Ellen Urbani :: The Book

Reviews

The Independent - February 16, 2006

"Every now and then a work of nonfiction prose comes along that suggests the power of the written word over a documentary. This may well be the case with When I Was Elena..."

-- Joan Baum
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Booklist - January 01, 2006

"This book could use a subtitle, something along the lines of "What I Learned in Guatemala as a Peace Corps Volunteer." The title alone says little about the book, and its target audience could pass it right by without a second glance. Which would be a pity, because it really is a very good book. When she was 22 years old, "fresh from college in the refined Deep South," the author - much to the consternation of her parents - headed off to Guatemala, where she soon discovered that her every preconception about the country was either woefully inadequate or flat-out wrong. It was her chance meeting with several women (including a fugitive from justice and an incest victim who had not yet reached her teenage years) that enabled Hiltebrand to see what Guatemala was really all about. The book is a sort of a hybrid: Some chapters are written as straight autobiography, while others are more like a novel, ostensibly written from the point of view of the women whose lives the author touched. Rich in detail and character, this memoir will have great appeal for anyone interested in Guatemala or in volunteer work."

-- David Pitt

Publishers Weekly - December 12, 2005

"In 1991, Hiltebrand, then 22, jettisoned her Southern belle sorority life for two years in rural Guatemala, armed with her dog, fluency in Spanish, and a well-grounded blend of will and pluck ("National Geographic lied," she declares upon arrival). In the country's crushing poverty and rampant hazards, along with the worshipful envy Hiltebrand elicits as a "gringa," the author finds an unexpected lode of humor that she mines to impressive effect, gently but not jeeringly. She records events with unflinching precision, leavened with an amiable sense of the absurd - as when a crone blithely steals Hiltebrand's mattress, which is imbued with new value by a white woman's touch. Even the kindness extended to her is riddled with poignant irony, as a neighbor slaughters her chickens to feed the author's ailing dog. The country's more menacing figures - lewd men, including a would-be rapist - are introduced without histrionics, as products of a culture viewed with clear-eyed, anthropological interest. Hiltebrand's travelogue is intercut with the quietly powerful life stories of the native women she befriends, and the tectonic shifts in perspective create a rich mosaic of culture and character. Though in spots Hiltebrand's prose feels thickly applied, her animated voice reliably shines through."

School Library Journal, Adult/High School - February 16, 2006

"Arriving in Guatemala in 1992 in clothes color-coordinated with her blueberry backpack and sleeping bag, Ellen Urbani, 22, was never expected to last in the Peace Corps. Other volunteers called her the China Doll. However inexperienced and unprepared she might have been, she was sensible and sturdy, open and willing to learn, as this memoir demonstrates. Shortly after her arrival, she adopted a dog that repelled endless amorous overtures and probably saved her life. She lived in villages in the highlands, places where no other North American had ever spent the night, much less rented a house, and stayed to work with the young people. Women whose lives included mind-numbing drudgery, sexual violence, endless childbearing, death of loved ones, and one happy marriage became good friends. Elena tells her story through her own eyes and through the eyes and the stories of seven of these women (one a fellow volunteer, the others locals, both young and old). Their stories are both ordinary and remarkable in their demonstration of how the human spirit can survive and even thrive; they are what set this memoir apart. Like many other writers, Hiltebrand imagines others lives; she tells readers up front that some of what she has written has been fictionalized, yet insists that the stories are true. She is an honest observer and her voice is convincing. Her mixed feelings of love and anger at the country are clearly conveyed. High school readers will be fascinated by this window into a different world."

-- Kathleen Isaacs, Towson University, MD

ForeWord - May/June 2006

"The author arrived in Guatemala in 1991 a fresh-faced twenty-two-year-old, straight from life as a southern belle at the University of Alabama. She left at the end of her two-year Peace Corps stay as Elena (so nicknamed by the Guatemalans she met), a woman forever changed..."

-- Reviewed by Iris Blasi
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Seattle Weekly - April 12-18, 2006

"...Hiltebrand's account is a testament to the tenacity of the human spirit - her own and that of the unbreakable Guatemalans. Potential Peace Corps do-gooders will find plenty of inspiration here. Either that, or they'll be too terrified to even consider volunteering."

-- Reviewed by Sara Niegowski
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Seattle Times - April 14, 2006

"The Peace Corps volunteers I've met are a singularly humble bunch. They never brag of bravery, rarely name-drop diseases and usually refrain from dazzling language when describing their remarkable - and remarkably challenging - two years. Ellen Urbani Hiltebrand breaks that mold in When I Was Elena: A Memoir... her proud memoir of Peace Corps service in Guatemala between 1991 and 1993. Please note: She lasted the FULL two years and then some. Nobody thought she would..."

-- Reviewed by Paula Bock
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Peace Corps Writers.org - June 06

"ANYONE WHO HAS OR HAS NOT traveled in South America, joined or not joined the Peace Corps, taken or avoided taking a bus ride through the mountains should enjoy Ellen Hiltebrand's When I Was Elena. As with any memorable story about an "other" place, Hiltebrand extends a generosity of attention that allows readers to create their own sense of familiarity with Guatemala. As a former Peace Corps Volunteer and rider of buses through mountains in Southern Africa, I was captivated by both the shocking and the quotidian aspects of Hiltebrand's two years in Guatemala."

-- Reviewed by Jacqueline Lyons
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Booklover's Blog: Reader's Advisory from the Staff of the Greensboro Public Library - May 22, 2006

"...Hiltebrand is a talented writer, using language beautifully to tell her story and that of the indigenous women. Few books are this entertaining while leaving such a lasting impression."

-- Reviewed by Sherrie Antonowicz, Administration
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Ralph Magazine - Issue 151

"A twenty-two year old southern sorority girl with Laura Ashley dresses and long painted nails who should be shopping at Saks joins the Peace Corps in 1991 and ends up in Guatemala. They said she would never make it. Not only did she make it, but she's a damn good writer. Her story includes the lives, loves, laughter and tears of seven local woman. I lived, loved, laughed and cried with each of them. She did something I never had the nerve to do, and took me with her. Good for you, Elena."

-- Reviewed by J. A. Shannon

Dining for Women

"...Not just a memoir about herself, When I Was Elena is Ellen's attempt to understand and give voice to the women of Guatemala who befriended her, sometimes rescued her, and gave so much to her while she was supposed to be helping them. Partly told in her own voice and partly in imaginative recreations of the voices of Guatemalan women she knew, When I was Elena is a testimony to what Guatemalan women have to share with us and to women making connections across cultures."

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HomesteadBlogger - August 24, 2006

"I just recently finished reading the book When I was Elena by Ellen Urbani Hiltebrand. It was bleak and dark on occasion, but balanced with humor. It was tainted with anti-religion, but that was only a small part of the book. It was very insightful regarding the lives of women in another culture. I found myself so very grateful to be born American, where even the poorest often have a solid roof overhead. This book gave me insight to why so many other cultures dream of coming to America. This is a book well worth reading!"

Global Teach Net - Jul/Aug, 2006

"When I Was Elena is an extraordinary account of a young American woman's sojourn in the guerrilla-infested mountains of Guatemala. Shattering the concept of a typical memoir, the author's personal story is interlaced, chapter-for-chapter, with tales told from the perspectives of seven indigenous women she encountered during her journey. At once a coming-of-age adventure and a haunting history of the struggle to overcome oppression-both personal and cultural - this genre-breaching work heralds the arrival of a daring new talent in American literature."

Ellen Urbani

WHEN I WAS ELENA