Skip to main content

Before the Alamo by Florence Byham Weinberg: A Book Review

 
Before the Alamo
Author: Florence Byham Weinberg
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Maywood House
Release Date: 2021
Pages: 299
Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: Emilia Altamirano, Tejana, half Native American, half Spanish, is the daughter of a Royalist officer who fought against Mexico's independence in the Battle of the Medina River. Growing up in Bexar de San Antonio, she becomes literate, is adopted as a ward of José Antonio Navarro, and acts as a page in the Ayuntamiento (City Council). She serves as a nurse in the Battle of the Alamo but survives to face an uncertain future. 

   

     My Review: Before the Alamo chronicles the events prior to the Battle of the Alamo from a tejana’s perspective, a Texan woman of Spanish descent. Emilia is the daughter of a wealthy Spaniard and a Native American slave. She becomes a ward to Jose Antonio Navarro, a Texas war hero. Jose teaches Emilia to read and write. Under his tutelage, she becomes a page for the City Council. She becomes a nurse during the cholera pandemic and later the Battle of Alamo. After the Battle of the Alamo, Emilia wonders about her future as the fate of Texas hangs in the balance.


     Emilia is a likable character. Even though she was born into slavery and is illegitimate, she doesn’t let her circumstances define her. She is very hard-working and persistent. It is through her determination that she is able to win the admiration of those around her. Emilia is also a very intelligent character. She is well educated and puts her education to good use. She is also a strong and tenacious character. She goes through many hardships and is able to overcome them. Therefore, Emilia was a character I rooted for throughout the novel as I wanted her to find her own sense of belonging during tumultuous times.


     Overall, this novel is about belonging, injustice, and war. All of the characters are very realistic. I really like Emilia’s mother and Jose Antonio Navarro. The novel does suffer from telling rather than showing. It also suffers from being told in a passive voice. Nevertheless, Before the Alamo is very well-written and meticulously researched. I like how it showed the conflicts and troubles that the inhabitants of Texas faced during that era. Before the Alamo is a moving and emotional novel of one girl’s fight for survival and justice! I recommend this for fans of The River Girl’s Song, News of the World, and True Women!


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Seven Sisters (The Seven Sisters #1) by Lucinda Riley: A Book Review

The Seven Sisters (The Seven Sisters #1) Author: Lucinda Riley Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance Publisher: Atria Release Date: 2015 Pages: 463 Source: My State Public Library Synopsis: Maia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, “Atlantis”—a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva—having been told that their beloved father, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each of them is handed a tantalizing clue to her true heritage—a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of her story and its beginnings. Eighty years earlier in Rio’s Belle Epoque of the 1920s, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into the aristocracy. Meanwhile, architect Heitor da Silva Costa is devising plans for an enormous statue, to be called Christ the Redeemer, and will soon travel to Paris to find the right sculptor to
Post a Comment
Read more

A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower by Patricia Bernstein: A Book Review

A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower  Author: Patricia Bernstein Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: History Through Fiction  Release Date: March 7, 2023 Pages: 266 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: A Noble Cunning is a novel based on the true story of persecuted Catholic noblewoman Winifred Maxwell, who rescued her husband from the Tower of London with the help of a group of devoted women friends in 1716.             A Noble Cunning is a novel based on the life of Winifred Herbert Maxwell (1680-1749), who became the Countess of Nithsdale in 1699.     Set amidst the 1715 Rebellion against England’s first German king, George I, the novel depicts the ruthless persecution of Catholics and the relentless determination of protagonist Bethan Glentaggart to save the life of husband Gavin after he is captured and condemned to death. Bethan faces down a mob attack on her home, travels alone from the Scottish Lowlands to London through one of the wo
Post a Comment
Read more

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki: A Book Review

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post Author: Allison Pataki Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Ballantine Release Date: February 15, 2022 Pages: 381 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Mrs. Post, the President and First Lady are here to see you. . . . So begins another average evening for Marjorie Merriweather Post. Presidents have come and gone, but she has hosted them all. Growing up in the modest farmlands of Battle Creek, Michigan, Marjorie was inspired by a few simple rules: always think for yourself, never take success for granted, and work hard—even when deemed American royalty, even while covered in imperial diamonds. Marjorie had an insatiable drive to live and love and to give more than she got. From crawling through Moscow warehouses to rescue the Tsar’s treasures to outrunning the Nazis in London, from serving the homeless of the Great Depression to entertaining Roosevelts, Kennedys, and Hollywood’s biggest stars, Marjorie Merriweath
Post a Comment
Read more