Novel
Ingermina o la hija de Calamar
Not translated into English
Juan José Nieto · 1844
Synopsis
On the Caribbean coast, at the time when the Spaniards are advancing towards the village of Calamar, the cacique's daughter is captured along with her people. The brother of the founder of Cartagena falls in love with her and offers her peace. Around them the defeated are divided: some accept what is offered, others, led by a warrior who yields nothing, hold this peace to be servitude bought at the price of independence. The young woman must choose between the man who loves her and those who expect her to refuse.
Context
Written in Kingston during the Jamaican exile and printed there in two volumes, at the expense of friends who bore the cost, which the end of the second volume records. The original title was spelt with a Y and announced memories of the conquest between 1533 and 1537 as well as a notice on the customs of the people of Calamar: the book does indeed open with thirteen pages on indigenous customs, given as taken from an unpublished chronicle, before the fiction begins. Published outside the country, it hardly circulated there and remained unknown for a hundred and fifty years, until the reissues of 1998 and 2001.
Who it is for
Two hundred pages in Spanish, with no French translation. A historical novel of 1844, with the speeches and longueurs of its time; better to know who the Heredias were before opening it.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the first Colombian novel by most critics, from Antonio Curcio Altamar to Manuel Zapata Olivella. It found readers only after its reissue.