“People are quite content as long as there is someone else below them on the ladder or they believe climbing higher is a possibility.” “I suppose your father’s Pur . . . ?” “Purépecha.” “Pur-é-pecha,” he enunciated slowly, “ancestry did not command the sort of respect or prestige needed to elevate his status?” “Indeed not.” Ana María pressed her lips into a firm line. “Their prestige was obliterated as soon as the conquistadores defeated Moctezuma.”
