A novel from PUPA Books
One River Crossed
Five Suns and a Shattered Heart
In 1985 Guadalajara, Etzel's newborn daughter Tonalli is born with a life-threatening heart defect. To give her a chance to live, Etzel must reach a surgeon in Philadelphia while the medicine sustaining Tonalli's heart marks the passing time.
The story
A mother's journey against the clock
Etzel grows up in Guadalajara among clay, fire, and ancient Nahua stories. Her father, Xōlōtl, teaches her that every life carries an inner force and that no river moves forward without meeting resistance. After years of loss, Etzel and Olin welcome their daughter, Tonalli.
Tonalli is born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. As Etzel seeks a chance for surgery in Philadelphia, their journey crosses borders, a river, and hospital doors. Nahua accounts of the Five Suns run beside the urgent choices facing her family.
One River Crossed is a novel about motherhood, migration, love, medicine, and the resolve to keep moving forward.
- Author
- Hasan Abdallah
- Publisher
- PUPA Books
- English paperback ISBN
- 979-8-9966376-0-7