So Far from God (1993)

So Far from God is a novel written by Ana Castillo, first published in 1993 by W. W. Norton & Company. It is set in a town in New Mexico called Tome and revolves around the lives of Sofia and her four daughters: Esperanza, Fe, Caridad, and La Loca. The novel addresses themes such as rebellion, spirituality and gender.

Since the novel combines different styles of literature including poetry, folk literature, social and political commentaries, absurdist techniques and postmodern fragmentation, it is multi-generic and therefore cannot be classed with one specific genre.

Plot

At the age of eighteen Sofia, who is oftentimes called Sofi, marries Domingo and has four daughters with him. Shortly after La Loca's birth, who is the youngest of the sisters, Sofia leaves Domingo after she notices that he gambles away the land she inherited from her father. Because of that Sofia has to raise her children on her own until he suddenly returns after twenty years of absence. In the course of the novel Sofia becomes the self-proclaimed mayor of Tome, the city in New Mexico where they all live. When she finds out that Domingo starts to gamble away her belongings again, she decides to get divorced from him. After La Loca's death she becomes the founder of M.O.M.A.S., an organization for the mothers of martyrs and saints.

The youngest daughter of Sofi La Loca is pronounced dead at the age of three, however she reawakens at her funeral claiming to have travelled to heaven, hell and purgatorial fire. From then on, she behaves differently by never leaving the house and being unable to stand the smell of other humans except for her mother. Furthermore, she gains healing powers after that incident. In her twenties she gets infected and dies of AIDS.

Fe leads a rather stereotypical life working in a bank until her fiancé suddenly leaves her. After that she starts screaming from nowhere and does not stop for a whole year. Once she mysteriously recovers from that she goes back to her job at the bank and eventually marries her cousin Casimiro. Because she desires to gain more money in order to be able to afford valuable household appliances, she later starts working at a company called Acme International. There she has to work with dangerous chemicals which cause her to suffer from cancer. That is why she later dies. Fe's (which means "faith" in Spanish") story is an allegory for the ways in which environmental racism and the American Dream harm Latina women.

After Caridad's husband is unfaithful to her, she starts drinking and having casual sex with strangers. One night she gets attacked, raped and abandoned half dead in the streets. After the doctors claimed to not be able to do any more for her, she lies in Sofi's house while her sister Fe is screaming. The same night Fe's screaming stops, Caridad is miraculously healed from her wounds and after that she is gifted with visions and healing powers too. To train her healing powers she is taught by doña Felicia. Later she falls in love with a woman called Esmeralda, whom she meets on a trip with doña Felicia and with whom she jumps off a mesa in the end with their bodies never being found.

Sofi's oldest daughter Esperanza is a TV journalist, who is sent to Saudi Arabia for work. There she goes missing and is pronounced dead by the military. After her death she frequently still visits her family in spirit form. Esperanza's ("hope" in Spanish) story is an allegory for how Latina women are killed in the name of colonialist and nationalist greed and violence.

Character list

Sofia: Sofia, who is oftentimes called Sofi, is married to Domingo and has four daughters. She always takes care of her daughters and works hard for a living, raising them all on her own. Later she experiences personal fulfillment by becoming the unofficial mayor of Tome and always seeks to help other people.

Fe: Fe is one of Sofia's and Domingo's daughters. She wants to lead a stereotypical life with a husband, kids and a nice home. She works at a bank and later at Acme International and is married to her cousin Casimiro.

La Loca: La Loca is the youngest of Sofia's and Domingo's daughters and is pronounced dead at the age of three. She reawakens at her funeral and after that has healing powers and an altered behavior. She never leaves her mother's house.

Esperanza: Esperanza is the oldest and most emancipated of the four sisters. She works as a TV journalist and always seeks to bring her career forward.

Caridad: Caridad is also one of Sofia's and Domingo's daughters. She is raped at the beginning of the novel, which causes her to gain healing powers during the healing process.

Domingo: Domingo is Sofi's husband. He has no job and gambles away Sofi's belongings.

Doña Felicia: Doña Felicia is Caridad's teacher and friend. She has healing powers.

Esmeralda: Esmeralda is the woman Caridad falls in love with.

Casimiro: Casimiro is Sofia's nephew and the cousin of her four daughters. He is married to Fe.

Francisco: Francisco falls in love with Caridad and develops stalkerish behavior as he starts to follow her and watches her every night.

Doctor Tolentino: Doctor Tolentino is the trusted physician of Sofia's family.

Mrs. Doctor: Mrs. Doctor is Doctor Tolentino's wife.

Rubén: Rubén is Esperanza's ex-boyfriend.

Tom: Tom is Fe's ex-fiancé.