I just finished the prequel- "The Children of Sanchez". This, much shorter, work revisits the same family a few years on as three of the siblings (father and youngest daughter Marta are absent) reconvene as Aunt Guadeloupe dies, has a wake and is buried.
We recognize the personalities from Book 1- self-centred trader Manuel; bad boy Roberto, who still seems to have more of a heart than his brother- and aspirational Consuelo, a secretary who is raising Manuel's neglected offspring.
I felt the grinding poverty here, much more than in the prequel. There, the family had ups and downs; Aunt Guadeloupe, however, was an impoverished woman with an alcohol habit, living in a slum. The utter destitution, and lack of support is constant- if you cant scrape together the undertaker's fees, the body sits and putrefies; the church is on the make...As the book draws to a close, Manuel is calculating how to evict the Aunt's wastrel lover, while Consuelo advocates mercy.... ( )

If any book can be considered timeless, 'A Death in the Sanchez Family' sadly deserves that honour. It is a study of poverty in the face of death, and through Lewis's keen eye for detail and extensive social research, the story becomes absorbing, even essential. ( )

I got this from the charity shelf at work, choosing it for the Diego Rivero painting on the cover.

This is actually a follow up to a previous book, The Children of Sanchez, but can be read on its own. The text itself is a mere 100 pages, written in three parts covering the death of Aunt Guadalupe, the wake and her burial, together with an introduction about Guadalupe's life and circumstances and an appendix. The book is the product of the author's extensive research and interviews made with the Sanchez family.

Aunt Guadalupe dies in her home in the slums of Mexico City, suffering from cancer, she falls in her house and dies alone. Her family and friends arrive to organise her burial. Each of the three sections is narrated in turn by her niece and nephews.
Manuel starts, lamenting her loss as well as her ne'er-do-well man, Gaspar. The story is then continued by Roberto, less well-off than his brother and struggling to make ends meet for his father. The third voice is of Consuelo, their sister who lives in America.

Through the narrative, Lewis shows us life and death in Mexico's slums, from family relationships and squabbles to financial hardship. While it was written in the late '60s, sadly the book is still relevant, commenting as it does on social issues, such as poverty, alcohol abuse and the family. I will be looking out the other books Lewis wrote. ( )