Cantora

With this self-assured first novel, Lopez-Medina takes her place among a talented new generation of Hispanic American women writers. Her multigenerational saga begins as a rather disaffected modern-day young woman, Amparo, sets out to explore the ``varicolored threads'' that form the ``quilt'' of her family history. In highly visual prose, the author describes how Amaro's great-grandmother Rosario thwarted plans for an arranged marriage in turn-of-the-century Mexico to run away with Alejandro Perez, a follower of Pancho Villa. At age 24, having given birth to nine children and seen three of them as well as her husband die during the Mexican Revolution, Rosario returns home to discover her father has disowned her. She begins a harrowing journey west across the mountains, leaving one of her daughters, Pilar, to be raised by nuns. Thirteen years later, Pilar rejoins her family, but she is clearly unsuited for life in their rough-and-tumble town. When a wealthy older man, Gabriel Calderon, falls in love with her, the family arranges for Pilar to become his mistress. Lopez-Medina has a marvelous knack for capturing the emotional intensity of women, and the detailed descriptions of both love affairs--Rosario's with Alejandro and Pilar's with Gabriel--are exquisitely handled. Drawing on Lopez-Medina's own family history, the novel has resonance, authenticity and a natural drama. (Aug.)