This book is a little off the beaten path because much of it is set in a cemetery, and yet, it is neither spooky nor scary. The story is centered in Socorro, New Mexico and offers an imaginative recounting of the lives (or deaths) of some of the persons buried there. This story unfolds as Linda moves from Florida and falls in love with the sky and landscape of her new home and it's inhabitants. Her friendship with Sophora, an older Hispanic resident, leads her to become fascinated with the fallen crosses of the old cemetery. Sophora helps Linda overcome personal tragedy and find the healing space, with its wind and sky, she so desperately needs.
Preface
The wind is always here when I visit. Sometimes, I feel as if it were expecting me, and when I arrive it wraps around me like an embrace. That’s if I have chosen a good day to visit; at other times, the wind is hellacious. No matter how strong the wind might be and no matter if the sky is that bright “New Mexico blue” or if it is overcast to warn of an impending storm, this is the place where my soul expands.
As I get out of my car, I see the evidence of things misplaced by strong gusts. The road has several artificial flowers which have been blown from graves. Most of the flowers are intact, but a few have been driven over, leaving their petals flat and dirty. A lot of the persons buried here were Hispanic and in accordance with their customs, those graves may have small fences around them enclosing masses of artificial bouquets, small statues of angels and The Virgin Mary, or in the case of children, Mickey Mouse or other comic characters.
I hate to see these things blown over, and even though I’m not Catholic, it makes me uncomfortable to see Mary’s face in the dirt. There are plastic bags caught on the spines of cacti and many of the small American flags whose wooden poles were pushed into the dirt covering the casket of a veteran end up on the ground lodged against a rock. Strangely, one piece of litter that I don’t mind is an empty brown beer bottle. Of course I know it should have been disposed of properly, but to me, the sight of it is proof that life goes on.
A beer bottle is not a leftover from a funeral. It comes from a more casual occasion, meaning that other persons visit here, and knowing that, it gives me hope that they know some of the stories of persons already here and those stories will not be forgotten.
I recognize that the things that I’ve written may sound unreal to people who live in other places, but I assure you, they’re typical of cemeteries in rural New Mexico. We do not have expanses of carefully maintained grass. It might be stretching our limited water resources to try for the conventional look. We have mainly dirt, but Mother Nature decorates it with rocks, rabbit brush, cacti, and wildflowers. And the peace and stark beauty of it all is enhanced by the overarching sky.
I was indeed taken to "a place of wind and sky" in this wonderful book by Audrie Clifford. The author's love of New Mexico, which is expressed through descriptions of the landscape and its people, is felt on every page. Inspired by the cemetery in Socorro, NM, Audrie Clifford has created stories and characters who connect us to the area's history through well-researched factual information and fictional recollections of the past. The wedding of fact and fiction is done so well, I hardly felt that I was learning while reading. It was only upon finishing the story that I realized I had learned so much about Socorro. As with all of Audrie's books, her characters come alive through personal struggles. In this book, Linda Foley grabs our hearts as the illegitimate child of a single mother who struggles for a sense of belonging and partially discovers it from a connection to the New Mexican sky. Her personal journey is complicated by unexpected mishaps and unusual encounters that kept me rooting for her all through the book. The power of nature, the human spirit, and forgiveness are themes that come through loud and clear in this most rewarding read.