Call no man master

by Tina Juarez

Carmen Rangel is strong-willed and has a firm sense of her identity, despite being of mixed blood in the racially stratified society of colonial Mexico. Carmen is drawn more to the arts of warfare than those of domesticity and Carmen becomes a daring participant in the wars of Mexican independence from Spain and of Texas independence from Mexico. In contrast to these apparently masculine pursuits, Carmen falls in love with adventurer Coalter Owens and bears him a daughter. In the course of her continued struggles for the liberal cause, Carmen becomes separated both from her beloved, whom she believes dead, and from her daughter. Their fateful encounter at the Battle of the Alamo brings to conclusion this exciting and innovative historical novel, which explores both the role of women and the rise of liberal ideas in Mexico and Texas during their birth as republics.