Author Spotlight - Maryetta Ackenbom

The Mérida English Library community is fortunate to have many accomplished writers in our midst. This edition of Author Spotlight turns its attention to Mérida fixture Maryetta Ackenbom. Maryetta has written about 50 short stories, half of which have been published, and two of them grew into her novels, “Georgia's Hope” and “Hope Abides”.

Maryetta has also contributed to Mérida Writers’ Group anthologies “Our Yucatán: Tales and Poems, Mostly True, But Laced with Artistic License” and “Uniquely Yucatán”. She considers herself lucky for this success, which has come even though writing has never been a full-time job for her.

“Georgia’s Hope” tells the tale of Georgia Albright, who invites three Mexican orphans to live with her and her family in their comfortable, upper-middle-class white neighborhood. This triggers an instant backlash in their conservative, status-conscious community. Through the years, Georgia grows to become a dedicated civil rights professional, which is not without its perils, and romances, along the way. “Hope Abides” follows the growth of Georgia’s adopted siblings, as she now leads the civil rights center begun by the young martyr Jerome Jones. The Albright family and the Jones family continue to struggle with troubles in the mixed racial and cultural society in Dallas between 1978 and 2003

“Georgia's Hope” and “Hope Abides” are available for purchase at Between the Lines bookstore.