While Ana Lezama de Urinza and Eustaquia de Sonza were real people, living in a real place, drinking real booze, and swinging real swords, this book is a work of fiction. After learning of their existence, I was tremendously inspired to write a story of two heroic girls falling in love and fighting the forces of evil. I have taken many liberties in the name of fiction; their appearances, manner of speaking (deliberately anachronistic, as I’m sure you’ll have noticed), and the events that occur in their lives. Some things are inspired by fact, including but not limited to the death of Eustaquia’s older brother (whose name I’ve fictionalized), the bond shared by these two extraordinary women, and the significance of the city of Potosí in the greater Spanish Empire. As a Latina, I have always been hungry for stories of rebels and warriors and fearless women in whom I could see myself, and I hope that you, the reader, have enjoyed this tale. To those eager to learn more about Potosí or the Valiant Ladies who lived in it, I offer the following selected sources to begin your journey.

Greenfield, Patrick. “Story of cities #6: how silver turned Potosí into ‘the first city of capitalism.’” Guardian. March 21, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/21/story-of-cities-6-potosi-bolivia-peru-inca-first-city-capitalism

Lane, Kris. Potosí: The Silver City That Changed the World. University of California Press, 2019.

Salmonson, Jessica Amanda. The Encyclopedia of Amazons: Women Warriors from Antiquity to the Modern Era. Open Road Media, 2015.

Sarkeesian, Anita, and Ebony Adams. History vs Women: The Defiant Lives that They Don’t Want You to Know. Feiwel and Friends, 2018.

Thompson, Ben. “Ana Lezama de Urinza.” Badass of the Week. June 26, 2015. Badassoftheweek.com/index.cgi?id=29009176046

Weatherford, Jack. Indian Givers: How the Indians of America Transformed the World. Crown Publishing Group, 1988.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Since its inception in 2019, this book has been a labor of love. It helped see me through the ghastly year of 2020 (and a good chunk of 2021), and I’m incredibly thankful to the people who helped me get it across the finish line.

My agent, Catherine Drayton, thank you for making my dream of writing about badass Latina warriors a reality. My editor, Holly West, thank you for your infinite patience and your overwhelming kindness. Lauren Scobell, Rachel Diebel, and Hana Tzou, thank you for your sharp eyes and words of wisdom. Clepz Arellano and Veronica Mang, thank you times a million for the beautiful cover. It’s a stunner. Thank you to the wonderful team at Feiwel and Friends who turned this book into something real.

Most importantly, thank you, Ana Lezama de Urinza and Eustaquia de Sonza. I hope I have done you justice.

Thank you for reading this FEIWEL & FRIENDS book.

The friends who made

possible are:

JEAN FEIWEL, Publisher

LIZ SZABLA, Associate Publisher

RICH DEAS, Senior Creative Director

HOLLY WEST, Senior Editor

ANNA ROBERTO, Senior Editor

KAT BRZOZOWSKI, Senior Editor

DAWN RYAN, Executive Managing Editor

CELESTE CASS, Assistant Production Manager