Tinisima
Using quotations from actual letters, characters under their actual names, and events straight out of history, Mexican novelist Elena Poniatowska has reimagined the life of actress and Communist agent Tina Modotti. Modotti was the lover of photographerEdward Weston, the friend ofDiego Riveraand other artists, and an agent for the Soviet Union during the murky events of the Spanish Civil War. Poniatowska brushes aside questions of morality and politics  to present Tina Modotti as an impetuous romantic, a heroine regardless of the rightness of her cause. The Spanish Civil War forms the backdrop for the last and most dramatic stage of Modotti's life: she was the lover of Vittorio Vidali, who specialized in assassinating anti-Stalinist leftists. Regardless of the stature of the book as literature, it gives a portrait of one of the most fascinating characters on the world stage between the World Wars.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.