Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes

 

I had never heard of Mrs. Viramontes or her work, until our faculty advisor Dr. Deborah Poe mentioned during an editorial meeting of the Vox Arts and Literary Magazine (which I was Managing Editor of) that she had recently published an anthology with Dr. Ama Wattley, titled “Between Worlds.” My first response, was “Oh, cool title.” My second, “Should I eventually become an English Professor? You get to publish stuff!” My third, which is the one actually articulated out loud was, “Can we invite one of readers to the Launch event?” 

Borrowing a copy of “Between Worlds” from Dr. Poe, which I kept longer than appropriate, I began with the excerpt from Ms. Viramontes’ first novel, Under the Feet of Jesus.  From the very first line, I was struck by the unapologetic and raw portrayal of the Hispanic migrant worker. Reflecting the hardships of the migrants’ lives set against the beauty of an equally harsh landscape, Viramontes pulls readers into an entirely different world, one in which its inhabitants, themselves are caught between worlds, not truly belonging in either one. The one line that struck me the strongest was this one: “He had given this country its all, and in this land that used his bones for kindling, in this land that never once in the thirty years he lived and worked, never once said thank you…”

We ended up inviting Viramontes as our featured reader for out launch and I took the chance to purchase a copy of the novel and even got it signed. I hadn't had time to read it until just recently.

Viramontes at the Vox Fall 2012 Launch Event

The novel in its entirety both lived up to and failed my initial expectations. From the excerpt I had read, I expect to be more strongly drawn into the story and lives of Estrella and her family. However, I maintained a certain distance while reading the book. I wasn't truly invested emotionally or intellectually. I was disappointed in the fact that it seemed like the very best part of the novel was the excerpt I had already read and the rest wasn't as poignant or exciting. I was disappointed by the fact that the excerpt led me to believe that Under the Feet of Jesus (love the title by the way) was more of a tragic love story.  Yet it's not as Estrella and Alejo's relationship doesn't quite go anywhere.

At the same time, though, I appreciated that the rawness I had first experienced continued. Viramontes doesn't try to sugarcoat, or pull her punches in her writing and word choices. Also, I absolutely loved the intermingling of English and Spanish in the text. I was drawn into the authenticity of the story due to the Spanish. However, a few places of confusion that weren't cleared up by context pulled me away from the story as I tried to translate the unknown word. So that irked a bit.

Under the Feet of Jesus is a novel that will join the "Check, read that one, didn't hate, but not anything special" shelf of my library. It has a lot of potential and Viramontes has a way with words that's absolutely beautiful, however I feel it fell short in plot and character development.