The Living Infinite

October 9, 2017
Acevedo’s wide-ranging historical novel revolves around Eulalia of Spain, a real-life Bourbon princess at the close of the 19th century. With the secret intention of selling her tell-all memoir, Eulalia embarks as an emissary across the Atlantic during a time when her royal family’s power and the country’s colonial clout are on the wane. Eulalia’s life and travels are delivered mostly through the perspective of two Spanish commoners: Amalia, Eulalia’s nurse as a child, and later Amalia’s son, Tomas, who grows up alongside Eulalia and travels to the New World with her. Self-discovery and a muted romance ensue. Acevedo (Love and Ghost Letters) has found a turbulent historical moment, and the period comes vividly to life when the characters visit Cuba and then Chicago for the World’s Fair, though the portions set in Spain are less vibrant. The outspoken Bourbon princess shackled by her gender and position is a worthy protagonist with plenty of complexities to mine, but the novel takes time to find its footing, and Eulalia often disappears behind the many historical details and descriptions of customs. Agent: Stephanie Abou, Massie & McQuilkin Literary.

Starred review from July 15, 2017
A real 19th-century Bourbon infanta is the inspiration for this novel about a princess who writes a rebellious feminist memoir.It begins with a rejection letter informing HRH Eulalia of Spain that though there may be "a great deal of truth in what [she says]," Ediciones Medina "will not, today nor ever, publish this book." From there, Acevedo (The Distant Marvels, 2015, etc.) launches a wonderfully compact saga that weaves together real and invented characters and events. Around the same time infanta Eulalia was born, at least in Acevedo's version, so was a boy named Tomas in the village of Burgos--and when his mother, Amalia, was chosen as the infanta's wet nurse, he became Eulalia's "milk brother." Mother and son traveled to the Palacio Real, where for nearly two years they lived among the intrigues, infidelities, and indoor peacocks of the Spanish court. As much as Amalia misses her husband, the person she really pines for is her best friend, the midwife Gisela, but troubles similar to those that plague the palace are afoot at home, forever changing the relationships of all the key characters. In the next section of the book, we hear from Eulalia and Tomas, each telling one part of the story that brought them together again--she as the author of a scathing memoir, still trapped in her royal role; he as an unsuccessful bookseller asked by Su Alteza (her highness) to find her a publisher. From there the story finds its way to revolutionary Cuba and on to the Chicago Exposition of 1893, with a coda set in 1915. The dramatic changes of the period spanned by the book, which begins in a world which seems not far from medieval and ends among light bulbs, hotel rooms, and train stations, are subtly evoked, and its feminist themes are fitted elegantly into that frame. Fresh, fast-moving historical fiction from a master storyteller.

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August 1, 2017
When Amalia becomes wet nurse to Spain's infant Princess Eulalia, her own newborn son, Tomas, in tow, she does not know the far-reaching ramifications of the position. It is a time of revolution, and though Amalia returns home after her two-year tenure, shortly thereafter the royal family is forced to flee. Eulalia spends the rest of her childhood in the freedom of exile, only learning the constraints of royalty after the Bourbons are returned to the Spanish throne. Struggling against these new fetters, Eulalia seeks release in writing an expose that would scandalize all of Spain. Then Eulalia is given the opportunity to visit the Americas. With her inflammatory autobiography in hand and the help of her milk brother Tomas, she is there as an ambassador to revolutionary Cuba and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, but her real goal is to find a publisher who will help her change the world. Acevedo (The Distant Marvels, 2015) rounds out the true story of Princess Eulalia with richly imagined details. The resulting historical fiction is a vivid and enthralling tale of love and redemption.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)