Publisher's Synopsis
An ageless story, the themes of dislocation and disruption, exploitation and vulnerability, rich and poor collide to make a powerful and affecting novel. Íso is a young Guatemalan woman working at a fertility clinic at Ixchel, in the highlands of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas. She caters to the rich, northern women who visit the clinic hoping the waters of the nearby lake might increase their chances of conception. It is not long before Íso meets the charming American doctor, Eric, and a romantic affair begins that will throw her life into turmoil. When an accident forces Eric to unexpectedly leave Guatemala, Íso is left heartbroken and pregnant. But her dreams of raising her newborn baby come to a screaming halt when her daughter is abducted and sent to America to live with Eric and his infertile wife who has coolly staked a claim on the child. Determined to reclaim her stolen daughter, Íso makes her way north crossing into a dystopian America divided into military zones. Travelling without documents and with little money, she descends into a world full of danger. In a place of shifting boundaries, she must determine who she can trust aware that a wrong decision could mean losing her daughter forever.
