Esperanza Ortega possesses all the treasures a young girl could want: fancy dresses; a beautiful home filled with servants in Aguascalientes, Mexico; and the promise of one day rising to Mama's position and presiding over all of Rancho de las Rosas. But a sudden tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labour camp.
There, Esperanza must relinquish her hold on the past as she confronts the challenges of hard labour, acceptance by her she confronts the challenges of hard labour, acceptance by her own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression; and ultimately discovers the riches of family and community.
Told in a lyrical, fairytale-like style, Ryan's robust novel set in 1930 captures a Mexican girl's fall from riches, her immigration to California and her growing awareness of class and ethnic tensions.
