Voices from the River

Senor and Senora Gaeta have seven daughters with the first name Maria, so they joyously welcome the birth of a son, Ruti. But a freak accident when he is five leaves the boy disabled. In their small Mexican village, tradition and superstition direct the course of daily life, and Ruti becomes the village outcast, more at home with animals than people except for his family, which he staunchly defends. The vicious attempted rape of his sister Maria Maria forces the family to move to the United States, where they settle in San Bernardino, California. Here the Gaeta family struggles to assimilate to life in the barrio during World War II. Their experiences reflect those of a generation of Mexican immigrants welcomed as cheap labor and yet hated and mistrusted as outsiders.