Los Santos de Agua Mansa, California (Still Water Saints) chronicles a momentous year in the life of Agua Mansa, a largely Latino town beyond the fringes of Los Angeles. It is home to the Botánica Oshún, where people come seeking charms, herbs, candles, and, above all, the guidance of the shop’s owner, Perla Portillo. Perla has served the community for years, advising people on all manner of crises, large and small. Among her customers are Juan, a businessman coming to terms with the death of his father; Nancy, a schoolteacher caught between the demands of her new husband and her parents; Shawn, an addict looking for peace; and Rosa, a teenager trying to lose weight and find herself. But when a customer with a troubled, mysterious past arrives, Perla must confront her unfulfilled hopes and doubts about her place in a rapidly changing world.

ALEX ESPINOZA was born in Tijuana, Mexico, the youngest of eleven children, and later migrated to southern California with his family and grew up in La Puente, a suburb of Los Angeles. He earned a BA with honors from the University of California at Riverside and an MFA from the University of California at Irvine, where he was editor of the university’s literary magazine.