Martyrs of Hope treats seven U. S. martyrs: Father Stanley Rother and Brother James Miller, who were killed in Guatemala; Sisters Maura Clarke, Ita Ford, and Dorothy Kazel, and lay-missioner Jean Donovan, who were murdered in El Salvador; and Sister Carla Piette, who drowned in El Salvador while performing a work of mercy. (Though not murdered like the rest, she represents what Pope Francis has highlighted as a “martyr of charity.”) This is the riveting and troubling story of witnesses who laid down their lives for their neighbors. Their lives, backgrounds, beliefs, and politics varied widely, but they held a common faith and hope: to better the lives of the poor among whom they lived and worked.