What happens when two people from opposite ends of the world bet everything on each other - and win?
We Gambled Our Future is the memoir of María Cristina López Gandarillas-Page: two lives, two cultures, and forty years of a love that deepened every year.
She grew up in Cochabamba, Bolivia, shaped by revolution and early independence, and became the city's first woman architect before emigrating to California with $300 and a willingness to risk everything. He left the seminary after twelve years, arrived in Los Angeles with $500 in his pocket, and set out to discover who he was outside of institutional life. They met unexpectedly, agreed on the terms before they began, and built something neither of them could have planned.
Spanning continents and generations, the memoir weaves together family genealogies, personal letters, childhood memories, and the voices of the daughters, nieces, and nephews who knew Bill and María Cristina as fixtures of warmth and humor in their lives. It is history made intimate, and a legacy offered freely to those still to come.
For anyone who has ever loved someone from a different world, built a family across cultures, or wondered what story they will leave behind.
Also included:
14 pages of family photographs spanning early Bolivia and New York to the present day
Letters written in Bill's own words, offering an intimate and unfiltered glimpse into his heart and mind across the decades
Heartfelt tributes from his daughters and family members, celebrating the man and the legacy he left behind
We Gambled Our Future will resonate with fans of immersive family memoirs, American and Latin American love stories, and stories of strong women who forged their own paths in a world that didn't always make it easy.
AUTHOR: María Cristina López Gandarillas-Page
RELEASE DATE: May 3, 2026
Paperback, 332 pages
Also available as an ebook
“Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.”
(Walker, there is no path, the path is made by walking.)
—Antonio Machado
What happens when two people from opposite ends of the world bet everything on each other - and win?
We Gambled Our Future is the memoir of María Cristina López Gandarillas-Page: two lives, two cultures, and forty years of a love that deepened every year.
She grew up in Cochabamba, Bolivia, shaped by revolution and early independence, and became the city's first woman architect before emigrating to California with $300 and a willingness to risk everything. He left the seminary after twelve years, arrived in Los Angeles with $500 in his pocket, and set out to discover who he was outside of institutional life. They met unexpectedly, agreed on the terms before they began, and built something neither of them could have planned.
Spanning continents and generations, the memoir weaves together family genealogies, personal letters, childhood memories, and the voices of the daughters, nieces, and nephews who knew Bill and María Cristina as fixtures of warmth and humor in their lives. It is history made intimate, and a legacy offered freely to those still to come.
For anyone who has ever loved someone from a different world, built a family across cultures, or wondered what story they will leave behind.
Also included:
14 pages of family photographs spanning early Bolivia and New York to the present day
Letters written in Bill's own words, offering an intimate and unfiltered glimpse into his heart and mind across the decades
Heartfelt tributes from his daughters and family members, celebrating the man and the legacy he left behind
We Gambled Our Future will resonate with fans of immersive family memoirs, American and Latin American love stories, and stories of strong women who forged their own paths in a world that didn't always make it easy.
AUTHOR: María Cristina López Gandarillas-Page
RELEASE DATE: May 3, 2026
Paperback, 332 pages
Also available as an ebook
“Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.”
(Walker, there is no path, the path is made by walking.)
—Antonio Machado
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