Servant's Tale

<p>Luisa de la Cueva was born on the Caribbean island of Malagita of a plantation owner's son and a native woman a servant in the kitchen. Her years on Malagita were sweet with the beauty of bamboo banana and mango trees with flocks of silver-feathered guinea hens underneath the magic of a victrola and the caramel flan that Mama sneaked home from the plantation kitchen. Luisa's father fearing revolution takes his family to New York. In the barrio his once-powerful name means nothing and the family establishes itself in a basement tenement. For Luisa Malagita becomes a dream. Luisa does not dream of going to college as her friend Ellen does or of winning the lottery as her father does. She takes a job as a servant and paradoxically grows more independent. She marries and later raises a son alone. She works as a servant all her life. A Servant's Tale is the story of a life that is simple on the surface but full of depth and richness as we come to know it a story told with consummate grace and compassion by Paula Fox.</p>