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In April 2011 I received an email from a friend, a Zonian, it included a link to an article on life in the Canal Zone. The article was written by Silvio Sirias. I liked what I read, and after a Google search, I located Silvio Sirias. He gave me consent to use the article in my post about the Canal Zone.

After reading his web site, I learned both he and I received graduate degrees from the University of Arizona. I addition he wrote to tell me he would be in Boquete in July. I later discovered he would be presenting at a Tuesday morning meeting. I became curious enough about his other writings to visit Amazon and purchase a book, one printed on paper, Bernardo and the Virgin: A Novel (Latino Voices).

Upon it’s arrival I was already reading some Ann Rice, the Vampire Lestat on my iphone and decided that it would be fun to do both at the same time. The contrast between paper and the iphone, Vampires and the Virgin Mary made for a fun experience. I found the book riveting; it was, I thought, an interesting piece of fiction. I selected it because the reviewers on Amazon described it a cultural experience spanning the Nicaraguan wars. The story spans the victory of the Sandanistas over the Somoza dynasty,  life  and disappointment under the communist regime of Daniel Ortega,  the contra revolution and then subsequent transition to democracy. The book does that, not in depth as a history, but as the stage for the story of Bernardo and his conversations with the Virgin Mary, his impact on politics in Nicaragua and the impact of circumstances on him.

If you are a devout Catholic, this book will confirm your beliefs and raise your spirits. If you believe that government and church conspire with total disregard for the masses, this book will re-enforce your beliefs; in that vein it sings a tale similar to that of Trinity by Leon Uris. If you just want to better understand the culture of Central America, the role of church and government in the lives of the Campesinos, this book provides a lens for viewing.

The book is a novel, a historical novel based upon a real man, his real claims and the masses who followed his vision. He was used as a tool by the Church and by the CIA against the Sandanistas. He was by his own words a simple man, uneducated and ignorant of the greater world, but he had a vision and that vision moves the story.

Weaving the story is done artfully in an asynchronous manner. Each chapter is the story of a person and his or her interaction, experiences and contacts with Bernardo. How they influence his life story and how his story effects them. Eventually all the stories merge into a tapestry of multiple generations in Cuapa. I found myself occasionally needing to look back at the earlier chapters to re-associate names as the generations progressed but I also felt I knew the families and people.

It was not until I completed the book did I realize the town, Cuapa, Chontales, Nicaragua and the man Bernardo Martinez were real. Nor did I realize the entire novel was a cathartic for the fictional and perhaps the real author, it touched his life.

If you are an expat or considering immigration to a Central American country I would recommend reading Bernardo and the Virgin. Whether you accept the religious message is not relevant. The cultural immersion which is integral in the story will help you better understand the people of Central America,  many of  whom are tied into the mysteries of the Catholic Church.

I do still have my copy, but please don’t ask to borrow it. It lives on my bookshelf next to the bilingual copy of the bible that magically followed me home from a Hotel in Panama City. My cat has purred that at night there is a gentle blue glow where the books touch;  perhaps it is a reflection from my copy of The God Delusion? If my cat was not a bit of an insect eating vampire, I might believe her.