Brief

Two young Mexican women, a generation apart, are taken to Arizona in the hopes of a better life. What they find instead are cultural, political, and religious differences they are not prepared to overcome, and that survival in their new home has a price.

What We Liked

Girls from Centro is a diverse, compelling narrative told from two points of view that meet up at the
conclusion of the story - both have been intertwined from the start. It's a dramatic and colorful story,
filled with many moments in which the reader/viewer roots for these women, who are trying to better
their lives and the lives of their families; in the end, nonetheless, the story reveals that sometimes the
better life, as long as it's filled with love, is right where you are - a character’s internal journey. The two
female lead characters provide the opportunity for actresses to really sink their teeth into the roles.
The alternating chapters tell the story from two different points of view, which could be used both on
Film or extended over a television format, alternating episodes. Ana's story is set in the 1940s, which
could be contrasted with Teresa's story, which is set in the 1970s. The current social and political
climate, however, allows for this story to be set in our time.
Key points: It's topical and diverse; there are characters you want to root for; the story is captivating
and timeless; it doesn't rely on special effects; it takes place in two areas - Arizona and Centro,
Mexico.

Synopsis

In 1970s Mexico, Teresa Espinosa sells souvenirs to tourists in the marketplace in Centro, the heart of
Nogales. Life in this town is all she's ever known, but when a letter promising a better life in the United
States for Teresa, her mother and her sisters, Luna and Salma, they leave home under cover of
darkness, like so many before them, to make the journey across the desert to get to Arizona. It’s
perilous - on the first night, Teresa’s mother drowns in a river during a storm, leaving the young girls to
fend for themselves. They are chased by a human trafficker and have to dodge border patrol, but
eventually the girls are rescued by Maria, the young woman who wrote to their mother with the
opportunity for a new life. Maria takes them to the Ormond Ranch, where their new life awaits them.
In the 1904s, Ana, a young, single mother of a daughter named Nina, leaves the only life she’s ever
known at a convent and orphanage when she receives an offer she can’t refuse from a wealthy
employer in Arizona. She becomes a cook at the Ormond Ranch, for Lorene and Stan Ormond. When
Stan Ormond starts a sexual affair with her, it becomes apparent that Ana is just a pawn in a larger
game played by the Ormonds, who use ‘pretty’ girls from Centro to fulfill their inability to have a baby.
They decide which children they want to adopt, or which they will give to the friends at their church.
It’s a scheme Ana finds out about when she gives birth to a beautiful little girl. She knows she needs
to get out of the ranch, but she needs the money, and so she stays - agreeing to let Lorene adopt her
daughter Maria, who she calls Mary.
Maria is the same woman who had rescued Teresa and her sisters. Teresa’s grandmother, who is
actually Ana, goes to the Ormond Ranch to rescue the girls. Teresa and her family head back to
Mexico with their grandmother. Teresa goes on to become a lawyer, helping other young girls who
have been trafficked.

About The Author

Juni Fisher is a multi-award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer. This is her first novel, which she wrote after publishing stories in various national publications.