Ballad of Another Time

Originally published in 1978 in Spanish and written by a Puerto Rican writer living in Mexico, this novel has an island setting worlds and epochs removed from the beaches and discos of gringo tourists. On this unchanging stage, close in spirit to the colonial period, the simple action revolves around a tragic, even operatic melodrama: Dominga leaves her husband and coffee farm to run off with the fieldhand Fico, a drifter who spent some time in jail after a brawl in a brothel. Rosendo, the outraged husband, pursues them with a machete. Fico's life and the couple's courtship and happier days are revealed in flashbacks. Much of the narration unfolds through dialogue and old-fashioned interior monologue, which unfortunately often disrupts the story's progress. Amid some confusion, Rosendo is killed and Dominga goes off with her consort, but their fate never truly engages our sympathies. (October)