In the Name of Salome

In the Name of Salomé, first published in 2000, is the fourth novel by Dominican-American author Julia Alvarez. Alvarez is a poet as well as a novelist and has also written essays, nonfiction works, and children’s books. Alvarez was born in the United States but raised in the Dominican Republic, and her work focuses heavily on the experience of a Latina assimilating into American culture. Her family’s political activity in their homeland and her own work as a poet parallel the experiences of Salomé and her family in the novel.

In the Name of Salomé tells the story of Salomé Ureña, a poet who has been called the Emily Dickinson of the Dominican Republic. Unlike Dickinson, much of Salomé’s poetry contains political themes, and her verse became an inspiration for patriots of the newly established republic. The author’s own life parallels that of Salomé’s daughter, as both were the children of parents living in exile for political reasons. Alvarez also lives in Middlebury, Vermont, which is the home of the fictional Marion Reed. Both also share a connection to Middlebury College.

The dominant tone of In the Name of Salomé is elegiac, as a mother and daughter describe the loves and losses in their lives. The novel unfolds from two narrative viewpoints. Salomé tells her own life story in first-person narration from the time she is six years old in 1856 to the birth of her daughter in 1894. Her chapters alternate with the story of her daughter Camila. An omniscient narrator observes Camila’s life in reverse order from the time she is 66 in 1960 all the way back to Camila’s earliest memories of her mother’s death, when Camila was a three-year-old in 1897.

In the 1897 chapter, the narratives of the two women converge at Salomé’s deathbed. The final chapter of the book is the only part of Camila’s narrative that takes place in present time in 1973. Over the course of the novel, as Salomé moves forward in time and Camila looks back in time, both narratives examine the themes of the function of art, the birth of the Dominican Republic as a nation, and the fused identities of mother and daughter in the name they share.

Plot Summary

The story begins in 1960 as Camila concludes her teaching career in upstate New York to embark on a new adventure. At the age of 66, she feels inspired to travel to Cuba to participate in Castro’s revolution. Camila’s friend and former lover, Marion, drives her to Florida, where she will travel the rest of the way by boat. As they drive, Marion asks Camila to talk about her past. This prompts a series of recollections about the Henríquez Ureña family.

The story then switches to Salomé as a six-year-old growing up in the newly established Dominican Republic. Salomé talks about the chaotic political atmosphere in the region where governments are formed and overthrown on a weekly basis. Her own father must flee the country periodically, depending on which party is in power at the moment. In chapters that alternate with Camila’s memories, Salomé reveals the story of her life. She describes her fame as the national poet, her marriage to Pancho Henríquez, her growing family, and her terminal illness just as she gives birth to Camila.

Looking backward from the vantage point of 1973, an omniscient narrator relates Camila’s memories from her past. These include her role as the family peacekeeper, the guardian of her mother’s poetic legacy, her failed romances, and the years she devotes to the cause of Cuban independence. Salomé’s death is told from Camila’s viewpoint as a three-year-old. In this section of the story, the narratives of the two women merge, and their identities fuse. Camila devotes the rest of her life to keeping her mother’s memory alive. Shortly before her own death, she finally feels worthy of assuming the name her mother gave her. Camila’s tombstone is engraved with her full name—Salomé Camila Ureña Henríquez.