From Publishers Weekly
In his novel The Basque Hotel, Laxalt explored the immigrant experience through the eyes of Peter, a Basque-American boy growing up in Nevada during the Depression. In the elegant second volume of this family trilogy, Peter journeys to his parents' native land to learn more about his mother's secret past. The "child" in the title is the narrator's mother, Maitia, whose life has been tainted by her illegitimacy. Laxalt brings a mythopoeic solemnity to the reconstructed experiences of both Maitia, growing up in a tiny Basque village, and Petya, a youth whose family sends him to the American West after he witnesses a murder. Though the characters seem limited--perhaps deliberately--to two dimensions, the Basque countryside and the American desert where Petya finds work as a shepherd spring to life in the writer's direct and unadorned style. The impecunious Basques of the village of Donibanesp ok and their rich sense of tradition are evoked through details: young Petya wears his father's mismatched suit, a hand-me-down from his deceased grandfather, who was buried in his nightshirt because "the suit would have been wasted beneath the ground in the churchyard." A subtle novel, illuminating and worthwhile.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Part of the publisher's "Basque" series, this novel by Basque American Laxalt explores the effect of cultural taboos (in this case, illegitimacy) on a family and its descendants. The Basque American narrator, who uncovers his mother's long-kept secret shame (her illegitimate birth) as he prepares to visit the land of his ancestors, is spurred to discover the truth of this secret when he is introduced by one of his cousins as an American friend instead of a blood relation. The story unfolds like a collapsed telescope into a past connected to the present. The language is simple, the story poignant and dignified. Recommended for literary collections.
- Linda L. Rome, Middlefield P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Linda L. Rome, Middlefield P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
