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Mi vestido verde esmeralda by Alister Ramirez Marquez recounts the life story of Clara, born poor in isolated, rural Colombia in 1900, who makes her way, after a mythic journey through forests, mountains and swamps to the western region of the Quindio, to the city of Armenia, now the heart of coffee and banana production. This remarkable novel, first published in 2003, is the tale of Clara’s adventurous journey and subsequent rise to prosperity as the owner of a farm and restaurant and mother of six, ending with years of political strife and the dissolution of her family. The novel provides an overview of a century of dramatic strife and change in Clara’s personal trajectory and in the history of the nation. Alister Ramirez Marquez is from this area of Colombia, but lives in New York; he is the author of a number of books, and Mi vestido verde esmeralda is his first novel, fusing familiarity and nostalgia in this tale of a journey through the twentieth century. This novel would be engaging reading in courses on Colombian history or literature, and in courses on topics of search for self-definition (personal and national), fluctuating cycles and rhythms of a century of transitions, life as a journey, or the meaning of progress. This edition of Mi vestido verde esmeralda includes extensive annotation of the Colombian references, and a prologue and bibliography by Clara E. Ronderos and Mary G. Berg, professors of Latin American literature in Massachusetts.
