The magical saga of a remarkable family undone by madness, fate, and politics, and a dutiful daughter’s lifelong pursuit of righteous retribution
Josefina Esperon’s parents came to Latin America together, but with separate missions. Her father, Dr. Alejandro Esperon, sought to better humankind by harnessing the curative powers of tropical plants. His wife, the beautiful, pious, and quite mad Eufemia, came seeking sainthood. Josefina enjoyed a privileged childhood of plenty in a forty-three-room former convent, never lacking for companionship in a home filled with her father’s mistresses, including Josefina’s favorite, the great actress Carlota Montejo. But her idyll was undone when the vicious Serrano family seized power in paradise, and almost overnight, everything and everyone Josefina loved was ruthlessly destroyed. Now, at age eighty-two, having become wealthy and famous, Josefina is finally ready to enjoy what she has worked her entire life to achieve: revenge.
A masterwork of magical realism from the acclaimed author of Splendora, Edward Swift’s The Daughter of the Doctor and the Saint is a novel infused with color, mystery, and wonder. It is a tale brimming with tragic incident and triumphant resolution that stands proudly alongside the touchstone works of the genre.