In Bookstores May 20, 2026

Strangers in the Province of Joy: Practicing Radical Hospitality on the US-Mexico Border.

This compelling true story from the US-Mexico border cuts through polarized debates on immigration with the inspiring example of one community’s commitment to radical hospitality. Annunciation House is a small, volunteer-run nonprofit in the border city of El Paso, Texas. Over the last half-century it has welcomed over half a million migrants and refugees, from Central Americans fleeing death squads in the 1980’s to migrant families separated at the border in 2018. In this powerful narrative history, author and volunteer Mary Fontana recounts the story of Annunciation House through the voices of the guests and volunteers who have passed through its doors. Through their individual journeys, she also illustrates the complex forces that drive migration across the Americas. This richly drawn, deeply human narrative from the front lines of migration will challenge readers to explore the borders in their own lives and hearts.

Praise for Strangers in the Country of Joy:

Strangers in the Province of Joy is an important, necessary, and heartbreaking book. There is much sadness to be found here—but there is also much joy.

-Benjamin Alire Sáenz, author of Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club

This compelling read traces almost 50 years of failed US immigration policy, but more importantly it narrates the story of Annunciation House and the response of many in El Paso and beyond. This faith response renews my commitment in challenging times to do my part. It recounts a reservoir of community, ingenuity and commitment… just what we need in this moment.

-Simone Campbell, SSS, author, A Nun on the Bus

For half a century, Annunciation House in El Paso has been a rare beacon of hope in an increasingly dysfunctional immigration system in the United States. In her new book, Mary Fontana provides the first detailed history of Annunciation House, documenting how volunteers motivated by faith provided “radical hospitality” to hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing poverty and persecution.

-Robert Moore, El Paso journalist

An incredibly uplifting story of how one community’s relentless hospitality and grace reveal the way to repair the deep damage we have done to the people of the Americas, to the border and to our spirit. Ruben and Annunciation House are the kind of heroes we need in America today. A must-read.

-Beto O’Rourke, former Congressman and author of We’ve Got to Try

Annunciation House is well-known to anyone working in immigration for the care and attention they give to migrants. In the same way, Mary Fontana’s Strangers in the Province of Joy attends to the story of Annunciation House and the people who made it the beacon of hope it is today.

-Alejandra Oliva, author of Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith, and Migration