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Sebastien Onius
Señora Valencia, who is married to Señor Pico, is Amabelle’s boss in the Dominican Republic. She and Amabelle grew up together, and often disregarded their class boundaries in order to play together as children; moreover, both lost their mothers at a young ageSeñora Valencia’s mother died in childbirthand learned to cope with grief and loss. Señora Valencia and Amabelle are not only separated by class, but also by national identity. Despite their close, nearly familial relationship, Señora Valencia is a wealthy Dominican woman with family ties to the government, whereas Amabelle is actively targeted for her Haitian identity. Señora Valencia’s affection for Amabelle cannot, ultimately, overcome the rising tide of racism and persecution, and Amabelle is forced to lie to Señora Valencia in order to run away. Amabelle’s innocent betrayal of Señora Valencia illustrates how one’s identity sometimes takes precedence over longstanding relationships. Amabelle eventually returns to the Dominican Republic after the violence and reunites briefly with Señora Valencia. Señora Valencia does not recognize her, leading Amabelle to doubt the strength of their bond and question her shifting conception of home.
Señora Valencia Quotes in The Farming of Bones
The The Farming of Bones quotes below are all either spoken by Señora Valencia or refer to Señora Valencia. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2 Quotes
“And my daughter favors you,” she said. “My daughter is a chameleon. She’s taken your color from the mere sight of your face.” […] “Amabelle do you think my daughter will always be the color she is now?” Senora Valencia asked. “My poor love, what if she’s mistaken for one of your people?”
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Chapter 8 Quotes
Señor Pico Duarte bore the name of one of the fathers of Dominican independence […] His eyes lingered on his son, his heir […]“I will name him Rafael, for the Generalissimo,” he said as Juana reswaddled the children even more securely than before. The señora agreed to this name with a coy nod. And so the boy became Rafael like the Generalissimo, the president of the republic.
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Señora Valencia Character Timeline in The Farming of Bones
The timeline below shows where the character Señora Valencia appears in The Farming of Bones. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...work, and not something she ever expected to do herself. But one morning she hears Señora Valencia scream from inside the house. She runs inside to find that Señora Valencia’s water has...
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...rely on Amabelle for help. Amabelle, remembering some of her parent’s birthing expertise, helps the señora through the birth and delivers the señora’s son. The boy is pale-skinned, the color of...
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Señora Valencia cries out in pain once more, and Amabelle at first believes she is merely delivering...
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The señora names the newborn girl Rosalinda, after her dead mother, and claims that her daughter “favors”...
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Chapter 4
Doctor Javier, a Dominican physician within the community, arrives at Señora Valencia ’s house and examines the newborns. Señora Valencia tells the doctor that she is grateful...
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...Amabelle returns with the water, Don Ignacio is in the room with Doctor Javier and Señora Valencia . Don Ignacio asks when the children were born; Amabelle does not know precisely. Don...
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...on Rosalinda’s dark skin tone, only to be chastised by Don Ignacio, who is the señora’s father. Don Ignacio points out that the baby’s coloring must come from her father; he...
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The doctor then strikes up a conversation about Señor Pico ( Señora Valencia ’s husband). He notes that the señor’s rank “changes” very frequently, and claims that the...
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Juana, a housemaid, comes into the room, and Amabelle informs her that the señora has given birth. Juana crosses herself, and considers it a “miracle” to have “twin babies...
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...is named after her mother, causing Juana to “sob louder.” Juana claims that if the señora’s mother had lived to see the day, she would have been crying as well.
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Chapter 6
...children. She notes that Rosalinda is “dwarfed by her brother,” and picks her up. The señora, seeing this, urges Amabelle to hold the child close to her and feel her breath....
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...candle during the birth, it was not for religious reasons. Rather, it was because the señora “promised [her mother] that [she would] light her a candle after she gave birth.” She...
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...to “parent all our childhood dreams out of ourselves.” Juana delivers some food to the señora, but tears begin to “stream down her face.” The señora explains that Juana was present...
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Señora Valencia is excited for her husband, Señor Pico, to see the children. She says that Pico...
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...for children, but had a miscarriage many years ago. She claims her tears are for Señora Valencia , who is unable to be with her mother on a momentous day.
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Chapter 8
...asked to marry Señora Valencia after one month. Don Ignacio agreed, as long as the señora coud stay in her home; he does not want her to live near the soldiers’...
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...help during the delivery and squeezes her hand. When Señor Pico interrupts them, however, the señora lets go of Amabelle’s fingers and announces that Juana will stay in the house overnight,...
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Amabelle overhears a conversation between Señora Valencia and Señor Pico about a new border operation that he will be placed in charge...
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Amabelle departs from Señora Valencia’s room and comes across Don Ignacio, the señora’s father and an “exiled patriot” from Spain who is listening to a radio for news...
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...and looks around at her possessions. She notes that “nearly everything” she owns is “something Señora Valencia had once owned and no longer wanted.” She emphasizes that only Sebastien is hers alone.
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Chapter 12
The discussion turns to Señora Valencia ’s new children, and Mimi points out that Beatriz will likely become the godmother. Amabelle...
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Chapter 14
Amabelle returns to Señora Valencia ’s house, and sees Beatriz arrive to greet Don Ignacio. Beatriz asks him what he...
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Chapter 16
...fields, signaling the beginning of the harvest. Amabelle goes into the house to see if Señora Valencia needs help, and the two women hear Rosalinda crying. Señora Valencia worries that the cries...
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Doctor Javier arrives, but it is clear that the boy has died. Señora Valencia is grief-stricken, and begins to cry in her husband’s arms. Señor Pico also looks as...
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...the next day, where Rafael will be buried next to her mother and brother. The señora asks Doctor Javier why her son died, and he answers that the boy “lost his...
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Señora Valencia begins to talk to Amabelle—who has kept her company as she paints the coffin—about the...
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Señora Valencia tells him that there should be “no wake,” as that would be “too sad for...
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Chapter 18
...for Doña Eva becomes his “unofficial wake.” Amabelle notices that there is “a stillness” in Señora Valencia ’s eyes, as if she has experienced the “shadow of a lost dream.” It is...
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...will fight for his people. After the broadcast ends, the guests disperse, leaving the señor, señora, and their household staff behind.
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...of a dead child,” a “test” of their bond that neither of them anticipated. The señora asks her husband to bury her son’s clothes before they bury his body; he agrees,...
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Chapter 20
...the present, Señor Pico has granted his wife’s request and begins to bury Rafael’s clothes. Señora Valencia tells Juana she would like to attend the burial, and then pleads for stories of...
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...Señora Valencia that her mother was a “good-hearted lady” who treated the staff kindly. The señora then tells Juana that she has had dreams of what Rafael would have looked like...
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...“would not have wanted Señor Pico’s family to rejoice when Joël died.” Sebastien asks if Señora Valencia is like family to Amabelle, and she replies that she is.
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...not offer any sign of affection to his daughter Rosalinda, and then drives away. The señora then cradles her daughter against her, as if to feel the “child’s breath against her...
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The señora makes an altar for Rafael out of flowers and a candle. Señora Valencia then tells...
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...and Rosalinda. He raises a finger as if to touch the baby’s face, but the señora stops him; instead, he kisses the señora’s fingers, and expresses condolences for her loss.
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...and how it can pass either very slowly or in an instant. He tells the señora to treasure the child that still lives. The group leaves the house, and Amabelle thinks...
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Chapter 22
...for a second time, so that the Generalissimo would “become their official, albeit absent, godfather.” Señora Valencia lets Amabelle kiss the newly baptized girl, but Señor Pico takes his wife’s arm and...
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Chapter 24
...wife how to shoot a gun; Amabelle narrowly avoids getting hit by a bullet. The señora cries out in terror, but sees she is unharmed. Her husband tells her she must...
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Señora Valencia , seeing a cadre of military men pull up to her house, says that it...
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Don Ignacio explains that he has witnessed Señor Pico’s behavior before. He tells Señora Valencia that Señor Pico “believes that everything he is doing, he’s doing for his country.” He...
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Chapter 26
...he will make space for Amabelle’s lover, Sebastien, and his sister. Before she can answer, Señora Valencia interrupts the conversation. Amabelle wishes to ask her for help, but wonders if her employer...
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...of clothes. She hides the bag near Juana and Luis’s house, and then returns to Señora Valencia . She asks Amabelle if Don Ignacio has returned, and tells Amabelle to direct Luis...
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...piece of land.” Amabelle decides that she will not say an official farewell to the señora; instead, she will send a message once she is settled in Haiti.
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...about her father, and Beatriz speculates that he has a mistress. Beatriz then tells the señora that Mimi is leaving their household, and Amabelle feigns surprise. Beatriz once again changes the...
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Beatriz and Señora Valencia begin to talk of travel. Beatriz wishes to travel to Spain, in order to escape...
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...breathing, and Beatriz and Amabelle carry her into the house. Amabelle sees blood on the señora’s dress, and tells herself that she will only leave for the church after the Señora...
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Chapter 34
...like Sebastien and Mimi; she was only late to the meeting because she noticed that Señora Valencia was bleeding. Amabelle and Yves embrace one another, and Yves begins to cry; his tears...
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Chapter 41
...Spanish with a Haitian Creole accent, and tells her that she wants to see the señora.
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She is finally introduced to Señora Valencia, who does not recognize her; the señora chastises Amabelle for using her old worker’s name. When her old employer does not recognize...
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Amabelle describes being found by the river’s edge, and the señora finally believes her. She gestures at Amabelle to sit down, and Amabelle looks at the...
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Señora Valencia explains how her family moved to a new house: Señor Pico bought it from the...
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Señora Valencia then tells Amabelle that if she condemns her country, she must condemn herself; she claims...
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...both alive and awaiting a natural death. Amabelle thinks to herself that she and the señora were caught between being friends or strangers; now, however, they act like two passersby on...
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...Valencia about a stream and waterfall she remembers from her time in Alégria, and the señora agrees to show her the closest waterfall she knows. The señora drives Amabelle and Sylvie,...
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Sylvie, the housemaid, interrupts their conversation to ask the señora why the Dominican soldiers used the word for “parsley” to target Haitians. The señora replies...
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Amabelle and Señora Valencia say goodbye, and Amabelle tells the señora to go in peace. Amabelle is picked up by her driver, and she asks him...
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