Now a global bestseller, the remarkable life of Rigoberta Mench¿, a Guatemalan peasant woman, reflects on the experiences common to many Indian communities in Latin America. Mench¿ suffered gross injustice and hardship in her early life: her brother, father and mother were murdered by the Guatemalan military. She learned Spanish and turned to catechistic work as an expression of political revolt as well as religious commitment. Mench¿ vividly conveys the traditional beliefs of her community and her personal response to feminist and socialist ideas. Above all, these pages are illuminated by the enduring courage and passionate sense of justice of an extraordinary woman.

Rigoberta Mench¿ received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her efforts to end the oppression of indigenous peoples in Guatemala.