So Far from God

This chapter spans many years in the life of Sofia, often called Sofi, and her four daughters:Esperanza, Caridad, Fe, and La Loca. The novel opens with a seizure of the youngest daughter, nicknamed La Loca (meaning the crazy one). The three-year-old is pronounced dead by the local doctor but rises from the dead in the midst of her own funeral. Though later diagnosed as an epileptic and possibly pronounced dead erroneously, La Loca claims to have travelled to hell, purgatory, and heaven during the time she was dead. She leaps from her coffin and lands on the roof of the church, shocking the funeral attendees and garnering a reputation as a child who performs “miracles” (23). As time goes on, La Loca earns her nickname, “and even La Loca’s mother and sisters called her that because her behavior was so peculiar” (25). She has a deep aversion to physical touch, keeps mostly to her mother’s house, and spends her time praying for her sisters’ well-being. 

We also get an overview of the late teen years and early adulthood of the remaining sisters, noting that they “had each gone out into the world and had all eventually returned to their mother’s home” (25). The eldest, Esperanza (meaning hope),is the only one to finish college and goes so far as to obtainamaster’s degree. While working as a news broadcaster, she reconnects with her old college boyfriend, Rubén, but their relationship is relegated to bi-monthly meetings where they attend the Native-American Church and have sex with no significant contact in between.

Caridad (meaning Charity)is the most beautiful of the sisters and drops out of college. She marries her high school sweetheart, Memo, becomes pregnant, then allows La Loca to perform an abortion when she discovers Memo’s infidelity. She has two subsequent abortions and engages in a life of drinking and casual sex. One night, Caridad is attacked by an unknown assailant and, “came home one night as mangled as a stray cat, having been left for dead by the side of the road” (33). While recovering in Sofi’s house, she miraculously becomes a “whole and once again beautiful Caridad” (37). La Loca reports that she has prayed for Caridad’s recovery. 

Fe (meaning faith) “was fine” until her seemingly perfect relationship with her fiancé,Tom, falls apart and her orderly life caves in (27). After receiving a letter that spontaneously ends their relationship, Fe begins screaming and only stops when she sleeps. This goes on for an entire year. At the same time that Caridad becomes whole again, Fe stops screaming and becomes calm again, which is attributed to La Loca’s prayers. 

The same night of Fe and Caridad’s recoveries, Sofi’s long-estranged husband Domingo returns, and “Some say, that was the true miracle of that night” (40). Though Sofi kicks Domingo off the farm twenty years ago, the majority of the novel perpetuates the idea that Domingo makes the choice to abandon the family. When he returns, he offers no explanation for his absence, but rumor suggests he was running a gambling house or even a “house of ill-repute” (41). He takes up residence on the farm once again.