Queen of America Audiobook By Luis Alberto Urrea cover art

Queen of America

A Novel

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Queen of America

By: Luis Alberto Urrea
Narrated by: Luis Alberto Urrea
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $28.79

Buy for $28.79

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

At turns heartbreaking, uplifting, fiercely romantic, and riotously funny, this novel from a Pulitzer Prize finalist tells the unforgettable story of a young woman coming of age and finding her place in a new world.

Beginning where Luis Alberto Urrea's bestselling The Hummingbird's Daughter left off, Queen of America finds young Teresita Urrea, beloved healer and "Saint of Cabora," with her father in 1892 Arizona. But, besieged by pilgrims in desperate need of her healing powers, and pursued by assassins, she has no choice but to flee the borderlands and embark on an extraordinary journey into the heart of turn-of-the-century America.

Teresita's passage will take her to New York, San Francisco, and St. Louis, where she will encounter European royalty, Cuban poets, beauty queens, anxious immigrants and grand tycoon—and, among them, a man who will force Teresita to finally ask herself the ultimate question: is a saint allowed to fall in love?

©2011 Luis Alberto Urrea (P)2011 Hachette Audio Fiction Historical Fiction Royalty Feel-Good

Critic reviews

"Captivating...With deft humor and a poetic lyricism that seamlessly folds one scene into another, Urrea unfolds the story of his real-life great-aunt Teresita, a teenage saint who was known for healing miracles... Each scene in Queen of America unfurls gracefully like delicate wisps of smoke."—Megan Fishmann, Bookpage

"Urrea delights in the texture of things. Turn-of-the-century America, particularly New York, comes alive at his fingertips: He sees both the silk and the mud... In imagining the story of his great-aunt Teresita, Urrea might have chosen to make her a hero; that would have been easier. What we get is more complicated, more modern."—Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times

A magnificent work of literary alchemy, so masterfully infused with myth and history, you will feel these characters in your heart, your gut. You will grieve for their immortal souls."—Jamie Ford, author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Beautiful Storytelling • Memorable Characters • Lyrical Writing • Spiritual Elements • Historical Context
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  

If you could sum up Queen of America in three words, what would they be?

Humility meets pompocity

What was one of the most memorable moments of Queen of America?

I can't say too much without giving anything away, but the scene where Teresita separates from her father.

What about Luis Alberto Urrea’s performance did you like?

Everything. Absolutely everything.

Who was the most memorable character of Queen of America and why?

El Patron. Tomas embodies everything in a Mexican man and father. Boisterous, secretly tender, threatening, protective, arrogant, gracious and more.

Any additional comments?

This book wasn't anything near the epic tale the first book was, but it was nice to have an end to tie up an overall amazing story.

A good sequel, but not fantastic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am 47 years old, and I have read all my life. I’ve always considered about 5 books my all-time favorites. And now QOA and The Hummingbirds Daughter are included on that very small list. I feel like I should have heard about these books a long time ago, but I am glad to know them now. FAVORITES❤️❤️

Absolutely wonderful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This epic tale, read perfectly by the author, has everything I love in a novel: suspense, humor, memorable characters, mysticism, magic, and language so beautifully crafted for life, death, and the whole catastrophe of human existence.
I highly recommend listening to Luis Urrea read his profound epic.

Everything I want...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Each personality is so fully and richly developed. He brings you to love even difficult characters

Que Rico

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I recommend this book to everyone! Luis Alberto Urrea is a true artist with his words and storytelling. I read and reread his books, and they’re worth it!

Another Masterpiece by Luis Alberto Urrea

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I read a NYT review about Urrea’s most recent novel...House of Broken Angels...and decided to listen to the author read it. I LOVED IT!!! And the author’s superb narration swept me up
Into the story. After I finished it....the first I have ever read by this author...I had to have more. I listened to The Hummingbird’s daughter and was thoroughly entranced by it as well. I just finished The Queen of America, and wept when Huila arrived and led Tericita to her heaven.

BRILLIANT WRITING AND NARRATION!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If you could sum up Queen of America in three words, what would they be?

Lyrical, passionate, transporting

What did you like best about this story?

The vividness and reality of what it would be like to be a saint or to live with one.

What does Luis Alberto Urrea bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The beautifully alive Spanish and the wry humor.

Who was the most memorable character of Queen of America and why?

Thomas, for his living life fully with all his flaws and his being a larger-than-life rogue that made me laugh, when I wasn't wanting to kick him.

Any additional comments?

No one in our book club made it through the entire book, read or audible.

This is Best Way to Experience "Queen of America"

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I ordered the Hummingbirds daughter not knowing anything about the story or the author, and just when I thought the story could not get any better I was pleasantly surprised by the queen of America. I could not stop listening to it. I listened in the car, at work, while I was doing laundry or cooking dinner, and before falling asleep at night. What a beautiful story full of love, spirituality, humor and death.. all things that I can appreciate being a Mexican American and hearing magical stories from the mother land. Bravo, Luis Urrea on your art, and your performance of this story! This is a masterpiece!

I've ordered all of his books now, because I have become a great fan of his work!

This is one I'll listen to over and over again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Tears rolled down my cheeks when it ended. I’ll miss Teresita. I love Urrea’s books, and genuinely adore how he narrates his beautiful stories.

I loved it so much!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very worth the nearly 500 pages or 15+ hours. Very worth it. I might read again. Also read the hummingbirds daughter. Amazing and joyous reads.

Urrea beautifully describes

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews