Based on real events, this true crime novel tells the story of Mauricia Hernandez, who scandalized Guatemala in 1939 by poisoning her unloving husband. It is both the story of a woman lashing out at an unforgiving macho society and an exploration of life in Guatemala in the 1930s and 1940s, weaving the story of one woman together with the lost stories of thousands of other peasant women who, like her, faced challenges and unhappy realities in their homes, at their churches, and under their governments.