Woman in Battle Dress

Last Epic Novel from the LegendThis novel can be considered an «epic», but it owes this classification as much to its sweeping scope, richness of vision, and heterogeneous approach to genre as it does to its length. Benítez Rojo has classified this book himself as historical, epic, autobiographical, bildungsroman, and even postmodern—this book serves as a culmination of his mastery of multiple genres. This novel is written more direct than some of his other more stylistic works.Incredibly Rich CharacterizationBenítez Rojo creates a fully-fleshed, vivid, and complex figure in Henriette Faber who grapples continuously with the strictures of her time and society as well as with issues of personal, social, and sexual identity. Her characterization is based on a real historical figure, and her story was one of the more sensational scandals in Cuba's history.Critically Acclaimed WorkThis book was very highly acclaimed by several distinguished scholars in the field of Latin American literature when it was released originally, and two portions have already been excerpted in English.