Fruit of the Drunken Tree
A Novel
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4.2 • 136 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Seven-year-old Chula lives a carefree life in her gated community in Bogotá, but the threat of kidnappings, car bombs, and assassinations hover just outside her walls, where the godlike drug lord Pablo Escobar reigns, capturing the attention of the nation.
“Simultaneously propulsive and poetic, reminiscent of Isabel Allende...Listen to this new author’s voice—she has something powerful to say.” —Entertainment Weekly
When her mother hires Petrona, a live-in-maid from the city’s guerrilla-occupied neighborhood, Chula makes it her mission to understand Petrona’s mysterious ways. Petrona is a young woman crumbling under the burden of providing for her family as the rip tide of first love pulls her in the opposite direction. As both girls’ families scramble to maintain stability amidst the rapidly escalating conflict, Petrona and Chula find themselves entangled in a web of secrecy.
Inspired by the author's own life, Fruit of the Drunken Tree is a powerful testament to the impossible choices women are often forced to make in the face of violence and the unexpected connections that can blossom out of desperation.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We all need human connection—but when we’re surrounded by danger, the mere act of trying to forge relationships can be risky. Seven-year-old Chula lives a happy life with her family in a gated community in Bogotá, Colombia, in the early ’90s, during drug lord Pablo Escobar’s reign of terror. Chula’s fascinated by the family’s new maid, Petrona, but Petrona is harboring secrets that may end up hurting them all. Ingrid Rojas Contreras’ debut novel draws on her own childhood experiences and is told in alternating first-person perspectives. Intensely personal and unforgettable, Fruit of the Drunken Tree paints a searing picture of the devastating effects of government corruption, kidnappings, car bombs, and public assassinations on Contreras’ hometown.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rojas Contreras packs her coming-of-age debut full of details about life in early 1990s Colombia during the last year of Pablo Escobar's reign of terror. Seven-year-old Chula's sheltered life in a gated community with her mother and older sister Cassandra cracks open with the arrival of 13-year-old maid Petrona. Petrona comes from a nearby shanty town and fascinates the implausibly precocious Chula, whose greatest excitements are spying on the richest lady in their neighborhood and hunting ghosts. Chula's formidable mother, Alma, grew up in a slum and copes with standoffish and judgmental well-heeled neighbors while her husband works in the oil fields. The family temporarily flees to Alma's home village to escape Bogot 's escalating violence, while Chula and Petrona get drawn into a situation that will eventually pose a dire threat. Chula's fixation on the news allows smooth introduction of the historical events surrounding Colombia's instability and Escobar's eventual death. The skeletal chapters from Petrona's perspective provide some belated explanations for the danger she exposed the family to. This striking novel offers an atmospheric journey into the narrow choices for even a wealthy family as society crumbles around them.
Customer Reviews
Wonderful Story
It was difficult for me because of the story being told from two different perspectives. However in the end it told the story of what people in other countries experience that is difficult for us Americans to imagine. I loved this novel because it made think and feel what I could never imagine and helped me see that my own trials are nothing in comparison to others.
Brilliantly written
I really love this book; the dialogue, the expert way it was written, and how everything goes back to itself. The author took her time with this and it shows.
Deeply impactful
This book is raw and uncensored. It is a true look into the lives of those affected by Pablo Escobar and the corruption that poisoned Columbia at the time.
It is a bit of a long read and is slow since it is written from the perspective a young girl and is almost like reading her journal.
This book has impressed upon me the stark differences between my life and the nightmare that is lived around the world by innocent people who are wronged through corrupted organizations that lead their countries. Grateful to be reminded of my need to do more and say more!