Gathering the Indigo Maidens

Libros Publishing LLC announces the release of Gathering the Indigo Maidens, a riveting novel written by Connie Spenuzza, the vice chair of the Misson San Juan Capistrano Preservation Foundation.

• An innocent maiden imprisoned as a sex slave
• A country's art treasures stolen
• A search for three historical indigo maidens

The novel intertwines the mysterious history of a 17th century Spanish Colonial painting, the lives of three nearly forgotten historical women, and the grim, sadistic, modern-day world of human trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Paloma Zubiondo lived a sheltered life, collecting Spanish Colonial art and building a beachfront fortress through which she thought nothing corrupt could enter; she was mistaken.

A call from a young woman claiming to be held as a sex-slave begs her to return a stolen 17th century painting of the Immaculate Conception. This single call will take Paloma on a journey into her own forgotten past, into the world of human-trafficking, and lead her to discover three Latina women from centuries past whose lives will give her the stamina to continue.

The novel is an epic journey filled with mysterious historical symbols and long forgotten enigmas. Gathering the Indigo Maidens ventures across time. From the indigo gathering maiden in colonial Quito 1699, to the failed women-owned publishing dynasty of María de Rivera Calderón y Benavides in Mexico City 1754, to the indigo ink protest sign that sentenced Modesta Ávila of San Juan Capistrano to San Quentin State Prison in 1889, culminating in today's brutal sex-slave trade of young South American girls.

Your heart will break, your soul will soar with the rich prose, meticulous detail, and heart stopping thrills of Gathering the Indigo Maidens, available now.

Cecilia Velástegui, the author of Gathering the Indigo Maidens has made a donation to the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force for victim services. "Together We Can End Modern-Day Slavery." For more information, visit ochumantrafficking.org.