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A review by awebster92
The Barefoot Queen by Ildefonso Falcones
5.0
The Barefoot Queen is completely breath-taking from page one. I would call it a coming of age story of two very different woman. Caridad was a slave, she was freed by her master after he died. She quickly came to understand that nothing had changed. Caridad was stuck in her slave mindset. Through her whole life she has been beaten and raped; sadly nothing had changed. Her freedom wasn't real.That was until she met a Gypsy named Milagros. Milagros was a free spirit, she was raised to be proud of her heritage. Nothing could bring Milagros down, and She became very fond of Caridad.
Caridad was quiet and mouselike from her years of torment, but Milagros was going to make her feel human. Milagros lived for and with Caridad. It was almost a mother daughter bond. They both experience horrible misfortunes in the novel. Milagros being a gypsy was prosecuted in almost every way. It broke my heart in more ways than one. I feel that is the reason a good amount of reviewers didn't like this book. It was soul-wrenching, I believe that is the point of this novel. It's full of events that leave a nasty taste in your mouth, though many don't realize that the obstacles Milagros and Caridad faced probably did happen to the people at that period in time. We live in a nasty world with a bittersweet ending.
I really enjoyed Ildefonso Falcones work, I had never read anything by him in the past. I would read more of his work in the future. I would rate this novel a 5/5
Caridad was quiet and mouselike from her years of torment, but Milagros was going to make her feel human. Milagros lived for and with Caridad. It was almost a mother daughter bond. They both experience horrible misfortunes in the novel. Milagros being a gypsy was prosecuted in almost every way. It broke my heart in more ways than one. I feel that is the reason a good amount of reviewers didn't like this book. It was soul-wrenching, I believe that is the point of this novel. It's full of events that leave a nasty taste in your mouth, though many don't realize that the obstacles Milagros and Caridad faced probably did happen to the people at that period in time. We live in a nasty world with a bittersweet ending.
I really enjoyed Ildefonso Falcones work, I had never read anything by him in the past. I would read more of his work in the future. I would rate this novel a 5/5