Rights Information

Rights licensed for editions in Spain, Mexico, Germany, and Denmark.

RIghts optioned for a TV series in the United States.

Spanish-langague translation available.

Marketing Information

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 humor and warmth, Villaseñor shares this passionate love story that celebrates the triumph of the human spirit.

Reviews

“Villaseñor 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

“A grand and vivid history. [Villaseñor’s] characters are keenly drawn. Often I felt like a family member quietly watching from a corner stool.”—The New York Times Book Review

Author Biography

VICTOR VILLASEÑOR is a writer whose works have brought Mexican-American culture and literature to a wide audience. The Los Angeles Times compared his first novel, Macho! (Arte Público Press, 1973, 2003), to the best work of John Steinbeck. He is the author of the highly acclaimed best-sellers Burro Genius: A Memoir (Rayo, 2004); Rain of Gold (Arte Público Press, 1991), which details the saga of his family’s immigration to the U.S. from Mexico; and Thirteen Senses: A Memoir (Rayo, 2002). His other non-fiction works include Wild Steps of Heaven (Delta Books, 1995), Jury: The People vs. Juan Corona (Little Brown and Company, 1976), and the screenplay for the award-winning film, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez. He has written several books for children based on indigenous tales told to him by his parents and grandparents. Villaseñor lives in Oceanside, California, where he continues to write.