The Sufferings of Puerto Esperanza
An award winning novel by Guillermo Munro
Through the eyes of an adolescent we learn the story of a fishing camp, Puerto Esperanza and its
inhabitants, enclaved in the Great Desert of Sonora between the sand dunes and the Sea of Cortez.
It relates the experience of being born and growing up in a town lacking in the basics, without
banks, church, electricity, or piped water. Everything here is about to be built, to be created,
including hope, which is a part of the town’s name.
The reader can closely follow the achievements and difficulties faced by the heroes, in this case, an
adolescent, Mike, and his friends: Güico, Cabezón, Mochomo, Cachalío, and girl friends: Marbrisa,
Perla, Tripona, Conchita, Guirnalda and Angelita.
Mike and Güico become passionate crime detectives that help discover not only the murderer but
also hidden perversions and passions.
With the murder of a man, under mysterious circumstances, these 15 year olds begin an
investigation of the death of this mysterious person, Marcos Garcia San Gabriel, who had arrived to
upset the sleepy town life.
This is how we learn about the childhood life and adolescent awakenings, their innocent and cruel
components; the imposition of the law of the survival of the fittest within a gang, as a symbol of
supremacy. We learn of the primitive being that we all have within us, of innocent pleasures, such
as enjoying being together, playing on the beach which are later displaced by erotic games and
sexual experience, the discovery of pathetic incest and the upsetting uncertainty of homosexuality,
the fantasy to grow, the adventures and misfortunes of childhood and adolescence, all transmitted
through language, sensibility and the experiences of the young protagonists.
Puerto Esperanza is a symbolic port, a metaphorical town, limited by the desert and the sea,
between pre-modernity and paradise, built on a desert of unexplored sands, in an almost virgin place.
In Puerto Esperanza we find picturesque and unforgettable personalities such as Atilano and Lauro
Liebre, Seri Indians and sly Uncle Roque, among many equally interesting persons.
Published Novels: Voices from the sea (published in Spanish as Las voces vienen del mar in 1992
by ISC). The sufferings of Puerto Esperanza (Honorable Mention 1995-published in Spanish as Los
sufrimientos de Puerto Esperanza by Conaculta/ISC). Camino del Diablo (Published in Spanish in
1997 by ISC). I am not afraid to die (published in Spanish as No me da miedo morir in April 2003 and
sold to Silver Lion Films in October 2005).
Guillermo Munro is an author, scriptwriter and historian of the Gran Desierto and the Sea of Cortez.
He is the editor and director of Nuestra gente, a monthly magazine of history, interviews, chronicles
and legends of the northwest of Sonora, now on its fourth year.
gmunro@gmunro.com Phone in USA 661-296-8913 and 619-216-6338 and in Mexico: 638-383-3792
An award winning novel by Guillermo Munro
Through the eyes of an adolescent we learn the story of a fishing camp, Puerto Esperanza and its
inhabitants, enclaved in the Great Desert of Sonora between the sand dunes and the Sea of Cortez.
It relates the experience of being born and growing up in a town lacking in the basics, without
banks, church, electricity, or piped water. Everything here is about to be built, to be created,
including hope, which is a part of the town’s name.
The reader can closely follow the achievements and difficulties faced by the heroes, in this case, an
adolescent, Mike, and his friends: Güico, Cabezón, Mochomo, Cachalío, and girl friends: Marbrisa,
Perla, Tripona, Conchita, Guirnalda and Angelita.
Mike and Güico become passionate crime detectives that help discover not only the murderer but
also hidden perversions and passions.
With the murder of a man, under mysterious circumstances, these 15 year olds begin an
investigation of the death of this mysterious person, Marcos Garcia San Gabriel, who had arrived to
upset the sleepy town life.
This is how we learn about the childhood life and adolescent awakenings, their innocent and cruel
components; the imposition of the law of the survival of the fittest within a gang, as a symbol of
supremacy. We learn of the primitive being that we all have within us, of innocent pleasures, such
as enjoying being together, playing on the beach which are later displaced by erotic games and
sexual experience, the discovery of pathetic incest and the upsetting uncertainty of homosexuality,
the fantasy to grow, the adventures and misfortunes of childhood and adolescence, all transmitted
through language, sensibility and the experiences of the young protagonists.
Puerto Esperanza is a symbolic port, a metaphorical town, limited by the desert and the sea,
between pre-modernity and paradise, built on a desert of unexplored sands, in an almost virgin place.
In Puerto Esperanza we find picturesque and unforgettable personalities such as Atilano and Lauro
Liebre, Seri Indians and sly Uncle Roque, among many equally interesting persons.
Published Novels: Voices from the sea (published in Spanish as Las voces vienen del mar in 1992
by ISC). The sufferings of Puerto Esperanza (Honorable Mention 1995-published in Spanish as Los
sufrimientos de Puerto Esperanza by Conaculta/ISC). Camino del Diablo (Published in Spanish in
1997 by ISC). I am not afraid to die (published in Spanish as No me da miedo morir in April 2003 and
sold to Silver Lion Films in October 2005).
Guillermo Munro is an author, scriptwriter and historian of the Gran Desierto and the Sea of Cortez.
He is the editor and director of Nuestra gente, a monthly magazine of history, interviews, chronicles
and legends of the northwest of Sonora, now on its fourth year.
gmunro@gmunro.com Phone in USA 661-296-8913 and 619-216-6338 and in Mexico: 638-383-3792
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