Under the Feet of Jesus

De: Helena Maria Viramontes

Narrado por: Nancy Ticotin

A moving and powerful novel about the lives of the men, women, and children who endure a second-class existence and labor under dangerous conditions as migrant workers in California’s fields.

“Viramontes depicts this world with sensuous physicality...working firmly in the social-realist vein of Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.”—Publishers Weekly

At the center of this powerful tale is Estrella, a girl about to cross the perilous border to womanhood. What she knows of life comes from her mother, who has survived abandonment by her husband in a land that treats her as if she were invisible, even though she and her children pick the crops of the farms that feed its people. But within Estrella, seeds of growth and change are stirring. And in the arms of Alejo, they burst into a full, fierce flower as she tastes the joy and pain of first love. Pushed to the margins of society, she learns to fight back and is able to help the young farmworker she loves when his ambitions and very life are threatened in a harvest of death.

Infused with the beauty of the California landscape and shifting splendors of the passing seasons juxtaposed with the bleakness of poverty, this vividly imagined novel is worthy of the people it celebrates and whose story it tells so magnificently. The simple lyrical beauty of Viramontes’ prose, her haunting use of image and metaphor, and the urgency of her themes all announce Under the Feat of Jesus as a landmark work of American fiction.

Winner of the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature

Reseñas de la Crítica

Praise for Under the Feet of Jesus

“Brilliantly executed...intense...exhibits a command of the potential magic inherent in the written word that most writers can only aspire to...a remarkable voice.”—Sunday Oregonian

“Captivating...vivid.”—Orlando Sentinel

“Lyrical...a compelling debut...Viramontes displays gifts of understanding and storytelling unusual for a first novel.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A beautiful story...Her writing is tactile and sonorous, but there is something more...I wanted to meet Viramontes’ characters, squat down, and eat with them.”—Alfredo Vea, Jr., author of La Maravilla

“Tempers a restrained fury at social injustice with lovely lyrical grace...Viramontes has a keen eye for finding beauty.”—Elle

“Gives a fierce poetic voice to the lives of Piscadores in the California vineyards and orchards...Viramontes writes with an irresistible authority that compels our recognition and wonder.”—Judith Grossman, author of Her Own Terms

“A literary feat and a powerful political statement.”—Seattle Times & Post-Intelligencer

“A lyrical tale… Viramontes’ images linger, and the book will linger for a while, too.”—Washington Post Book World

"A moving, heartbreaking tale of loss and survival."—Julia Alvarez, author of How The García Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies

“Stunning...blends lyricism, harsh realism and concern for social justice.”—Newsweek

“The best literary fiction makes its villains out of situations rather than people, and finds its heroes not in noble victors but in the spirit of ordinary men and women. In this lyrical tale of a fruit-picking family in some nameless weedy place, there is no sadistic overseer, unless it is the pitiless sun, which sucks sweat and hope from laboring bodies. Viramontes's novel comes the closest of any yet to universalizing this appalling life.”—Joanne Omang, The Washington Post

“An exciting read...Throughout this rich novel, Viramontes brings us into her world and we fall under her spell.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review

“A remarkable tale...a wealth of robust colors and magic...Readers will take to the lushness of Under the Feet of Jesus like a thirsty traveler to a well.”—Thomas Keneally, author of Schindler’s List

The Powerful Voice of A Young Girl: Estrella.

The other day, I was walking down the aisle of a grocery store, and the fruit section seemed to be perfectly color blocked like the entryway into a fabric store. What caught my eye was this giant round fruit, shrink-wrapped in plastic. I felt a question mark form in my eyebrow and the shiny plastic made me stop in my tracks to touch it. It was a giant pomelo that was primed to be sold for a lot more than an average one. Who is behind this process? When I dove into the genesis of how it got here, you immediately take into consideration that it’s usually from a hard working family- invisible in the world but a part of something much larger.
In Helena Maria Viramontes’ Under the Feet of Jesus, you will join 13-year-old Estrella as she travels with her migrant farmworker family. It’s a coming of age story that weaves the struggles of laborious work, and unfair treatment. The story is set against the backdrop of the vivid colors, and natural world within the farms of Southern California. We join Estrella as she copes with the inner dynamics of her family to discover the power of her own voice.
Yes, Estrella means “star”, but she is much more than the main character. Estrella can be symbolic of what it means to be “American”. Within her circumstance, her story is a reminder that what is fair for some may not be fair for all. Estrella illuminates h and communicates her feelings through metaphoric connections from the natural world around her.
Viramontes paints Estrella with a sensitive brush that contrasts the hardships she encounters. The simplicity of her writing sings through a tapestry of the exploration of freedom within the confines of a threatened existence. What Estrella stands for is symbolic to everyones dreams within a democracy and her voice will stay with you as you ponder how deeply we are related to her story. One of my favorite lines from the book (Viramontes p.70) is how delicate Viramontes dialogue trickles between two characters: “ -Yeah, and Estrella pointed to the bottle because she wanted to tell him how good she felt but didn’t know how to build the house of words should invite him into.” Estrella’s character really makes you feel. I think everyone will find a little bit of themselves within her beauty. You may also see the world a bit differently knowing what tribulations are encountered on the backs of many who provide the delicious things that wind up in our grocery basket.

Took me a bit to get into the rhythm then fell in love.

Viramontes describes the sounds, smells my feelings, the fairy soul of each of your characters. It’s a reader you begin to inhabit their daily lives because of the incredible attention to detail that literally puts you in their shoes. It’s hard to read this wonderful book or hear it without being a changed person.

Chicano storytelling for real

I noticed my name misspelled “…Piscadores like Florente of the islands…” on page 53 of the print version. I am honored to be part of Helena’s book after our working together at UC Irvine on the Early outreach partnership program of EOP/SAA - Educational Opportunity Program/ Student Affirmative Action…..love this very real life of immigrants struggling to make a life in America which still continues today…. God Bless them/us.
Florante Peter Ibanez UCI class of 1977 / UCLA MLIS / MA Asian American Studies class of 2006

not for me

I didn't end up finishing it bc it wasn't really my speed. just personal preference.