Hi Phil and John
No, it's not a typo at all. We use the demonstratives este, esta, estos, estas to refer to he, her, they... when they've been mentioned before, as a substitute for él, ella, ellos...
It is as if we were saying "He, she, they, [who I just mentioned]...."
They are functioning as pronouns. We have a lesson on A2 where you can see them used as pronouns. We don't have an example matching the sentence you found in this reading exercise (Una vida nueva) but will add one so it reflects this specific use. Meanwhile, here are some other examples:
Los estudiantes sacaron muy buenas notas en los últimos exámenes. Estos fueron bastante difíciles pero los niños estudiaron mucho.
The students got very good results in the last exams. They (the exams, that I just mentioned) were quite difficult but the kids studied a lot.
Había una chica sola sentada en la esquina de la cafetería. Esta estaba leyendo libro.
There was a girl alone sitting in the corner of the cafe. She (this one, this girl) was reading a book.
I hope this clarifies it.
Saludos
Inma