Summary of Las Hijas de Juan: Daughters Betrayed

Josie Mendez-Negrete’s novel, Las Hijas de Juan: Daughters Betrayed, is a very disturbing tale about brutal domestic abuse and incest. Negrete’s novel is an autobiography regarding experiences of incest in a working-class Mexican American family. It is Josie Mendez-Negrete’s story of how she, her siblings, and her mother survived years of violence and sexual abuse at the hands of her father. “Las Hijas de Juan" is told chronologically, from the time Mendez-Negrete was a child until she was a young adult trying, along with the rest of her family, to come to terms with her father 's brutal legacy. It is a upsetting story of abuse and shame compounded by cultural and linguistic isolation and a system of patriarchy that devalues the experiences of women and girls. At the same time, "Las Hijas de Juan" is an inspirational tale, filled with strong women and hard-won solace found in traditional Mexican cooking, songs, and storytelling.
In “Hijas De Juan: Daughters Betrayed”, Josie Mendez-Negrete begins with her life in Mexico. Born in Mexico, in the state of Zacatecas, Mendez-Negrete recalls a very joyous childhood growing up in the midst of Tobasco. Tobasco through her eyes was a vibrant town filled with her friends and extended family. “Huele de noche, the sweet and spicy scent of the “smells-at-night ivy, lingered like morning dew in the bright yellow and red colors of the sunrise” (pg. 5). Her father, though, had dreams of acquiring wealth in "el norte," He worked sun-up to sun-down in the fields of south Texas. Returning home to Mexico with money to “support” his family, he spent his nights out at bars and womanizing. Not knowing the effects his actions had on his daughter’s and his wife’s lives. “In that placid space, the madman’s actions were out of place, capturing a vision of insanity. The only ones that seemed to notice were the caged birds whose song warned of doom” (pg. 5).
During the second part of the book, the author goes into detail of the