Christine Rodriguez

The Treasure of Sergeant Gutierrez Christine Rodriguez

Two generations, two wars, and three cultures intertwine in the southwest United States, Mexico, and Italy as as a Mexican-American family struggles to define itself in The Treasure of Sergeant Guitérrez. Fortunata feels like a tumbleweed without her children but knows what spirit flows through their veins. After all, as a teenager, Fortunata left home to fight beside Pancho Villa in the Mexican Revolution. Fortunata's son, Francisco, born during his mother's days as a Villista, carries two cultures and two languages into World War II as part of an exclusively Mexican-American infantry. Her daughter, Rubí, the product of Fortunata'slove for a Tarahumara Indian, joins a traveling band and falls in love with a zoot-suited musician. Meanwhile, in Chihuahua, Mexico, Fortunata's brother, Pablo, and his family maintain ties with the Tarahumara Indians and with Robrika, Rubí's father. Pablo's daughter, Mercedes, is following in her Aunt Fortunata's footsteps with her rebellious ways as family history begins to repeat itself. The Treasure of Sergeant Gutiérrez chronicles family stories on both sides of the Rio Grande, where bloodlines are stronger than borders.