The Barefoot Queen

The Barefoot Queen by Ildefonso Falcones    647 pages

Port of Cadiz, Spain, January 7, 1748. Caridad steps onto shore a free woman for the first time in her life. Her master died on the voyage from Cuba, but he gave her her freedom before he perished. All she has to her name is her papers, a straw hat, and a small valise that contains a shift. She is barefoot, never having worn shoes. She is overwhelmed with the hundreds of people, the languages, the noise, and the port’s hustle-and-bustle.

Caridad follows Father Damian Garcia, the chaplain on the ship, through the gate into the town of Seville. Don Damian brushes her off, telling her to go find work. Back in Cuba, she had worked on a tobacco plantation was quite knowledgeable on the plant.

By a stroke of fate, she meets a teenage Milagros Carmona, a rebellious, stunning beautiful, buxom, and sexy gypsy. Milagros is instantly enchanted with the Negress. After following her back to her part of town, Caridid is allowed to sleep outside Milagros’ grandfather’s room. He takes a liking to the big-breasted, wide-hipped woman, especially her singing.

As the call of the vagabond retakes Melchor’s heart, he often disappears for days at a time. Behind him he leaves Caridad to fend for herself. Soon Milagros and the Negress are best friends. However, the rest of the clan looks down on the woman so unlike them.

When the gypsies are rounded up and sent to prison, Milagros, Caridid, and Melchor are lucky enough not to be around. Their adventures lead across Spain and into Portugal, smuggling tobacco, into downtown Madrid, into love, and into death over the next several years.

The story that unfolds is a lushly detailed novel, evocative tale of the gypsy life. Sometimes the story is slow, sometimes it’s fast, sometimes it’s horrifying, and still sometimes it’s so beautiful that it almost hurts to read it. I found myself repulsed by the raping of women, especially Caridad. It’s a way of life to which she’s become accustomed.

After I finished the novel I felt as if I had been a witness to the gypsy lifestyle, to the dangers they face because of their race, and to the poverty so many experienced. The novel is rich in historical details, which made me wonder how long it took for Falcones to write this superb tale.

One of the things that I didn’t like/understand is the title. Neither Caridad nor Milagros is The Barefoot Queen.  Milagros rises to become a singing/dancing sensation known as “The Barefoot Girl,” but that’s as close as it gets. I cannot in good conscious give it a four star rating, but this little misstep makes me want to give it a four-point-five rating. Since I cannot do that, I’ll give it five stars. 

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.