Woman of Endurance, a \ Indómita

El poder inolvidable de Beloved de Toni Morrison y la atmósfera evocativa de A Respectable Trade de Phillippa Gregory se combinan en esta revolucionaria novela de Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa, que ilustra un aspecto poco conocido de la historia –el comercio transatlántico de personas esclavizadas en Puerto Rico– narrado a través de la experiencia de Pola, una cautiva africana utilizada como paridora de esclavos. Pola, una mujer esclavizada en el Puerto Rico del siglo XIX ha sido forzada a vivir en el mundo brutalmente inhumano de las paridoras de esclavos. Golpeada y violada repetidamente, sus bebés le son arrebatados en el momento de nacer para no volver a verlos jamás. Después de un intento de fuga y una golpiza despiadada, despierta en una nueva plantación, Las Mercedes, para formar parte de su diversa comunidad negra. Pero su pasado la persigue en este nuevo hogar. -Podrá una mujer sobrepasar la desconfianza y la amargura? Aun cuando sobrevive a un mundo salvaje, -podrá volver a entablar relaciones normales o alcanzar un sentido saludable de su propia valía? Los lectores acompañarán a Pola en su viaje hacia la sanación. De la sádica barbarie de sus experiencias iniciales,pasa a recibir compasión y apoyo de parte de una nueva comunidad revitalizante. En el camino, aprenderá a reconocer y aceptar las muchas caras del amor: el amor de madre, el amor de hija, el amor de hermana, el amor de la comunidad, y el amor propio, que debe recuperar antes de poder ofrecerse a otra persona. Indómita es una novela en la que el espíritu humano triunfa aun en las condiciones más brutales. Combining the haunting power of Toni Morrison's Beloved with the evocative atmosphere of Phillippa Gregory's A Respectable Trade, Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa's groundbreaking novel illuminates a little discussed aspect of history—the Puerto Rican Atlantic Slave Trade—witnessed through the experiences of Pola, an African captive used as a breeder to bear more slaves. A Woman of Endurance, set in nineteenth-century Puerto Rican plantation society, follows Pola, a deeply spiritual African woman who is captured and later sold for the purpose of breeding future slaves. The resulting babies are taken from her as soon as they are born. Pola loses the faith that has guided her and becomes embittered and defensive. The dehumanizing violence of her life almost destroys her. But this is not a novel of defeat but rather one of survival, regeneration, and reclamation of common humanity. Readers are invited to join Pola in her journey to healing. From the sadistic barbarity of her first experiences, she moves on to receive compassion and support from a revitalizing new community. Along the way, she learns to recognize and embrace the many faces of love—a mother's love, a daughter's love, a sister's love, a love of community, and the self-love that she must recover before she can offer herself to another. It is ultimately, a novel of the triumph of the human spirit even under the most brutal of conditions.

Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa was born in Puerto Rico. As a child she was sent to live with her grandparents in the South Bronx, where she was introduced to the culture of rural Puerto Rico, including the storytelling skills that came naturally to the women, especially the older women, in her family. Much of her work is based on her experiences during this time. Llanos-Figueroa taught creative writing, language and literature in the New York City school system before becoming a young-adult librarian and writer. Her first novel, Daughters of the Stone, was a Finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, and her short stories have been published in anthologies and literary magazines such as Breaking Ground: Anthology of Puerto Rican Women Writers in New York 1980-2012, Growing Up Girl, Afro-Hispanic Review, Pleaides, Latino Book Review, Label Me Latina/o and Kweli Journal. She lives in New York City.