and award-winning author of five novels: Erased Faces (Arte Público Press, 2001), winner of the 2002 Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award; The Day of the Moon (Arte Público Press, 1999); Song of the Hummingbird (Arte Público Press, 1996); The Memories of Ana Calderón (Arte Público Press, 1994); and In Search of Bernabé (Arte Público Press, 1993), the recipient of an American Book Award. In Search of Bernabé was translated and published in Spanish as En busca de Bernabé in 1997. Limon is Professor Emeritus at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles where she served as a professor of U.S. Latina/o Literature and Chair of the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies.
MARÍA DE LOS ÁNGELES NEVÁREZ has a Master’s Degree in Spanish Language from Emory University and a Master’s Degree in Latin American Literature from Duke University. She currently directs the Spanish Department of Pilgrim School in downtown Los Angeles and writes a syndicated daily program that is transmitted in over 50 Hispanic radio stations throughout the United States.
