Orange Wine by Esperanza Hope Snyder

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Mirroring the alchemical process of turning oranges into wine, Inés must create a new life from a bitter pith, pressing sweetness from life’s agonies as she struggles toward artistic freedom and feminine awakening.”

This tragedy – set in twentieth-century Colombia – is steeped in loss, love, and sorrow. Reminiscent of Latin American greats like Allende and Gabriel García Márquez, Snyder manages to seamlessly weave together the afflictions of human emotion and the struggles of womanhood in a post-colonial world where the Catholic Church governs. Her background as a poet and her native Spanish tongue are evident in Orange Wine’s descriptive, rich language and sentiment.

“Eve’s real punishment, I thought, was to be blessed with an inquisitive mind trapped in a body that would strive to perpetuate itself regardless of the pain or the consequences.” (p. 93).

We both grieve alongside and root for Inés de la Rota, a woman subjugated to the rules of her socio-economy. Inés teaches us the beauty of art and love and the importance of fighting for this despite the magnitude of the consequences of doing so with the woman’s body she is “trapped” in.

Thank you to both Bindery and NetGalley for this copy of Orange Wine by Esperanza Hope Snyder. It was a beautifully crafted and deeply human experience.

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