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Are you going to write a sequel
to Esperanza Rising? |
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I wrote the story with the intention that
it would be a book in its entirety — that it would
be a complete story. Right now, due to my other writing
commitments, I have no immediate plans to write a sequel.
Maybe someday. |
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What is your favorite part of
Esperanza Rising? |
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One of my favorite scenes is when Esperanza
gives Isabel the doll. It’s a turning point for
her. The doll represents the last piece of her previous
life and she relinquishes it. |
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Why did you name the chapters
in Esperanza Rising after fruits and vegetables?
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Most people think that I employed this
organization from the very beginning of my writing of
this story. In fact, I didn’t use this method
until the book was quite developed and had been rewritten
many times. I never intended to name the chapters. They
were simply labeled Chapter One, Chapter Two, etc. I
was in the middle of yet another rewrite and my editor
and I were discussing the pacing of the book. My editor
wanted me to name the chapters, just temporarily, so
that during the rewrite I would stay focused on the
events that should occur in each chapter. So I began
to name the chapters things like, El Rancho de las Rosas,
The Fire, The Escape… things like that. But as
I read through my story, I began to feel a parallel
between the harvest and what was happening in Esperanza’s
life. I called my editor and told her my inclinations
and my idea of naming the chapters with the harvest.
She encouraged me to try it. Sometimes these ideas work;
sometimes they don’t. As I went through and began
naming the chapters, the harvests began to take on the
feel of metaphors. For example, the smashed figs for
her smashed life and the resentment she felt. Their
lives were dictated by the rhythm of the harvest seasons,
so in a way, the story lent itself to this organization.
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What inspired you to write
Esperanza Rising? |
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The book was inspired by some actual events,
the results of my research, and my own imagination.
(It will be helpful for the reader to read the author’s
note in the back of the book.) Although the book is
based loosely on my grandmother’s immigration
and parallels her story, Esperanza Rising is
a work of fiction. |
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How did you research this book? |
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The time period and setting are as accurate
as I could possibly depict. There is no way for me,
or any other writer, to know the exactness of any time
period, other than my own — to know every intimate
social dynamic of an era. All I can do is try to give
the most accurate suggestion possible, the most precise
illusion of what it might have been like for the characters,
based on my findings. I researched extensively in the
local history room at the Beale Library in Bakersfield,
California, and interviewed many people, including family
members, who lived in the same camp as my grandmother
(the Mexican camp at DiGiorgio Farms). I also visited
the sites of the sheds and the area of Arvin, California.
I did use family names in the book, but those characters
are composites of who they might have been, via my imagination.
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How did you come up with the title
Esperanza Rising? |
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The title was created when the story was
completely done, and it was one of many that my editor
and I considered. It seemed to fit the book best. |
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Do you imagine that Esperanza
and Miguel go on to get married? |
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The character of Miguel is based on my
grandfather, Jesús Muñoz. So my grandmother,
Esperanza, did marry her father’s mechanic. |
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Did you actually have an uncle
like Tío Luis? |
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No, the character of Esperanza Rising
is not based on me, but instead on my grandmother, Esperanza
Ortega Muñoz. She did have two half-brothers
who were considerably older than she, who were more
like uncles to her, and when her father died, they did
acquire the family property. |
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What made you want to use Spanish
words in the story? |
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I felt it gave the book a stronger flavor
of Esperanza's heritage. |
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How did you come up with the name
Esperanza? |
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It was my grandmother’s name. |
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How long did it take you to write
the book? |
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About a year. |
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Did your grandmother help you
write the book? |
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No, unfortunately my grandmother died
many years before this book was written. |
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Has your family ever gone back
to Mexico to visit your grandmother's old ranch? |
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I have traveled a lot in Mexico. As a
family, we have never gone back. The original ranch
is no longer there. |
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Did your grandmother teach you
how to crochet the mountains and valleys? |
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Yes, my grandmother taught me this crochet
stitch and I’ve made many blankets from it. I
also have a baby blanket in that stitch that my grandmother
made for my oldest daughter when she was born. |