“And I feel like the Queen of Water. I feel like water that transforms from a flowing river to a tranquil lake to a powerful waterfall to a freshwater spring to a meandering creek to a salty sea to raindrops gentle on your face to hard, stinging hail to frost on a mountaintop, and back to a river again.”
― Maria Virginia Farinango, The Queen of Water
Maria Virginia Farinango teamed up with author Laura Resau to write this compelling novel based on Farnango’s life story. Virginia was born in an Andean village in Ecuador and she grows up working in the fields with her family. When she is seven, she is taken from her family to become a servant to a mestizo couple and has no idea what is happening to her or what her future will be. The promises made by her employers that she can visit her family and be paid, are soon forgotten and she finds herself a slave at the mercy of the couple. She has no access to education and few opportunities to make friends, As the years go by, Virginia must find a way to hold on to her sense of self and when she is betrayed by her only friend, her life becomes even more complicated.
This beautiful coming of age story will make you angry and sad but also more informed about the plight of many girls and women around the world. In the end, however, it will leave you feeling optimistic and hopeful.
Content Advisory: Slavery, abuse, manipulation