Dona Ines Vs. Oblivion

Winner of the Mobil Pegasus Prize for Literature, this bold novel by Venezuelan writer Torres probes the effects of violence, corrupt politics and class strife on one family over the course of 300 years, from the early 18th century to the present. Torres traces the historical roots of Caracas through the eyes of Do a In s Villegas y Solorzano, the aristocratic widow of a wealthy plantation owner who desperately fights to keep the land her family has owned since 1663. Even after her death in 1780, Do a In s continues narrating the story in her dogged attempt to keep her land out of the hands of the black and mulatto descendants of her husband and a slave woman. In effect, she becomes Caracas's chronicler as she observers the city metamorphose from sleepy plantation lands to a vibrant, hectic metropolis. Based on a real-life court case that was, incredibly, not resolved until the 1980s, the novel reveals Venezuela's cultural transformations as vividly as any history book might. Unfortunately, its slow pace and monotonous narration do not do justice to the dramatic events depicted. Even after her death, Do a In s maintains dictatorial control by revealing other characters only through her eyes. Other characters' dialogue is sparse, appearing as Do a In s relates and remembers it, so that her version of things strives to be the ultimate last word. But Torres also examines the bitter woman's diminishing hold on her domain, and it is this triumph of the living city and its inexorable journey into the future over the tenacious ghosts of the past that is the visionary thrust of the novel. In this encompassing, ambitious epic, Caracas emerges as a sensuously and politically charged survivor, the enduring hero. Five-city author tour. (Nov.)