Photo Credit: Rachael Warecki
Recently released this week on Tuesday, September 10th is the brand-new novel titled Dispossessed by Mexican American Author Desiree Zamorano. The novel dives into the history of Mexican Americans in Los Angeles who faced such hardships as deportations, sterilization of Latinas, student protests, and the demolition of Chavez Ravine. History that has been essentially forgotten in our culture which Zamorano seeks to showcase and revisits thoroughly throughout her novel. Focusing on main character Manuel Galvan, the book explores life in 1930s LA and the realities of racism and the injustices surrounding Mexican Americans. Upon the expulsion of Mexican Americans in Los Angeles, Galvan must learn to navigate life without his parents and sister, a reality that many families faced during this historic time period.
Inspired by her teaching of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Zamorano chose a topic unfamiliar to many in modern day history and explains more on the inspiration for writing this book, “What inspired me is every year at Cal State Long Beach, I teach Equity and Diversity for people who are going to be teachers,” she said. Adding, “And every year I teach them teaching methods and strategies but also a lot of our country’s history and things that are not taught in K through 12 curriculum like the Japanese internment, the Chinese Expulsion Act, and the fact that Native Americans didn’t have the right to vote until 1920. Native Americans were referred to as ‘domestic foreigners.’ So, we have been messed up from an immigration perspective from the inception of this country.”
Finding it important to educate others on historical events, Zamorano felt the need to touch further on Los Angeles history, “Every year I would teach them about the mass expulsion of Mexican Americans and Mexicans in the 1930s as well, and 98% of them had never heard of it. In trying to sell the book, none of the agents except for one or two had even heard of it. And so, I was in part inspired and most part enraged because this is a big deal. And there’s a real reason we don’t know about it as it’s intentionally not taught, and I felt like I could tell you the statistics. And this is our history and one of our very many varied stories. But how does that touch you or resonate with you emotionally? I needed to tell this history through the perspective of one life and as I decided to tell this history, So I brought in Chavez Ravine, and things that happened to women from No Mas Bebes, which is a documentary, and then ending with Proposition 227 in the 1980s, and 1990s. So very much a historical fiction novel based on LA Mexican, LA Mexican Americans.”
Readers can expect to learn more of realistic history from LA as Zamorano explores topics of perseverance and resilience. Originally from Lynwood, California, Zamorano was inspired to write as a young child and knew she wanted to pursue a career in writing while in third grade, “I knew I wanted to be a writer because I just loved reading so much,” Zamorano said. Adding, “I loved falling into the world of books. Of course, as a kid, you have no idea what drafts and revisions mean and publication, but I just knew I wanted to be part of the magic of the literary world. And I remember being a kid and writing a book about Noah’s Ark from the point of view of various animals. I just think that’s pretty funny, but I also knew as I grew into a young adult as a teenager and in my early twenties, I felt like you needed a life and some form of life experience to draw from.”
Zamorano also has other books including The Amado Women and “Human Cargo. She plans to continue to educate others on the importance of cultural preservation and offers advice to other Latinas out there pursuing a career as a writer or novelist, “I would definitely say find yourself a group. It doesn’t have to be a writer’s critique group, but it has to be a group of people who will honor your dreams and encourage your visions and get rid of the people who are casting doubt. Just get rid of them and focus on what you want to do.”
You can purchase Dispossessed here via Amazon.
