The Ogre’s Daughter
The little-known life of Flor de Oro Trujillo Ledesma is told in this biographical novel. Flor lives a very sad and tragic life under the domination and manipulation of her father, Dominican Republic’s dictator Rafael Trujillo, referred to as T. From her birth in 1915 until his assassination in 1961, he controls all aspects of her life – who she marries, where she lives, who she associates with – nothing is outside his reach. His spies watch her every move. Still, she desperately seeks his love, even though she is never able to live up to his expectations. He rewards or punishes based upon his moods, and she finds it impossible to break away to create a life for herself.
As Flor becomes perpetually locked into a cycle of looking for love and acceptance, and constantly being disappointed – not only from her father, but from other men – she marries nine times. Self-destructive with no self-esteem, she frequently spirals into alcoholism and anorexia. Because of Flor’s impulsivity and romantic idealism, only the reader can see yet another doomed marriage before it begins. A handful of her marriages bring some hope since occasionally she chooses a decent, kind man, but inevitably T or Flor herself will destroy the marriage.
Flor is an exasperating woman who cannot make empowering decisions and is incapable of taking back her life. Her life of repetitive bad decisions with damaging consequences, added to Bardon’s repetitive descriptions of the hold T has over Flor, makes this a vexing read, even though the events and details are fascinating. The atrocities Trujillo commits during his dictatorship is on the periphery because this is primarily a study of Flor de Oro’s unfortunate life. This book is for any reader intrigued by the impact an egotistical, evil, and maniacal dictator has on his family.
