The Firefly Letters - Book Review

This post was written as a Master's course assignment for Texas Woman's University.

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Engle, Margarita. 2010. THE FIREFLY LETTERS. New York NY: Henry Holt and Company, LLC. ISBN 9780805090826.

2. BOOK SUMMARY
With a chilling introduction, Engle brings the reader into the world of Matanzas,Cuba in 1851, while the slave trade was still widely practiced there.  This novel in verse carries the reader through the story using different perspectives and voices, including those of: Cecilia, Elena, Fredrika, and Beni (Cecilia's husband). The reader learns gradually about the back story of each character, and through the language of the poems, begins to hear each character's voice more clearly.

The book begins with the voice of Cecilia, a slave who was sold to a trader in Africa. She lives as a slave on an estate in Cuba, on which the young lady Elena, daughter of Papa, lives. We hear a third voice from Fredrika, a Swedish woman who would rather have freedom of voice and expression than her wealthy inheritance, and also believes in the equality of all people, and so she goes to the estate in Cuba as a writer. 

Gorgeous language spans the pages of this book; through all of the different voices, we hear unique phrases and observations of the land and the time. In Elena, we hear the language of a slightly spoiled teenage girl: "her own gloomy, sullen,/annoying way" (speaking about Cecilia, pg. 4). She describes Fredrika with disdain, at first: "the Swedish lady/eats like a castaway/right after the long-awaited rescue/from starvation," (pg. 19).

Fredrika offers a fresh perspective, a woman ahead of her time, and with a highly descriptive vocabulary: "there is always the scent/of rotting tropical vegetation,/a smell that releases a bit of sorrow,/like the death of some small wild thing" (pg. 7). The poem highlighted below is also Fredrika's poem.

The author uses a mix of beautiful words, such as cocuyos (fireflies), etc., to enhance the authentic feel and sounds of Cuba.  She portrays some terrifying and grotesque moments, and also moments of astounding beauty.  Most of the poems are around the same length, from one page + one stanza, to sometimes a bit longer.  This lovely verse novel would appeal to independent readers, and would be a great introduction to the author's other, similar works.

3. POEM HIGHLIGHT
The poem that I chose to highlight from this verse novel is below. Written from the perspective of the Swedish lady, Fredrika, it encapsulates the magic of the fireflies at night, and the hope of a better future for the other two main characters.  As an educational follow-up activity, I would have the children imagine writing a poem from someone/something else's perspective (even an animal's or an insect's point of view). What would that voice sound like? What words would that author use, and what would it describe? What could it see that we cannot? How is that animal/person/entity's experience different from ours? After composing the poems, the students could also share aloud, if they chose.


FREDRIKA

Cuban fireflies are the most amazing
little creatures I have ever seen.
They flock to me at night,
resting on my fingers
so that, while I am sketching
and writing letters,
I need no other lantern,
just the light
from their movements.

I skim my hand across the page
while the brilliant cocuyos help me decide
what to write - there is so much to tell.
How can I describe this shocking journey?

I must speak of Cecilia's homesickness
and her lung sickness

and the way her baby 
is doomed to be born
into slavery.

I must describe Elena's loneliness 
and her longing for a sense of purpose.

Somehow, I must show my readers
the bright flowers and glowing insects
that make Cuba's night
feel like morning.

(By Margarita Engle)