In the Name of Salome

By 1880, Salomé’s life has become very full. She and Pancho have married and are moving into a house of their own. All the while, Salomé continues to write fiery political poems. The couple meets a middle-aged Puerto Rican man named Hostos, who has come to the Dominican Republic to join the Friends of the Country organization. He is charismatic and quickly becomes the leader of the country’s progressive movement. Salomé falls under his spell. She thinks to herself, “I had heard people say amusing things, clever things, romantic things, but never before had anyone spoken so simply and with such moral authority that inside myself I felt the rightness and goodness of what he was saying” (172).

Salomé finds the scope of her poetry narrowing to her love for Pancho, even though he urges her to continue writing political verse. When Pancho is appointed the president’s secretary, and his duties cause him to travel frequently, Salomé is desolate. While he is away, Pancho asks Salomé to take over teaching at the school he founded for boys. Hostos agrees to help when he can but also urges Salomé to establish a school for female pupils. She feels herself pulled in multiple directions. Although she fears that her poetry will be neglected, she complies. The government votes to provide funding for Salomé’s new school. Between her school duties and the birth of three sons, Salomé has no time to write. She says to herself, “Every once in a while, when I had a minute to myself, I would sit down and close my eyes and hear an old call from deep inside [...] Hush now, I would whisper” (188).

Camila’s memories have retreated another 12 years to 1923 when she and her family are living in exile in Washington, DC. Pancho had been president for only four months before the United States occupied the Dominican Republic. He stubbornly refuses to act as president under the auspices of the United States, though his protégé, Peynado, is far more cooperative with the Americans and wishes to assume the presidency himself. Peynado has loaned his townhouse in Georgetown to the Henríquez family, but Pancho is deluded into believing the house is leased to the Dominican government. He also believes that he has a chance of meeting with President Harding to get the Americans out of his country.

During this time, Camila writes many letters to Marion that she doesn’t send. She’s met a young naval officer named Scott Andrews, who has proposed marriage. Camila thinks she is in love with Scott but vacillates over their possible future. The narrator describes Camila’s thought process about this issue:

She will live in a house, not unlike this one. She will bear children, not unlike her little nephews. She will kiss her kind husband, a man not unlike Scott Andrews…Already she feels bored with this version of what is coming (205).

After Pancho’s repeated attempts to gain an audience with the president, Camila gives Scott an ultimatum. If he wants her to marry him, he will have to arrange an interview for her father. A few days later, Scott arrives with Peynado. They try to convince Camila that the interview is impossible. Furious and disappointed, she sends both men away.