Hummingbird House Book

I was going to rate this book a 2 star to be nice, but who am I kidding? I really did not like this book. I thought I was going to be reading a book about Guatemala, like When I Was Elena by Ellen Urbani Hiltebrand who was a Peace Corp Volunteer in Guatemala; or about being a midwife in a poor country like Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years With A Midwife In Mali by Kris Holloway, another Peace Corp Volunteer.
The Hummingbird House is not, in the main, about Guatemala. Guatemala is the setting of the main part of the story, although it starts in Nicaragua. This story is actually about a woman named Kate and her love life. First there was Paul and then there was Deaver and last there was Dix. You don't get much of Guatemala; some people get "disappeared" (kidnapped and murdered), some people get beaten and tortured, it is a scary place to be even if you try to keep your head down. Some people try to be activists, they are in danger obviously. And there are so many orphans, many sniffing glue to ease hunger pangs. But this is all you get of Guatemala, the rest is Kate and her relationships. The one nice thing in this book is that Kate takes in an orphan girl and raises her. You also don't get much midwifery. Kate delivers one baby during the story and the mother dies. There is no explanation for the death.
I wanted to know more about Guatemala; who was fighting whom and for what reasons, the history behind the devolution into purposeless violence. I guess what I wanted was non-fiction, a serious look at Guatemala.
I didn't care about Kate and her sex life, or even her redemption at the end. And I certainly didn't care for the twist the author throws in near the end of the story. When all is said and done and years have passed Kate no longer feels sexual desire and she is content. This is what I mean by this book is about Kate and sex. She has her first love Paul whom she evidently dumps for Deaver and a life as a midwife and political activist in Nicaragua with Paul's sister Maggie. Deaver is her addiction to a sex life that is ultimately loveless and perverted. Dix is her platonic love and they have plans to marry when his resignation from the priesthood is complete. Kate and sex, Guatemala is just the background.
Also, in regard to the writing, the beginning is very confusing as she does not introduce characters, she just kind of dumps you into the story and you flounder around until you can get a handle on who is who. She also uses a lot of Spanish, some of which she follows with the English meaning and some of which she doesn't. At first I tried to keep looking up what the Spanish meant but quickly decided that the book was not worth the effort.