The Hummingbird's Daughter

The Hummingbird's Daughter, by Luis Alberto Urrea, 528 pages

This is one of those books that has a really interesting backstory to its very writing.  Urrea grew up hearing of a nineteenth-century relative of his who was a Mexican saint and was exiled to America for being a danger to the Mexican government.  (My family definitely doesn't have any characters like that in the archives.)  Over the course of twenty years or so, Urrea worked on this fairly giant book that combines Mexican folklore and history with family history and legend.  It's a beautifully written story- with tons of descriptive language and untranslated Spanish curses, as well as a healthy dose of seldom-taught Mexican history.   Long story short: Don Tomas Urrea is a rancher in Mexico, who also happens to love the ladies.  One of his illegitimate children is Teresita, a young lady who has a gift that grows over the course of the book and leads to her death.  Well, sort of... no spoilers here.  This book has a couple of really great characters and relationships and was just a sensory experience that deserved more time spent with it.