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| Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, D.F. |
Review of The City of Palaces: author, Michael Nava
By Roberto Haro
We are not safe in the United States, now and henceforth, without taking Mexico into account; nor is Mexico safe disregarding us. --Anita Brenner, The Wind that Swept Mexico
Anita Brenner’s words come to mind as the reader savors the rich literary tapestry woven by Michael Nava, a consummate storyteller and accomplished writer, in his new novel, The City of Palaces. Nava is a highly regarded and celebrated author with a string of impressive and successful novels to his credit. This new book delves into the social and political events that marked the end of the Porfirio Díaz era in Mexico. The abusive conditions in Mexico under the old tyrant are skillfully detailed to surface the egregious class and caste systems, and the repressive subjugation of the Indians and the poor.
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| Porfirio Díaz |
In 1910, there existed in Mexico the vestiges of an aristocratic class that continued to celebrate patrician attitudes and cultural norms. Three of the major characters, Miguel Sarmiento the doctor, Alicia Gavilán and her mother María de Jesús Gavilán, the Marquesa de Guadalupe Gavilán, known as La Niña, are part and yet apart from the higher circles of Mexico’s elites. Sarmiento, trained as a physician in Mexico, has a dark secret that caused his departure for Europe, where he became a doctor, steeped in the progressive aspects of science and medicine. Alicia, one of La Niña’s daughters, was stained with an affair and an affliction that changed her trajectory in life. Part of an aristocratic family that married off three other daughters to wealthy men eager to attain social and economic advantage from such unions, Alicia had a beneficent social consciousness that differed substantially from that of her sisters and extended family. Nava constructs her with a deeply embedded blend of religiosity and a passionate concern for the less fortunate.A book launch for City of Palaces will be held Sunday, March 30, 3-5 p.m., Stable Cafe, 2128 Folsom Street, San Francisco
The romantic attachment between Miguel, a man of science and erudition, and Alicia, deeply religious and committed to help the destitute, is carefully developed by Nava. Both are wounded creatures, each with strong reasons to pursue divergent paths. Yet, they bond in ways that only true lovers achieve. Superficial beauty and the appeal of the flesh often draw together people, but when coupled with societal norms that favor and admire unions of wealth and pedigree, a vapid and uncaring class continues. Nava’s heroine is beyond such outdated and unrealistic behavior and expectations, something that perplexes La Niña.
In Alicia, the reader finds a charming, appealing, highly motivated woman who learns to transcend her physical affliction, and anachronistic patrician pedigree. Yet, the strengths, wisdom and determination in La Niña, carefully and impressively cobbled together by Nava, make her a formidable character. She is a survivor, much like the men of business to whom her three daughters are wed.
The marriage of Miguel Sarmiento and Alicia displays two different hearts and minds. While their love links them in affection and passion, his atheism and her religious fervor cannot separate them. Their love finds a way to overcome dissimilarities that would normally separate people with such divergent attitudes. When they have a son, the boy bonds with his grandmother in a fascinating way that reveals a softness within masked by La Niña’s flinty exterior.
But forces beyond the control of Miguel and Alicia surface, a revolution, and gender choices. Rodrigo, the elder Sarmiento, from Spanish roots, employs liberal ideologies to rail against Díaz and his despotism, landing him in jail. As a member of the upper class, he will not desist from his paranoid ranting and personal dislike of Díaz, much to Miguel’s consternation. Yet, Nava plants a gist, a seed, of what Rodrigo Sarmiento espouses in his lucid moments that germinates in Miguel, even after the old man’s death.
The topic of gender choice is introduced in the persona of Jorge Luis, Miguel’s cousin. The revelation that Jorge Luis is gay does not turn away Miguel or Alicia. Rather, Luis’ choice, for which he suffers, is depicted with openness and sensitivity by Nava. We learn to understand and appreciate Luis’ personal decision. And when latent gay tendencies begin to surface in Miguel and Alicia’s family, Nava couches them in tender and solicitous passages that augur well for a live and let live approach.
Nava brings together bright threads of culture, established mores, and rigid beliefs that explain the setting, particularly in Mexico City, when the swirling winds of disaffection engulf the nation. His research for this novel has been extensive and thorough, providing the reader with reliably researched passages that catalog and explicate the developing revolt. The Revolution of 1910 was, in many respects, dictated by the liberal ideas of Francisco Madero. Nava rightly casts him as a foil to Díaz and his reactionary supporters, advocating an open society, a new democracy in Mexico, and the recognition of rights denied to the poor by the affluent hacendados and the wealthy men of commerce throughout the nation.
In the novel, Mexico City, home to elaborate edifices constructed during the colonial period, exudes and anchors European origins, and becomes the focal point for the discussions, speculation, and resistance to change. When Madero flees to El Paso, Miguel, finally convinced that the despotic Díaz must be overthrown, leaves and joins him on the border.
The factors and forces that result in the demise of Díaz are carefully detailed and brilliantly melded into the lives and stories of Miguel and Alicia, Jorge Luis, and La Niña. From their respective positions and perspectives, each sees a side of the turbulent movement that affected and changed Mexico. Miguel and Alicia realize that the brutalization of the poor and Indians in Mexico cannot continue. In a surprising turn of events, Jorge Luis adopts important roles as a political actor and ideologue, and informed explicator for homosexuality. This adds to the book’s appeal. But it is La Niña who surprises, with her determination, strength and perspicacity. No matter the challenges and changes in Mexico, La Niña manages to persevere.
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| Francisco Madero |
Nava mentions three critical factors that coalesced to bring down the Díaz regime. Madero gradually gained the support of progressive leaders in Mexico. These men were not, by any stretch of the imagination, radicals. Instead, they were practical men, waiting for the opportunity to profit from any change in Mexico. The liberal intelligentsia joined Madero in spirit and advocated an end to the despot’s rule. They voiced support for the movement, but only a few took up arms to change the status quo. And finally, there were the fighters, men and women, led by Zapata in Morelos, Villa in Chihuahua, Orozco in the North, and Carranza in Coahuila. Díaz, wary of an army coup, had defanged the Mexican military. When the fighting began, the army Díaz had weakened, broke, went over to the rebels or simply vanished.
Without the coalitions he built to maintain himself in power, and no army to fend off the revolutionary bands in Mexico, Díaz and his wife fled. While Madero and his ideas were popular, and helped him assume the presidency, there were internal and external forces that conspired to undermine his authority and administration. Nava skilfully describes the reactionary forces that openly railed against Madero. His image and description of Madero, and relationship with Miguel, Alicia and their son, are warm and written in a supportive and gentle way. Nava accentuates the complicity of the American ambassador with the conservative factions that want Madero eliminated. The collusion among military leaders like Huerta and Blanquet, foreign investors, and wealthy patrician families overwhelmed the fragile Madero government.
Madero is warned by his brother Gustavo, and close friends of the plots against him. Instead of eliminating rivals and dangerous enemies, he is merciful and spares them, saying that they must be given due process and have their day in court. However, Madero’s opportunistic and unscrupulous adversaries take advantage of his lofty principles and succeed in destroying him.
In this novel, Nava vividly pinpoints the factors and factions that conspired to sidetrack the revolution and protect the wealthy, the ambitious military men, and the church. The voices of strong characters like La Niña, Damian, one of his brother-in-laws, and Luis are carefully crafted to comment on the changes fomented by the revolution, but also the reality of how counterrevolutionary elements in Mexico gained advantage. While Miguel and Alicia play important roles in helping the less fortunate and the persecuted to survive, they become victims of a movement that subverted the liberal ideals and policies that would have improved the lives of Mexico’s underclass. Nava’s writing leads the reader to the realization that the revolution will become a triumph of tragedy, and the impetus for renewed fighting and protracted warfare.
The story and characters crafted by Nava are impressive and memorable. His brilliant and lyrical writing bring people and events in Mexico to life with a dramatic clarity. There are skilfully constructed passages that describe even minor settings in ways that indelibly impress them on our minds. He has a gift for describing settings with words and phrases that paint a vivid palette. There are paragraphs that come to life as a result of his adept and innovative use of words and sentences. His blending of descriptions, and human voices and emotions bring to life precious moments that reflect the time and place that once was Mexico City and its environs in 1910 and 1911. Nava’s words and literary style open up a new and thoroughly engaging setting for his haunting story.
So compelling is Nava’s writing and storytelling that the reader yearns for more. Fortunately, he is embarked on a project to continue our experience with the characters and themes surfaced in this inspiring story. But for the moment, it’s enjoyable to relish the rich lyrical texture and substance of this new novel, and revel in its many special qualities.
Roberto Haro is a former university professor and senior administrator at major universities in California, Maryland and New York. Since retiring, he has written at last count 10 historical novels under the penname Roberto de Haro, including a trilogy that includes three related novels of families that left Mexico to find new lives in the U.S.: The Mexican Chubasco(2007), Camino Doloroso (2008), and Alejandro’s Story (2012). Gratefully, he is also a frequent contributor to this magazine. Roberto lives in Marin County, California.