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Title details for A Ballad of Love and Glory by Reyna Grande - Available

A Ballad of Love and Glory

A Novel

by Reyna Grande
Yareli Arizmendi
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
2023 International Latino Book Award Winner
Finalist for the Texas Institute of Letters's Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Fiction

A Long Petal of the Sea meets Cold Mountain in this "epic and exquisitely wrought" (Patricia Engel, New York Times bestselling author) saga following a Mexican army nurse and an Irish soldier who must fight, at first for their survival and then for their love, amidst the atrocity of the Mexican-American War—from the author of The Distance Between Us.
A forgotten war. An unforgettable romance.

The year is 1846. After the controversial annexation of Texas, the US Army marches south to provoke war with México over the disputed Río Grande boundary.

Ximena Salomé is a gifted Mexican healer who dreams of building a family with the man she loves on the coveted land she calls home. But when Texas Rangers storm her ranch and shoot her husband dead, her dreams are burned to ashes. Vowing to honor her husband's memory and defend her country, Ximena uses her healing skills as a nurse on the frontlines of the ravaging war.

Meanwhile, John Riley, an Irish immigrant in the Yankee army desperate to help his family escape the famine devastating his homeland, is sickened by the unjust war and the unspeakable atrocities against his countrymen by nativist officers. In a bold act of defiance, he swims across the Río Grande and joins the Mexican Army—a desertion punishable by execution. He forms the St. Patrick's Battalion, a band of Irish soldiers willing to fight to the death for México's freedom.

When Ximena and John meet, a dangerous attraction blooms between them. As the war intensifies, so does their passion. Swept up by forces with the power to change history, they fight not only for the fate of a nation but for their future together.

"A grand and soulful novel by a storyteller who has hit her full stride" (Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies), A Ballad of Love and Glory effortlessly illuminates a largely forgotten moment in history that impacts the US–México border to this day.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 15, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797136646
      • File size: 390455 KB
      • Duration: 13:33:26

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 24, 2022
      Inspired by the life of an Irish immigrant who served in the Mexican Army in 1846 and a Mexican nurse immortalized in a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier, Grande (A Dream Called Home) delivers a worthy old-fashioned epic of romance and war. After Ximena’s husband, Joaquin, is killed by Texas Rangers, she becomes a nurse during the Mexican-American War. John Riley, an Irish immigrant who initially serves in the U.S. Army, resents the harsh way his kinsmen are treated by officers. He deserts to Mexico, where General Santa Anna places him in charge of a unit made up of other Irish deserters called the Saint Patrick’s Battalion. Riley and Ximena meet during the defense of Matamoros. Despite having a wife and son back in Galway, Riley begins an affair with Ximena that continues through the Mexican army’s many defeats. An American victory almost certainly ensures that a captured Riley and his fellow San Patricios will be hanged, so Ximena embarks on an extraordinary effort to save his life. With a backdrop of American arrogance and Mexican corruption along with the nicely imagined relationship between Riley and Ximena, the author sharply illuminates the heroism of her characters. It’s a great story and a revealing look at a lesser-sung chapter of American history. Agent: Johanna Castillo, Writers House.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The Mexican-American War is little known in the U.S., but Mexicans think of it with regret and rage. Narrator Yareli Arizmendl tells this grim story of the American invasion of Mexico with conviction and subtle elegance. Her co-narrator, Aidan Kelly, uses his manly seductive voice to portray both romantic interludes and the grisly details of American barbarism. The hero of the story is U.S. Private John Riley, an Irishman who deserts and joins the other side because of the abysmal treatment of immigrant troops by U.S. officers and his sympathy for Mexico's usurpation--much like Ireland's. Kelly's General Santa Anna is dynamically portrayed and unforgettable. Although it's fiction, this is a revisionist look at a woeful chapter of U.S. history. D.L.G © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      September 1, 2022

      Grande (Across a Hundred Mountains) melds war and romance in this historical novel. The annexation of Texas in 1845 and the dispute over the R�o Grande as its border set the Mexican-American War into motion, throwing this cast of characters together. Tejanos that fought with the Texans to gain the state's independence often found themselves forced from their land in the new republic. The Irish fleeing the potato famine found themselves oppressed by U.S. Yankees. Whatever ruling power was in control promised the oppressed glory if they fought for their cause. This cause brought together Ximena, a Mestizo widow, and John Riley, an Irish expatriate disenfranchised by life in the U.S. army. Narrator Yareli Arizmendi brings Ximena to life, voicing her Spanish-accented English to achieve authenticity and bring listeners into the story as though they are there in Ximena's presence. The other narrator, Aidan Kelly, has a brogue that conjures John's Ireland into existence even in arid Mexico, and he delivers Spanish phrases equally well. VERDICT Grande's latest won't disappoint. Recommended for all collections.--Laura Trombley

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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