El puente = The bridge /

When the Rio Grande mysteriously runs red, 13 women are among the crowd drawn to a south Texas bridge connecting the U. S. and Mexico in this fictional collage blending Latin and North American motifs. Cristina goes to the river to investigate the event, suspecting a conspiracyÄshe has been partial to conspiracy theories since watching a television documentary on the Kennedy assassination. Trailing toward the bridge as well are Pura, an old woman carrying honey from Mexico City; Lola and Lorena, young women bickering over bright red lipstick from Walgreen's; Cindy, a waitress who claims to experience a miracle after a humiliating visit to the dentist; Lourdes, a divorc‚e who finds a body by the river; and Soledad, who delivers a baby girl in the midst of the commotion. Their portraits are framed by the sad tale of Tomasita, a humble housewife first seen at the river scrubbing her bean pot with a Brillo pad, then seeking refuge at the convent where she works and finally meeting her destiny on the bridge. The mulberry tint of the river, the brown of Tomasita's bean pot and the gold of the honey color the narrative in southwestern hues, while Tex-Mex flavors accent these stories of ordinary people leading precarious lives on the border. Romo's portraits are sometimes (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

In the past few years, Americans have discovered that the mixing of races and nationalities along the Rio Grande"the border between Mexico and the United States"can create fascinating cultural situations. In Romo!s debut, the river has turned red and smells of mulberries. All the national news media have arrived. Tom Brokaw broadcasts bulletins, David Letterman makes jokes, and thousands of people come to a bridge to ogle. One woman gives birth, another loses the poison with which she was going to kill her husband, and yet another tosses a stolen ring over the edge. In one hilarious episode, two young women lose not one but two scarlet lipsticks. Finally, the culprit, a grieving widow whose husband died as a result of a disease he contracted while working in a waste collection company, is found and shot by a nervous soldier. In the midst of this uncertainty, the lives of the 13 women featured in Romo!s text unfold like verbal snapshots through third-person narratives. Romo!s work reminds one of Rolando Hinojosa, but it can also be read as a companion piece to the grittier short stories of Sandra Cisneros!s Woman Hollering Creek (LJ 4/1/91). Highly recommended."Harold Augenbraum, Mercantile Lib., NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.