Amazon Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Historical Fiction

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2021

"She'll have to develop callouses on her soul, if she's to get on in this world."

Before the Alamo by Florence Byham Weinberg is a gritty tale about a woman and her daughter in San Antonio de Béxar before the Alamo became the site of that infamous bloody battle that we are all told to remember. The journey in this story for both Maria and her daughter, Emelia, starts in 1814 and goes to the battle’s aftermath in 1836. This journey includes beauty and affection among an abundance of hardship, prejudice, violence, and death. Emelia carries the shame of her illegitimate birth and the scorn of her natural father, but, with her mother’s tender yet firm love, Emilia thrives by learning to read and write and by surviving so many of life’s cruel blows.

While Before the Alamo includes both fictional and historical figures and does envelop the cultural, political, and military aspects of the time, it is ultimately a love story between a mother and daughter and between that same daughter and her childhood friend, destined to be together come what may. Emilia and Dámaso are called mestizo and considered lower class, with their dark hair and skin, definitely unlike the fairer decedents from Spain. But they work hard and have the talent and determination that just might provide them with a leg up to a better life and maybe even a chance to marry, if only a series of misfortunes and tragedies along the way will let them.

"Life can set traps that can ruin a person forever."

The author’s writing is both matter of fact and melodic, filling the pages with a story that will touch your heart, elicit ire at the many injustices, and leave you with an interesting fictional view of life before, during, and after the Battle of the Alamo. This perspective of the years leading up to such a turbulent time is a true gift from the author because it opens up the possibilities of events that Texas history books may not offer (my Texas History classes were so many years ago). The typical focus is always on the Alamo, but what was life like in the small mission town before 1836? What were the everyday conflicts, struggles, and joys among the people in San Antonio de Béxar? The author opens up that window, unfolding a story that is both riveting and infuriating as Maria and Emilia navigate the male-dominated landscape, where people, including priests, accuse women of provoking men to abuse them because they are "daughters of Eve." Any story that invokes strong emotion, such as anger and grief, and subsequent discussion is a valuable one, and all readers can benefit from reading about the severity of the times, even in a work of fiction. Among the thorns in Beyond the Alamo, however, is love, friendship, devotion, and hope, with the author juxtaposing everything in such an extraordinary story with expert equanimity. Well done!

Note: Take the time to read the Author’s Note at the beginning that advises the reader to check out the list of characters (shows which ones are fictional and which ones are historical) at the end of the book as well as the Appendix, which has some important Texas history that will benefit you as you read. You’ll be glad you did.

I received a free copy of this book from Lone Star Book Blog Tours in exchange for my honest review.

5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched! Well written! Well edited!

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2021

Every once in a while a book comes along that fills in some of the blanks that you didn’t even know existed until reading it. This is such a book, and I feel that I am now keenly more empathetic to some things than I was before reading Before the Alamo. In my opinion, only exceptionally-well-written historical fiction can fill in these voids.

The title could not be more on point! When I first saw the book, I began to wonder about Texas life before the Alamo. Was there really a “before the Alamo” period that carries any significance at all? I probably didn’t have a very good answer to that question before, but I do now.

Even though the historical implications of this book are huge - at least to me - the story is also quite wonderful. And sad.

The story follows the early life of Emilia Altamirano. She is fictional, as are all the main characters, but she comes in contact with a number of people that actually appear in Texas history books. She is born to an unwed mother in 1814, when the story begins. She is not conceived out of rape or incest, which was very common back then, but is the product of a brief love affair between her mother, an Otomí Indian, and a man of Spanish (think Spain) birth.

The story follows her life up to 1836, the year of the infamous battle. During those years, we see Emilia’s struggle to learn how to read, and more importantly, the implications - and ramifications - of her lineage.

There is also an epilogue that occurs in 1848 letting the reader know where Emilia ended up and what course her life is taking. Including that Epilogue is not the only really cool thing this author did. She also included a List of Characters, including both main and minor characters. In that list, the author also indicated whether a character was fictional or historical. For me, that added tremendous value to this story. It also made me aware of just how thoroughly researched this story is.

Another thing the author did that really impressed me was include an appendix, titled A Brief History of Béxar de San Antonio, that highlighted historically significant and relevant events from 1718 to 1847. I read that before reading the story, and it put everything into perfect perspective.

The description is top notch. As an example, this is how the author described what a character found when he entered Béxar: “…he found a peaceful and beautiful welcome: the surrounding fields rippled intensely blue with bluebonnets, accented here and there by the orange-red of Indian paintbrushes. Trees, too, were in bloom: redbuds, leafless as yet, but glowing with lavender-pink buds, and in dense groves, mustard yellow banks of the huisache had rejoiced his soul. Yes, it was definitely early April.“

Since most of the characters did not speak English, the author interspersed some Spanish in the story, presumably to add to the realism. The author did a fine job with this. It wasn’t overly done, and she usually followed it up with the English version. Here’s an example from the story: “I’ll be cooking la comida, the midday meal, soon.”

Something else that really stands out is the character development. It seems to me that the author took her time in crafting the main characters. As a result, in additional to realism of all the main (fictional) characters, the reader also becomes aware of the social placement of people based on the tint of their skin and the origin of their blood.

This was a real eye-opener for me. Also, when the Anglos arrived in the area, I was taken aback by the way they treated the people who were already living there! (True, that wasn’t the first time it happened in history, nor was it the last, but it was still just as disconcerting.)

Just in case you’re not sure yet, I’ll go on the record and say that I enjoyed this story immensely. Thoroughly researched! Well written! Well edited!

Do you know what happened “Before the Alamo?” Here’s your chance. I hope you take it.

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating visualization of historical events

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2021

I didn’t grow up in Texas, but I learned a little about the Alamo when I was young. The basic things that everyone learns – “Remember the Alamo!”, the deaths of notables such as Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, and the fact that the Texans lost. I never really gave much thought to the actual historical setting or the events leading up to that battle, though. In her engrossing and clearly well-researched book, Before the Alamo, Florence Byham Weinberg paints a vivid picture of the people who populated Mexican Texas.

Emilia is the focal point of the story. She is born in 1814, in the municipality of Béxar, the result of a short-lived love affair between her mother and a man of Spanish descent. She and her mother work for the father who refuses to acknowledge Emilia, and they are considered lower class. But Emilia learns to read and write, and works her way up to a position of some importance as a clerk for the city council. The story unfolds, following Emilia up to the Battle of the Alamo and its aftermath.

I don’t speak a lot of Spanish, and I appreciated how Weinberg used Spanish terms throughout the book, but also used the English equivalent nearby. This made me feel immersed in the story and the culture without having to stop and check Google Translate for every unfamiliar term.

Weinberg also pulled no punches on how some Anglos treated the Tejanos when they came into Texas. While there were some who were honorable and treated the Tejanos with dignity (as exemplified by the character of Charles McCray, a doctor who befriended Emilia when she was working to help others during a cholera outbreak), there were some who were rude and downright ugly. Weinberg didn’t try to pretty up those interactions to make the white folks all look better. In the modern era where racism is a topic that’s front and center, it highlights that the arrival of the Anglo wasn’t necessarily something welcomed by all Tejanos, and for good reason.

The story is compelling and the characters are well developed. It’s got action, tension, romance, something for almost every reader. And this was another of my favorite kinds of books, the kind where the story is both enjoyable and educational. Before the Alamo has inspired me to learn more about Texas history, and I hope you’ll take the opportunity to read it and learn something yourself. It gets five big stars from me.