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    Our Lives Are the Rivers: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Our Lives Are the Rivers: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Our Lives Are the Rivers: A Novel
    Ebook342 pages3 hours

    Our Lives Are the Rivers: A Novel

    By Jaime Manrique

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “A compelling story that melds history and biography into the context of a passionate love affair, Our Lives Are the Rivers is a masterful piece of historical fiction.” — San Francisco Chronicle

    From critically acclaimed author Jaime Manrique comes a breathtaking novel based on the life of one of the most controversial women in the history of the Americas

    Our Lives Are the Rivers tells the sweeping story of beautiful young freedom fighter Manuela Saenz, and the epic tale of her love affair with liberator Simón Bolívar. A novel of intoxicating love, passion, and adventure, Manrique vividly captures a dynamic continent struggling for its own identity and a woman willing to risk it all for her country—and her lover—in whose legacy lies the history of an entire continent.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 6, 2009
    ISBN9780061984693
    Unavailable
    Our Lives Are the Rivers: A Novel
    Author

    Jaime Manrique

    Jaime Manrique is the award-winning author of the memoir Eminent Maricones, and the novels Latin Moon in Manhattan, Twilight at the Equator, and Colombian Gold. A contributor to Salon.com, BOMB, and other publications, he lives in New York City and is an associate professor in the MFA program at Columbia University.

    Read more from Jaime Manrique

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    Reviews for Our Lives Are the Rivers

    3/5

    16 ratings3 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I had never heard of Manuela Saenz before picking up this book. Her story is fascinating: The illegitimate daughter of a wealthy Peruvian mother and an already-married Spanish father, she survived convent school, social scandal, and a bad marriage to become the mistress of Simon Bolivar, the liberator of South America. Unfortunately, he predeceased her, she was cheated out of her inheritance, and Manuela ended her years in poverty and was buried anonymously in a mass grave for plague victims.

      That being said… this book left a lot to be desired. The writing was stilted and choppy, the dialogue was unbelievable, the “sex scenes” were laughable… oh my gosh I could list so many things. Mainly though, the problem was no emotional connection with Manuela. She just didn’t seem real. Neither did her slaves, Natan and Jonotas, whose chapters were narrated in exactly the same “voice” as Manuela, and seemed completely unnecessary. I want to learn more about Manuela Saenz and hope there is a better book about her out there.
    • 2/5
      Is there anything more annoying than a man writing a romance novel...without being aware that he has, in fact, written a bodice ripper? This is a profoundly silly book that takes the lives of Bolivar and his mistress, Manuela Saenz, and reduces it to a few confused battle scenes, some chaotic political infighting, and a few frolics in the bathtub. Manrique never seems to understand his characters, or to provide them with psychological depth; Manuela comes off as the typical foot-stomping feisty heroine, devoid of introspection (or common sense), and Bolivar a wooden figure whose actions, so critical to the development of South America, are left unexplained. The two slave women's narratives, who might have added some well-needed perspective, are completely interchangeable, and serve as nothing more than a thin Greek chorus. A melancholy coda (though marred with some confused timeline shifts), when Manuela is exiled in Peru, is very well-written, and saves this from a one star. Even that is wrecked by a ridiculous ending (an homage to Carpentier, whom I discovered I don't really care for) that Manrique just can't pull off. Pity--there was--and is--a great novel to be written in the lives of the Liberator and La Saenz, but the reader won't find it here.

      And yup, the sex scenes are really overwrought!
    • 2/5
      I randomnly chose this book from the library because of all reasons, I loved the cover. It was an interesting read about South American history, Simon Bolivar and his lover. I enjoyed learning about this place and time in history and reading about a strong woman character, but the novel itself was very monotonous. The descriptions of the different towns in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, etc. did make me want to travel to see them for myself.