Saints and Skeletons
A Memoir of Living in Mexico
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
—William Faulkner
This action-packed memoir/travelogue formed the real-life backdrop to what later became the successful JadeAnne Stone thriller series. Starting in the summer of 1991, Saints and Skeletons takes you through the back roads of Mexico, Belize, and the Peten region of northern Guatemala, where author, teacher and former journalist Manwaring camped out in ruins, sampled exotic foods, smoked loco weed atop pyramids, drank mescal out of the still, skinny dipped in Zipolite, found lost cities, and learned to make a killer margarita. In the process, she also experienced love, betrayal and loneliness. As doors opened and walls crumbled in her heart, skeletons tumbled out and, occasionally, saints appeared just when Manwaring needed them most.
“In Manwaring’s immersive memoir, Saints and Skeletons, she deftly takes her reader on a pilgrimage to Mexico. Rendered with heart and vulnerability, we observe her inner life through the risky choices she regrets, the love she desires, the sublime beauty she discovers. Don’t miss this multisensory adventure of a lifetime.”
— J. C, Miller Amazon Best Selling Author of Vacation
