The Hacienda by Lisa St Aubin de Teran
Autobiography, My Venezuelan Years Book Review, Memoirs in the Andes
The Hacienda is an amazing autobiography by Lisa St Aubin de Teran who at 17 was persued by an exiled Venezuelan aristocrat, married him and went to live deep in the Andean mountains.
It is a powerful piece of writing of her life and struggles in Venezuela with a hostile people that were both her neighbours and employees and into which life her husband of few words practically abandoned her.
An extraordinary battle without food, water or sanitation and with only the company of two beagles and a visiting uncommunicative peasant girl began.
A dreamer and bookworm Lisa has to learn about herself and overcome her timidity and shyness to learn the way of la gente the illiterate, feudal people who become her companions.
Her husband of more than twice her age frequently left her in a ram-shackle dirt-floored hut for days and even weeks on end, often without food, and when he was present he spoke to the dogs more than her.
Becoming a Lady in Venezulan Society
Being the la Doña or the Lady of the estate was a hard-earned role she had to create for herself. Not only was she so young and foreign but she also hadn’t produced any children which made the local peasants and high-society ladies shun her even more.
Having been announced as sterile life begins to improve slightly when she finds herself pregnant, ignorant and living in poverty.
The harsh existence of her feudal neighbours and lack of awareness of her “position” eventually draws on her inner strength to help the people and try and run the estate in the absence of her husband and with the help of the estate manager who is powerless now his owner is present once again.
Hardship and a worry about her own mental state, having a child in a disease-ridden backwater all help to develop the character and writing skills of Lisa. This book is an eye-opener to the times of Venezuelan dictatorship and the hierarchy of the “old” families with their huge estates.
These times, not so long ago, that de Teran brings to life as though it were today are movingly written about, when each new day is a relief that no casualty has befallen the nearest and dearest.
As her estranged husband deteriorates into violent rages and longer fits of madness her life is threatened and escape plans begin to be hatched.
A place where death is commonplace superstition is rife and the struggle to survive continual. This is a book everyone struggling with today should read.
Other Books by Lisa St Aubin de Teran
Memoirs by the same author include:
- Off the Rails
- A Valley in Italy
- Memory Maps
The Hacienda – My Venezuelan Years was published in1997 by Virgo Press, ISBN 1 86049 459 5
Priced at $17.99
See some other foreign memoirs Sue Kenney walking the Camino de Compostela in Norhtern Spain or Denise Barnes in Bavaria, Germany.
The Hacienda Book
|
More in Reading & Literature
Latest Articles