Mexican Romance Recalls Historical Events Behind Cinco de Mayo

Teaching Mexican children of migrant farm workers in California inspired Mary Louise McCaffrey to educate her students about the origins of Cinco de Mayo. The result is "A Handful of Sand"--a tale of star-crossed lovers during the tumultuous 1860s French invasion of Mexico.

Fresno, CA (PRWEB) May 19, 2008 -- Romeo and Juliet step aside. Your tragic ending does not satisfy. Just ask Mary Louise McCaffrey, who has written her own story of star-crossed lovers, Miguel and Isabella. As if class difference between the lovers is not enough, their families are on opposite sides of the French invasion of Mexico that divides the nation, further frustrating the lovers' efforts to be together. The result--a historical romance of epic proportions--"A Handful of Sand" (ISBN 9780595393480, ABISVC 2007).

Mexico is caught up in a three year civil war between Conservatives, the party of wealthy landowners, against Liberals, the party of Juarez and the people. Emperor Napoleon III of France watches Mexico's internal turmoil with interest. When the Liberal Party wins, but can't pay Mexico's debts to France, Napoleon III finds his excuse to invade. With the United States enmeshed in its own civil war, and with the defeated Conservative Army eager to join the French against the Liberals, Napoleon III thinks he can get away with it.

Amid this national crisis, Miguel and Isabella fall in love. Miguel is a mixed blood mestizo whose family sides with Juarez Liberals, while Isabella's father is a powerful Conservative, and a pure blood Spaniard who rejects a mestizo husband for his daughter. And so, Isabella and Miguel begin a clandestine love affair that will endanger their lives.

Siding with her lover, Isabella secretly betrays her father and her class by helping Juarista guerrillas escape their French pursuers. Meanwhile, Miguel is a colonel in the Liberal army and fights the invaders on the northern desert, using hit-and-run tactics to send polished French troops into a state of disarray. The lovers, each in their own way, fight for an independent Mexican Republic and their dream of equality for all Mexicans.

Can Miguel and Isabella's love survive the war? After a maze of secrets, deceptions, and intriguing subplots, author Mary Louise McCaffrey promises a bittersweet yet tender ending, far more satisfying than the tragic ending of "Romeo and Juliet."

The title "A Handful of Sand" is taken from a passage in the book and reflects how difficult it can be to hold on to some things. Love can slip away like sand through our hands. Readers can expect to be caught up in the lovers' passion and share their tears in this Latino "Gone With the Wind."

About the Author

Mary Louise McCaffrey, a former teacher, lives in Fresno, California. She is the 2006 Yosemite Writers Conference first place short-story winner. "A Handful of Sand" is her first novel and public libraries in the California counties of Fresno, Madera, Tulare, and Kern have purchased it for their readers. She is currently working on a new historical fiction novel about a youth's journey by covered wagon from Missouri to California, and his passage to manhood while enduring hardships on the trail.

"A Handful of Sand" (ISBN 9780595393480, ABISVC 2007) can be ordered from any bookseller either in store or online, or from the publisher, iUniverse. For more information, visit the author's websites www.ahandfulofsand.com and www.marylouisemccaffrey.com. Publicity contact: www.ReaderViews.com. Review copies available upon request.

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