Rain of Gold, Victor Villasenor
Rain of Gold, Victor Villasenor
List: $48.99 | Sale: $34.30
Club: $24.49

Rain of Gold

Author: Victor Villaseñor

Narrator: Johnny Rey Diaz

Unabridged: 30 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/15/2020

Synopsis

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.It all began when Villaseñor’s maternal grandmother sat him down in their little home in the barrio of Carlsbad, California, gave him sweet bread and told him the story of their past. Of his mother Lupe, the most beautiful girl in the whole village who was only a child when Villa’s men came shooting into their canyon. And of his father Juan and his family, reduced to rags and starvation as they sought refuge across the border, where they believed that endless opportunity awaited.Lupe and Juan met and fell in love in California, but they found that the doors to the Promised Land were often closed to those from south of the border. His father was forced to take the law into his own hands, in spite of his wife’s objections. With love and humor, Villaseñor shares this passionate love story that celebrates the triumph of the human spirit.An all-American story of struggle and success, Rain of Gold focuses on three generations of Villaseñor’s kin, their spiritual and cultural roots back in Mexico, their immigration to California and overcoming poverty, prejudice and economic exploitation. It is the warm-hearted and spirited account of the wily, wary and persevering forebears of Victor Villaseñor.

About Victor Villaseñor

Victor Villaseñor is a novelist and screenwriter whose works have brought Mexican-American culture and literature to a wide audience. The Los Angeles Times compared his first novel, Macho! (Arte Publico Press, 1973 & 2003), to the best work of John Steinbeck. In addition to Rain of Gold (Arte Publico Press, 1991), he is the author of Burrio Genius: A Memoir (Rayo, 2004), Thirteen Senses: A Memoir (Harper Collins, 2001), Wild Steps of Heaven (Delta Books, 1995), and a collection of stories for young adults, Walking Stars: Stories of Magic and Power (Arte Publico Press, 2003). Villaseñor lives in Oceanside, California, where he continues to write.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Catharine on December 04, 2008

This is a non-fiction book of many layers. It's about greed, prejudice, hate and anger, poverty and death. It's also about family, love, relationships, and dreams. Parallel stories are told of two children, both babies of their families, who grow up during the Mexican revolution. Children of war who......more

Goodreads review by Rachel on May 16, 2007

This is a wonderful story, made that much more impressive simply by the fact that it is the true story of the author's family. It is impossible to not feel what the characters are feeling and, as a reader, you become emotionally invested in the story very quickly. I found myself crying when the char......more

Goodreads review by Book Concierge on May 28, 2017

5***** and a ❤ I read this on a friend's recommendation and was immediately caught up in the story of Villasenor's parents and grandparents. It's nonfiction, but full of old Mexican allegorical stories. There were times when, as I read, I would think "He's telling MY family's story!" After I read it......more

Goodreads review by Nick on April 10, 2015

This is family history of the most immediate kind, redeemed from its excess of filial piety and lack of craft by a passion and sense of drama that usually but not always stops just short or melodrama. It helps that the author's family lived in times that were entirely too interesting. One side came......more

Goodreads review by Karina1 on February 27, 2011

Rain of Gold by Victor Villasenor turned out to be great book, and is by far on my top five! The book is about mainly two characters: Lupe and Juan (Salvador). It tells the story of both families in different places in Mexico in the time during the Mexican Revolution. Both families find it hard to a......more

Quotes

" . . . a grand and vivid history . . . [Villasenor's] characters are keenly drawn . . . Often I felt like a family member quietly watching from a corner stool." --The New York Times Book Review

" Villasenor is a born storyteller, and this Latino Roots . . . is a gripping inspirational epic full of wild adventure, bootlegging, young love, miracles, tragedies, murder and triumph over cultural barriers." --Publishers Weekly

" The brisk, down-to-earth prose sweeps the reader through often fantastic events in a compelling narrative. This is a big book, but one that moves swiftly. It is a story that deserves to be told, bringing to life a cultural heritage of all Americans." --The Washington Post

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