a la Sombra del Angel

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Spanish Description Pocos personajes tan apasionantes como Antonieta Rivas Mercado, una mujer que tomo un papel activo ante su mundo, lo que la llevo a ser una de las figuras mas notables en el Mexico de inicios del siglo XX. Escritora, bailarina, poliglota, promotora del voto femenino, creadora de proyectos culturales, mecenas de los artistas mas importantes de aquellos dias Kathryn Blair, esposa del unico hijo de Antonieta, llevo a cabo una investigacion de veinte anos para darnos un retrato intimo de esta mujer sorprendente. En esta novela descubrimos su vida, desde su primer entorno infantil en una elite cultural, con viajes a Europa y una constante sensacion de orfandad frente a la madre, hasta los anos decisivos de su etapa adulta, donde se revelan su fragil mundo interior, su impetu y sensibilidad artistica, sus tormentosos amores y su relacion creativa con artistas como Diego Rivera, Carlos Chavez, Manuel Rodriguez Lozano, Tina Modotti, Salvador Novo, Xavier Villaurrutia, el Dr. Atl, Nahui Ollin, entre otros. De forma paralela, la autora nos presenta un fresco historico del tiempo que le toco vivir a la protagonista, cuya vida privada se entremezclo de forma permanente con la marcha publica del pais: la ultima decada del porfirismo, las turbulentas jornadas de la revolucion con las huestes de Madero y de Villa, los dias de la Decena Tragica, el derrocamiento de Victoriano Huerta y el acecho de los zapatistas a la capital, la guerra de los cristeros, la etapa postrevolucionaria y la campana presidencial de Jose Vasconcelos, proceso que vivio en dos frentes: al convertirse en una pieza fundamental del vasconcelismo, y tambien en el aspecto sentimental, donde desembocan la ilusion del amor y lo tragico de su destino. English Description "In the Shadow of the Angel," which has been called Mexico's "Gone with the Wind," takes place during three transformational decades in Mexican history: 1900-1931, as mirrored by the life of an extraordinary Mexican woman, Antonieta Rivas Mercado. The daughter of the architect of Mexicos famous Independence Monument, popularly known as "The Angel," Antonieta defied tradition and class to bring change to her country, and paid the price for her passionate rebellion. Her roller-coaster life paralleled Mexicos struggle for national identity: the final decade of a long dictatorship that ended in the lavish Centennial celebration of 1910; the chaos wrought by ten years of violent revolution; and the ensuing brutal struggle for power among the Generals who established the social and political order by which Mexico is governed today. Brilliant, educated in Europe, heiress to a fortune, Antonieta became both muse and patron to the young writers, artists and musicians of the 1920s who were eager to join the modern world. The "scandalous" Antonieta consorted with the likes of everyone from Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Tina Modotti, and Garcia Lorca, to bullfighters, Communists and ambassadors. She dared seek a divorce: her ill-fated marriage to Albert Blair, an Anglo-American who came to Mexico to fight in the revolution, and her obsession with a homosexual painter became Antonietas personal via crusis . In 1928 she entered the political arena, championing the cause of womens' voting rights in the campaign of presidential candidate, Jose Vasconcelos, with whom she shared a vision of an educated, just and democratic Mexico. Committed to their mutual goals, Antonieta devoted her heart and her money to his campaign. Caught in the vortex of the fraudulent election of 1929, her lover defeated, violence flaring, fortune gone, she kidnapped her son and fled to Paris. Though an inspiration to so many, the tired, dispirited woman churned with insecurities and conflicting emotions. At the age of thirty, Antonieta Rivas Mercado committed suicide in Notre Dame Cathedral. During Mexicos Bicentennial celebration in 2010, Antonieta was officially recognized as a primary promoter of modern Mexican culture. "