Rain of Gold
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Rain of Gold is Victor Villaseñor's 1991 New York Times bestseller which tells the story of his own parents who were undocumented immigrants from Mexico. Two families escaping from Revolution torn Mexico to the relative safety of the United States have parallel experiences centered around their mothers' strength.
[edit] Plot
The story starts out with a short prologue that explains the title Rain of Gold. In Mexico, there is a box canyon where a tribe of Indians finds a spring with the sweetest water on earth. One harsh winter the tribe starts to starve, so the man who first found the spring goes into town to try to trade some of the sweet water for food and other provisions. The store keeper refuses his offer and asks if there is anything else he could trade for. The Indian takes out some shiny rocks he found near the spring. The store owner immediately recognizes the stones as gold and offers to buy the rights to gather the gold from the spring in return for a constant supply of goods. The tribe agrees as long as the store owner does not disturb the sweet water spring. The term "Rain of Gold" is a metaphor that is used throughout the book that would describe a good turn of events or a miracle.
Soon the secret of the gold is out and within a generation a small town is built at the bottom of the little box canyon. The major company and source of income for the village is a mining company owned and operated by Americans. The revolution which is raging around the countryside has invaded the canyon a few times. Soldiers on both sides have proven to be something to be feared.
Every morning at sunrise Lupe, the youngest daughter of Guadalupe and Victor Gomez, would wake up next to her mother in a small lean-to. Her brother Victoranio slept outside under the stars while her three older sisters Carlotta, Maria and Sophia slept inside. Her father whom she barely knew had left them in the box canyon in order to find work elsewhere. They would all start doing chores, thanking god for the new day and the ability to work. They made their money by feeding the Americanos in their little lean-to each morning and every evening, restaurant style.
One day the war enters into the little canyon with soldiers invading the town. Dońa Gaudalupe takes her three eldest daughters and starts to move manure in order to bury them beneath the sludge to hide them from the soldiers.The story demonstrates how vivid the escape from the mexican revolution was and how difficult it was back then
[edit] Bibliography
Villaseñor, Victor (1991). Rain of Gold. (ISBN 0-385-31177-X)
