The new year finds all three Page Turners groups returning to our regular reading schedule, and this month’s book is Rain of Gold by Victor Villasenor. While looking into some reviews of this book in preparation of writing this article, I found that there was/is some confusion on the part of the reviewers as to whether the book is fiction or nonfiction—the book is
nonfiction. See the following reviews:
“Rain of Gold is a true-life saga of love, family and destiny that pulses with bold vitality, sweeping from the war-ravaged Mexican mountains of Pancho Villa’s revolution to the days of Prohibition in California.” (Arte Publico Press, publisher)
The book tells the saga of the author’s family, their immigration to California and their lives there.
“A sort of Hispanic Roots, the book focuses on three generations as they struggle with poverty and prejudice, love and life. When Villasenor was first contracted to write Rain of Gold, it was to be a ‘major’ work of fiction. As he began interviewing his relatives for background material, however, he realized that there was a much more important story to tell: the nonfiction account of his family’s history. Unable to convince his publisher to go along with his new plans, Villasenor gave back his $75,000 advance, took a $1,500 advance from a lesser- known house, and set about writing ‘a history of a people—a tribal heritage, if you will—of my Indian-European culture as handed down to me …’” (Kirkus Review)
“Though marred at times by sentimentality and clichés, [the book] is a gripping, inspirational epic full of wild adventure, bootlegging, young love, miracles,
tragedies, murder and triumph over cultural barriers.”
(Publishers Weekly)
This should make for some very interesting discussions! If you would like to join us, please contact one of the group coordinators. For the Thursday afternoon groups contact Steve and Ann Morris at samwrsi@cox.net and for the Mon- day afternoon group contact myself at fozimec@cox.net.
—Frances Ozimec
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