The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez

I have to give 5 stars to any book that makes me cry at a wedding. This is a saga of human frailties and triumphs; it’s a love story – and, mind you, I don’t like romance as a genre – Fulhencio has his failings, for sure, but he is redeemed in the end – not a spoiler, because it says so in the title.

The scene is a fictional border town on the Texas border. Think Brownsville. The characters are a Hispanic boy growing up in poverty and abuse who falls in love with a beautiful gringo that jettisons his innate enthusiasm to succeed. Relate to the boys struggle to overthrow his mythical generational hex which played a part in a behavior that destroyed his relationship. Enjoy his efforts to recover and his success in helping others along the way.

Whether or not you were raised in south Texas, (my husband and I were), you will love Fulgencio! Though the book has a lot of religious mysticism that is the very nature of this culture, it will help you to understand so much more about these wonderful people!

Get ready to laugh and cry!!! This book is so good i couldn’t put it down. I read it in one day. I absolutely fell in love with all the characters. I wish it could have been longer.

“A work of magical realism, The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez weaves together the past and present as Fulgencio strives to succeed in America, break a mystical family curse, and win back Carolinas love after their doomed youthful romance.”

What a delightful story! The author weaves an interesting, emotional, and visual story. I enjoyed the vivid imagery and characterizations which brought to life the world of Fulgencio Ramirez set in la Frontera as he pursues the love of his life, loses her, and is reunited after decades.

The story begins in 1986 when Fulgencio reads the obituaries and finds his arch-enemy Miguel, who married his sweetheart, has died: “His hands quivered as the paper slipped from his fingers, floating like a parachute towards his feet. No picture. No excuses. No glory. Just twenty-two letters sitting on the floor of the funereal drugstore. His glasses cracked when they fell on the tile.”

We return to 1956 when Fulgencio and Caroline meet: “….they both stood up straight, and his hazel eyes met her golden irises, her full lips parted like the Red Sea for Moses, and the words that fell from her grace caressed him like countless feathers over bare skin.”

The rest of the novel is the quest to win Caroline’s love again and the mystery of Fulgencio’s ‘maldicin (curse). When the characters meet again: “The shared knowledge-about la maldicin as well as Miguel’s conspiracy-cleared the lingering fog of suspicion and confusion which had long tormented them both, enabling them to cut a path through the overgrown weeds of their love’s trajectory, toward a closer understanding.”

The use of bilingual terms was smooth and added to the imagery but the italics are a distraction (a matter of style). An error that needs correction is the term ‘mini-skirts’ in the second chapter. I don’t believe this was the fashion on the Frontera in the 1950s.

This well-paced story of romance, mystery, and magical realism is a great read. The author writes so well I will seek out his other works.

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