House on Mango Street

Told in a series of vibrant vignettes, The House On Mango Street is the story of Esperanza Cordera, a young girl growing up in the Hispanic quarter of Chicago. For Esperanza, Mango Street is a desolate landscape of concrete and run-down tenements where she discovers the hard realities of life - the fetters of class and gender, the spectre of racial enmity and the mysteries of sexuality. Capturing her thoughts and emotions in poems and stories, Esperanza is able to rise above hopelessness and create for herself "a house all of my own quiet as snow, a space for myself to go" in the midst of her oppressive surroundings.

'Cisneros writes from the heart of a child - bluntly and truthfully ... Everyone needs this book' Los Angeles Times 'Memorable ... the voice is unmistakable' Independent 'Cisneros draws on her rich [Latino] heritage ... and seduces with precise spare prose, creating unforgettable characters we want to lift off the page. She is not only a gifted writer but an absolutely essential one' New York Times Book Review 'Marvellous ... spare yet luminous. The subtle power of Cisneros's storytelling is evident. She communicates all the rapture and rage of growing up in a modern world' San Francisco Chronicle

Sandra Cisneros is the author of two novels and a book of short stories, all of which are published by Bloomsbury.