By the Light of My Father's Smile is Alice Walker'sfirst novel in six years--a stunning, original, and important book by"one of the best American writers of today" (The Washington Post).Afamily from the United States goes to the remote Sierras in Mexico--thewriter-to-be, Susannah; her sister, Magdalena; her father and mother.And there, amid an endangered band of mixed-race Blacks and Indianscalled the Mundo, they begin an encounter that will change them morethan they could ever dream. Moving back and forth in time, and amongunforgettable characters and their stories, Walker crosses conventionalborders of all kinds as she explores in this magical novel the ways inwhich a woman's denied sexuality leads to the loss of the much prizedand necessary original self; and how she regains that self, even as herfamily's past of lies and love is transformed.By the Light of My Father's Smile is Alice Walker'sfirst novel in six years--a stunning, original, and important book by"one of the best American writers of today" (The Washington Post).Afamily from the United States goes to the remote Sierras in Mexico--thewriter-to-be, Susannah; her sister, Magdalena; her father and mother.And there, amid an endangered band of mixed-race Blacks and Indianscalled the Mundo, they begin an encounter that will change them morethan they could ever dream. Moving back and forth in time, and amongunforgettable characters and their stories, Walker crosses conventionalborders of all kinds as she explores in this magical novel the ways inwhich a woman's denied sexuality leads to the loss of the much prizedand necessary original self; and how she regains that self, even as herfamily's past of lies and love is transformed.By the Light of My Father's Smilepresents, as Alice Walker puts it, "a celebration of sexuality, itsabsolute usefulness in the accessing of one's mature spirituality, andthe father's role in assuring joy or sorrow in this arena for his femalechildren." It explores the richness and coherence of alternativeculture, experience of sexuality as a celebration of life, of trust inNature and the Spirit, even as it affirms the belief, as Walker says,"that it is the triumphant heart, not the conquered heart, thatforgives. And that love is both timeless and beyond time."