num_pages: 204
description: The Salvation of La Purisima is a profound and heartrending look at a disenfranchised and poverty-ridden society that, driven by the necessity of its own survival, culturally pressures its members to make a perilous migration and earn money whether they want to go or not. Highly recommended. - Midwest Book Review Perhaps the biggest achievement of the story. are real characters that you quickly learn to like and care about. Consequently, there's a more human face put on the current phenomenon of "illegal immigration." These people are not simply numbers and statistics but, rather, living, breathing human beings. I look forward to seeing more from Senor Spooner. - Alan Cogan (Mexico Connect) Spooner has a keen eye and ear for Mexico, without glamorizing or admonishing the country or its people. His many years of Mexico travel to the less touristy destinations produce a work of unvarnished authenticity. - David Simmonds (MexicoFile) T.M. Spooner's first novel, The Salvation of La Purisima, explores the forces driving Mexican migrants north and the resulting impact on the communities and families left behind. The journey north is no longer just an economic necessity, but has evolved into a rite of passage for so many of Mexico's rural youth. A migrant he befriends draws the novel's narrator, anthropologist Paul Westin, to Mexico. As Westin becomes more involved with the migrants and learns of a tragedy among them, he struggles to maintain professional objectivity. In Mexico he encounters La Purisima, the fractured village and symbol of rural Mexico, desperately struggling with the mysterious death of one of its own young men. The strange and unexpected reactions of the villagers force Westin and a local priest, Father Gabriel, to search for a solution to save La Purisima. The Salvation of La Purisima is compellingly told and written - with tender regard for its characters. The novel leaves the reader with a richer appreciation for the migrants, the human condition, and a sense that something profound has been experienced. About the author T. M. Spooner is a frequent visitor to Mexico where he has traveled extensively. Many of his summers are spent in Guadalajara where much of this novel was written. Spooner is a graduate of Northern Illinois University and attended graduate school at DePaul University in Chicago. His next novel deals with a group British and American expatriates living in the Lake Chapala region of Mexico.
language: English
title: The Salvation of La Purisima
titlecomplete: The Salvation of La Purisima
ratings_count: 3
places: Chicago, Illinois, Michigan, Michoacan
publisher: Floricanto Pr