The Gunslinger's Companion
By
Michael De Stefano
Born
into a band of roughneck migrants, Pablo Cordero spends his youth harvesting
wheat under an unforgiving sun on the dusty plains of the Midwest. After
witnessing the rape and subsequent death of his mother, and the slaying of a
ruthless landowner, Pablo breaks free from the band and begins his unlikely
ascension into society. There, he discovers the strength of his own spirit, and
love that transcends Heaven and earth.
Review
This is the story of Pablo Cordero and his family.
Pablo lives in Brownsville, Texas with his daughter Martina and his beloved granddaughter Annamaria he calls Cherianna. To save the little girl from the ugly road that took her mother decides to take her on a farm in Kentucky where he had worked as a young man. While it is on the train with her little grandson remembers his past. Pablo was born in 1879 of migrant parents working Mexican. His family leaves Mexico for fear of civil war and took refuge in America. It 's so that they meet and fall in love his mother Dolci and his father Juan Carlos Cordero that he has never known. As a young boy finds himself living with a group of migrant working hard and trying to defend his beautiful and alone mother from the violent attentions of men. He saved her twice from rape and decides to take her mother away from their group and try to live alone. But the mother did not make it and dies. He finds himself alone at age 14 to try to survive. Find job, new friends, fall in love, will suffer again, fight fight...
The story is really well written, the author alternates between the present time with the memories of the protagonist but you never lose the thread. It 's a captivating and moving story, very reminiscent of the atmosphere of the books by Steinbeck. The characters are very well characterized. Pablo Cordero is a strong man, a hard worker who has never given up, which tries to make the lives of others marvelous: first the mother, then his wife and daughter and at the end of the beloved Cherianna. And is adorable little and tender Annamaria: a smart little girl, sweet but with a strong and brave character.
It 's a must-read, a historical and sentimental novel, beautifully illustrating the life of migrant workers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
4 stars ****
Pablo lives in Brownsville, Texas with his daughter Martina and his beloved granddaughter Annamaria he calls Cherianna. To save the little girl from the ugly road that took her mother decides to take her on a farm in Kentucky where he had worked as a young man. While it is on the train with her little grandson remembers his past. Pablo was born in 1879 of migrant parents working Mexican. His family leaves Mexico for fear of civil war and took refuge in America. It 's so that they meet and fall in love his mother Dolci and his father Juan Carlos Cordero that he has never known. As a young boy finds himself living with a group of migrant working hard and trying to defend his beautiful and alone mother from the violent attentions of men. He saved her twice from rape and decides to take her mother away from their group and try to live alone. But the mother did not make it and dies. He finds himself alone at age 14 to try to survive. Find job, new friends, fall in love, will suffer again, fight fight...
The story is really well written, the author alternates between the present time with the memories of the protagonist but you never lose the thread. It 's a captivating and moving story, very reminiscent of the atmosphere of the books by Steinbeck. The characters are very well characterized. Pablo Cordero is a strong man, a hard worker who has never given up, which tries to make the lives of others marvelous: first the mother, then his wife and daughter and at the end of the beloved Cherianna. And is adorable little and tender Annamaria: a smart little girl, sweet but with a strong and brave character.
It 's a must-read, a historical and sentimental novel, beautifully illustrating the life of migrant workers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
4 stars ****
“Why Mr. Flynn, what brings you out here to the barn at
this time of day?” asked Irma. Johnny peered through the hay over Irma’s
shoulder at Flynn, who was standing inside the barn door. It was a simple
enough question that Irma had posed and was pleasant in its delivery, but
Johnny had a clear sense that Flynn made his mother anxious.
“I’m surprised with as hard as you work you’re not
starving about now,” added Irma, as though she was willing Flynn to leave the
barn in favor of supper. She ended her remark with a contrived chuckle, which served
to reveal just how wary she was of Flynn.
“What the hell would you know about hard work?” snapped
Flynn. His tone carried an abundance of disdain toward Irma and what he
perceived as her lofty and comfortable station.
Like Cornelius, Flynn believed the family farm, a place
which for many years he coveted, would one day be passed on to him. He harbored
plenty of bitterness toward Cornelius, and looked for reasons to harbor contempt for that which he loved. He saw Irma as the kind
of wife he might have had…genteel, sweet, and
pretty. It made him bitter, and over time his bitterness turned to hatred. He
saw whatever privilege Irma enjoyed as coming at the hands of his long
laborious days. And although Irma was certainly no stranger to hard work, she thought it prudent not to
challenge Flynn on his perception of her, especially on the heels of his
belligerent tone.
“I suppose I don’t know very much about hard work,” she
humored him.
“You suppose?”
scolded Flynn. “If you don’t know about hard work, then maybe it’s best to keep your mouth shut!” He followed his coarse
remark by delivering a backhand that landed on Irma’s cheek and sent her
sprawling to the ground.
It was now apparent to Irma why Flynn turned up in the
barn “at this time of day.” He had been waiting for this opportunity ever since
he arrived at Crow’s Farm begging for a job. How many times had he heard Irma’s
lovely voice ringing out across the acres? Corneeeelius.
And how many times had he seen the love in Cornelius’ eyes when
he was summoned by the sweetness of her voice.
With each passing day, Flynn was pushed nearer and nearer to a place known as
one’s limits.
Flynn was a foul tempered youth whose disposition had
only worsened with age. Now, all his wretchedness and misery, which
was almost too much for a single human soul to possess, even for one so
distorted as Flynn’s, was about to become unleashed on Irma. He raised her from
the floor by her hair, then brutally bent her over a bundled stack of hay. “Let
me hear you call Cornelius, now, you dirty little cunt,” he taunted.
At first, Irma wanted to scream with the slim hope that
Gabriel and the others might hear her and come running. What stopped
her, though, was Johnny. It was when Flynn slammed her delicate figure
onto the bundled stack and lifted up her dress
that she discovered Johnny’s terrified eyes peeking out from under the hay.
Johnny’s presence, no matter how ineffectual had it been
known to Flynn, was of great comfort to Irma. His eyes, which Irma could have
picked out of a crowd of thousands, were beacons of hope and reminders of all that was still good in the world. Despite the
vileness of her tormenter, she smiled.
At first, Irma’s idyllic expression confused Johnny.
Then, as if struck, he understood. He understood as though he was right inside
Irma’s head reading from her very thoughts. The warmth of Irma’s smile—the
loveliness that blossomed from her eyes and soul—for the first time Johnny
understood how much a part of it he was. I
can take all that the world can throw my way, as long as I have my dear, sweet
boy by my side. So lie still, my son. Lie perfectly still and don’t make a
sound, for I want you to grow big and strong, and to chase your dreams. I want
to embrace everything that is you, and one day we’ll walk arm in arm under a
beautiful sunset. We’ll feel the warm rays on our face, and together we’ll
understand that the world is good. So you lie still and don’t make a sound, and
soon the bad man will be gone
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
Michael De Stefano is from Philadelphia and makes his home in Cinnaminson, New Jersey. He is the author of The Prodigy of Saint Pete’s—the story of Andy Trumaine, an orphaned boy whose gift to others as he journeys through life is his good sense of the world; and In the Time of Their Restlessness—a tumultuous coming of age story in urban America in the 1970s.
Links:
Website: http://bloodredshadow.com/about/night-to-dawn-magazine-and-books/michael-de-stefano/the-gunslingers-companion/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Gunslingers-Companion-Michael-Stefano/dp/1937769305/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395081484&sr=8-1&keywords=the+gunslinger%27s+companion+Michael+De+Stefano
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-gunslingers-companion-michael-de-stefano/1118922270?ean=2940149221479
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/419822
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.destefano.1654
Giveaway Info:
The publisher will be awarding a $20 Starbucks gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour
Thanks for hosting! Grazie per l'hosting!
RispondiEliminaThank you for the lovely showcasing and review of the book.
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