Description
The Way of the Saints is a multi-generational novel based on Elizabeth’s family and her personal experiences as the daughter of a Santeria priestess. The stories tell of three generations of Puerto Rican women: Paula, Isabel, and Esther as they navigate Puerto Rico’s Independence movement of the 1930’s and the opulence of 1980’s Westchester, New York. Paula and her children move to the brutal and impoverished Lower East Side. There, desperate to have a child and uncover the origins of a family curse, her youngest daughter Isabel begins an unquenchable quest for power and is initiated into the secret African-Cuban religion called Santeria. As she rises in the ranks toward high priestess, her oppressive need for control damages her marriage and her relationship with her only child. Esther, her daughter born of spells and sacrifices, grows up in the 1980’s among the sprawling mansions, the golf clubs, and the yacht clubs of Westchester and City Island. There, Esther’s mother Isabel manipulates the secret practices of magic, leaving Esther juggling between two worlds: ancient island spiritism and yuppy suburban materialism.
The Way of the Saints was originally published by Southeast Missouri State University Press.
