This review was originally published on my other blog in 2007.
This is another book about a non-US culture, this time Guatemala. It
is the touching story of a young girl, who was snatched away froom her
parents at a very young age and forced to travel throughout the land
with a man who claimed to be her uncle. He makes a living for himself
and the girl by begging, using the girl to help make his plight look
pitiable.
Uncle is superstitious and believes that
the girl, whom he calls Rosa, but whose real name was Tzunun, will bring
him great fortune, which he has sought throughout the land. But,
getting desperate, he goes back to an old friend and they both try to
involve Tzunun in pick-pocketing and stealing. When they decide to
steal a statue from a church, she tips off the priest of the church and
flees back to the home of one of the fortune-teller women who had been
kind to her.
The beliefs and customs of this society
are gently brought across to the reader and the natural pace of the
story treats it all with respect.
A good story and a good read.
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