Summary

Violeta accompanies the Rivases as they provide education to rural, often poor indigenous populations. She notes that “I quickly lost the innocence that my family had so carefully guarded” (70). Violeta grows passionate about knowledge and education. Lucinda introduces her to Yaima, an indigenous healer; a chief later asks Abel for Violeta’s hand in marriage. On a visit to Santa Clara, Josephine and Teresa organize a birthday celebration for Torito. Violeta gives him a wooden cross hung from a necklace. As Violeta grows older, her mother’s health declines. At the end of Chapter 6, Violeta discusses Torito. Although he has the “appearance of [a] menacing brute” (79), Torito is kind and sensitive. He often goes on long solitary sojourns around the countryside. Late in Violeta’s adolescence, a ranch worker attempts to rape her. Torito fights off the man, who is later found dead...