Novel
Torn from the Nest
Aves sin nido
Clorinda Matto de Turner · 1889
Synopsis
Fernando and Lucía Marín, an educated couple who have come to settle in Kíllac, a town in the Andes, are outraged to see the priest Pascual, the governor Pancorvo and the judge keeping the Indians under their thumb and growing rich from their labour. Lucía takes up the defence of the family of Juan Yupanqui, whom the town's notables are finishing off financially, and the couple draws the hatred of those who control the town. Meanwhile, a young man of the place, Manuel, falls in love with Margarita, Yupanqui's daughter.
Context
The novel appeared in Lima in 1889, from Carlos Prince's press, and opens a trilogy followed by Índole in 1891 and Herencia in 1895. It met with success in the bookshops in Peru and beyond, but aroused the anger of the elites: speakers in Congress condemned the author, and when in 1890 the Archbishop of Lima declared heretical an article published in the review she edited, crowds consigned her books to the flames, notably in Cuzco. The book has been translated twice into English, in London in 1904, then in 1998 for Oxford University Press, with a preface by Antonio Cornejo Polar.
Who it is for
A sentimental and social novel, in Spanish, which describes life in the Andes without gloss; the author knew this world and its language at first hand.
Prizes and reception
A bestseller from the moment it appeared, it is also the book that turned the Church and part of the ruling class against its author.