Santitos

Santitos

by María Amparo Escandón (México) 
Novel, 221 pages   (1998)

Esperanza Díaz not only believes in the power of saints but considers them her best friends and allies. When she is distraught over the reported death of her young daughter, her favorite “santito” appears to her on the greasy door of her oven. In her desperation to know the truth about Blanca’s disappearance, she willingly follows what she interprets as the saint’s mandate to find the girl, traveling from her sleepy pueblo in México, to inhabit the brothels of Tijuana, and on to more seamy adventures in Los Angeles, narrow escapes, passionate love and, ultimately, resolution of her maternal quest.              

For high intermediate and above; adult readers only