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  Featured Books: Taos
 
ALONG THE HIGH ROAD
A Guide to the Scenic Route Between Espanola and Taos
By Margaret M. Nava

The road between Espanola and Taos, New Mexico, commonly referred to as the “High Road to Taos,” covers a distance of about fifty miles and passes through many northern frontier settlement towns. Because of the speed limit and road conditions, a trip along this road usually takes three hours although some drivers do it in less. They drive serpentine roads, look at quaint houses and magnificent scenery, and depart content that they have driven through a fascinating area. But the High Road is more than just a scenic road trip; it is a journey through the lives of the people, past and present, who--tied to the earth, fiercely independent, and staunchly Catholic--settled a hostile land, created a new life for themselves, and became the moral fiber of New Mexico.

This book gives readers a brief glimpse into the lives, beliefs, and arts of these people and offers suggestions about sights and accommodations for travelers willing to take enough time to discover the beauty and mysteries hidden in the small towns "Along the High Road."

MARGARET NAVA, a native of Illinois, spent twenty years traveling throughout the American Southwest researching and writing hundreds of local and national magazine articles about natural science, anthropology, spirituality, and Hispanic and Native American traditions. However, the lure of the Land of Enchantment, as New Mexico is call, was strong and several years ago she left the Midwest behind. These days Margaret, and her dog Sauza, can be found traveling around the state looking for little-known or unusual travel destinations.

Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=fcd4XC66UHAC

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-413-6
120 pp.,$16.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-704-8
120 pp.,$5.99


BUT TIME AND CHANCE
The Story of Padre Martinez of Taos, 1793-1867
By Fray Angelico Chavez

Voted one of the 100 Best New Mexico Books.

Fray Angelico Chavez, articulate and well-versed in New Mexicana, vividly records the life of the controversial Padre of Taos so that the reader gains full measure of his surroundings and of the times. Martínez was continually at the forefront of the public and political forums . . . a master of jurisprudence and canon law . . . a champion of the underdog. With the advent of Bishop Lamy, public attention became focused on these two dynamic personalities. Their philosophic differences ultimately led to Martínez' suspension and excommunication. Chavez was a curious and indefatigable researcher and he used these talents well while delving into the facts and legends surrounding Padre Martinez' "most poignant and colorful life-drama . . . a personality to be reckoned with, whether as hero or villain, or both." Readers will, at once, share with Chavez his absorption in this man and, "also wonder . . . how such a phenomenon could have sprouted and bloomed under the most adverse circumstances of time and place."

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Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=ev5X3vXdw8cC

Hardcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-1-63293-583-0
176 pp.,$34.95

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-91327-095-0
176 pp.,$16.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-543-3
176 pp.,$3.99


CENTURIES OF HANDS
An Architectural History of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Taos, New Mexico
By Van Dorn Hooker with Corina A. Santistevan

Photographs, Drawings, Bibliography

“Hooker was the University Architect in Albuquerque when he became involved with preservation issues at St. Francis of Assisi in 1966. He and Corina A. Santistevan, archivist for the church, present an in-depth historical view of the church through an examination of its role in the community, its architectural construction, its interior furnishings and the various solutions (and mistakes) undertaken to restore it. An excellent, detailed analysis of the life of a building.” (Books of the Southwest)

Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418

St. Francis of Assisi Church in Taos, New Mexico, is one of the most widely recognized buildings in the United States. It has been photographed by thousands of people who have visited it including professional photographers, and painted by scores of artists in various media. Its image has appeared in books, magazines, newspapers and travel brochures. But the church did not always look like it does today. Since its original construction in the early nineteenth century, it has gone through many periods of remodeling. In the recent past, St. Francis of Assisi Church has been the focus of historic preservation by a devoted congregation and the priests who led them. Their united effort saved the church from serious deterioration and abandonment. An annual program of replastering with mud in addition to repair and repainting are keeping the church in better condition than ever before. The writing of this book was inspired by this effort.

Van Dorn Hooker, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, was the university architect for the University of New Mexico from 1963 until he retired in 1987. Prior to that he was a partner in the architectural firm of McHugh and Hooker, Bradley P. Kidder and Associates, Santa Fe, architects for many churches in New Mexico including Our Lady of Guadalupe in Santa Fe and St. James Episcopal Church in Taos. He followed the restoration of St. Francis of Assisi Church for many years and his collection of notes and photographs made this book possible.

Corina Santistevan, the archivist and historian for St. Francis of Assisi Church, is a native of Ranchos de Taos. She was a charter member of the Taos County Historical Society and a distinguished educator. Her knowledge of the history of the church and the Taos Valley has been acknowledged by many well known writers and historians she assisted through the years.

NEW MEXICO MAGAZINE said: "Almost anything anybody will want to know about these significant buildings and their communities can be found here or in the many references listed in the bibliographies found with each of the chapters."


Hardcover:
8 1/2 X 11
ISBN: 978-1-63293-277-8
162 pp.,$32.95

Softcover:
8 1/2 x 11
ISBN: 978-0-86534-234-7
162 pp.,$22.95


CERAN ST. VRAIN
American Frontier Entrepreneur
By Ronald K. Wetherington

Foreword by Marc Simmons.

First a trapper and trader, then a merchant, and finally an emerging capitalist in the flour industry of New Mexico and Colorado, Ceran St. Vrain was an iconic image of the industrious and self-reliant western pioneer of the 19th century. He was also a military hero, aiding the U.S. dragoons as an officer in the New Mexico Volunteer army in their fight against marauding plains Indians alongside Kit Carson.

An intelligent and affable soul, he helped lead the southwest from a barter economy, poor in cash and lacking political infrastructure, into a post-military commercial society on the road to statehood. His name has long been associated with a small handful of astute and skilled leaders in the transformation of the southwest: Carson, the Bent brothers, Charlies Beaubien, Lucien Maxwell, Colonels Sterling Price and E.V. Sumner, and yet until now his story has been largely hidden in footnotes and brief accounts of particular exploits.

This story of St. Vrain was stimulated by the author’s earlier excavation of his first flour mill in Taos, and the need to make that excavation record public. Hence, this volume is in two parts: Part I is a biographical account of St. Vrain’s life from his entry into New Mexico in the 1820s until his death in 1870. Part II is a detailed description of the mill excavations and interpretations.

Ronald Wetherington is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. From 1964 until 2001 he spent summers at SMU’s Fort Burgwin Research Center in Taos, New Mexico, variously directing archaeological operations and developing its academic program. He served two years as the Center’s Associate Director and another two as its Director.


Hardcover:
6 x 9
ISBN: 978-1-63293-195-5
188 pp.,$29.95

Softcover:
6 x 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-858-5
188 pp.,$19.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-687-4
188 pp.,$6.99


KIT CARSON'S OWN STORY OF HIS LIFE
Facsimile of Original 1926 Edition
By Christopher "Kit" Carson

New Foreword by Marc Simmons

Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418

In 1826 a seventeen-year-old Christopher “Kit” Carson ran away from his job as apprentice to a saddler in Franklin, Missouri and joined a merchant caravan bound for Santa Fe in the far Southwest. The flight marked his entry into the pages of history. In the decades that followed, Carson gained renown as a trapper, hunter, guide, rancher, army courier, Indian agent, and military officer. Along the way, his varied career as a frontiersman elevated him to the status of a national hero, on a par with Daniel Boone.

In 1856, while at home with his family in Taos, New Mexico, Kit (being illiterate) dictated his autobiography, which dealt with the innumerable adventures he had experienced to that point. However, some of the most significant episodes in his life would unfold in the ensuing years, leading up to his death in 1868.

Since Taos artist and writer Blanche Chloe Grant first edited and published the Carson manuscript in 1926, it has become the central source for all subsequent biographers. In 1935 Milo Milton Quaife annotated another edition under the title of Kit Carson’s Autobiography, published by Lakeside Press of Chicago, and afterward reprinted by the University of Nebraska Press. Western historian Harvey Lewis Carter followed suit with publication of the most heavily edited version yet, with his “Dear Old Kit”: The Historical Christopher Carson (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1968).

Sunstone Press by electing to bring back into print Blanche Grant’s original 1926 book, regarded perhaps as the handiest of the three published versions, calls attention anew to this pioneering memoir of the celebrated Kit Carson.

Sample Chapter
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Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=CgGp_rv0pAYC

Hardcover:
6 x 9
ISBN: 978-1-63293-340-9
180 pp.,$29.95

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-568-3
180 pp.,$22.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-152-7
180 pp.,$4.99


LORENZO IN TAOS
D. H. Lawrence and Mabel Dodge Luhan
By Mabel Dodge Luhan

Facsimile of Original 1932 Edition with a New Foreword by Arthur J. Bachrach

In September, 1922, the internationally known British writer D. H. Lawrence arrived with his wife, Frieda, at the railroad station in Lamy, New Mexico. They had traveled from Australia to San Francisco, then to Lamy, to come to Taos at the invitation of Mabel Dodge Sterne, later Mabel Dodge Luhan, the patroness of arts and culture in Taos.

It was the beginning of an intense, sometimes strained, relationship. Mabel, daughter of a well-to-do Buffalo, New York family, had a long history of cultivating arts and letters, surrounding herself with famous artists and writers in her salons in Florence, Italy and in New York City. She continued her support of literature and the arts in Taos.

Lawrence encouraged Mabel to write about her own exciting life and, while back in Italy in 1925, continued corresponding with Mabel and edited manuscripts she sent to him. Her book, Lorenzo in Taos, is written loosely in the form of letters to and from D. H. Lawrence, Frieda Lawrence, and Robinson Jeffers, the celebrated poet who had been a guest of Mabel’s in Taos, with references to Dorothy Brett and Spud Johnson among others. The book is a highly personal and most informative account of an intense relationship with a great writer. It is an important work and its reprinting is welcomed by scholars and those of us who have come increasingly to respect Mabel’s contributions in the world of arts and letters through her support of many individuals and her own creative spirit.

Born in 1879 to a wealthy Buffalo family, Mabel Dodge Luhan earned fame for her friendships with American and European artists, writers and intellectuals and for her influential salons held in her Italian villa and Greenwich Village apartments. In 1917, weary of society and wary of a world steeped in war, she set down roots in remote Taos, New Mexico, then publicized the tiny town’s inspirational beauty to the world, drawing a steady stream of significant guests to her adobe estate, including artist Georgia O’Keeffe, poet Robinson Jeffers, and authors D. H. Lawrence and Willa Cather. Luhan could be difficult, complex and often cruel, yet she was also generous and supportive, establishing a solid reputation as a patron of the arts and as an author of widely read autobiographies. She died in Taos in 1962.

Sample Chapter
Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=NAgga-O5z6UC

Hardcover:
6 x 9
ISBN: 978-1-63293-282-2
396 pp.,$38.95

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-594-2
396 pp.,$32.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-451-1
396 pp.,$7.99


RECONSTRUCTING MABEL
A Taos Memoir
By Valmai Howe Elkins

Valmai Howe Elkins recalls her adventures in Taos, New Mexico, when she buys a tiny house built in the 1920s by Mabel Dodge Luhan, patron of the arts and author of “Winter in Taos.”

High in the mountains of New Mexico, Taos has long been a magnet for artists. When writer Valmai Howe Elkins, escaping brutal east coast winters, buys a tiny house without even seeing inside, lured by the way the light shimmers between the branches of an old apple tree, she is intrigued by the startling adobe house at the top of the lane. “That’s the Mabel Dodge Luhan House,” the realtor tells her. “Mabel was a wealthy socialite who became a patron of the arts. She married Tony Luhan from the Pueblo and they built that house. She was the person who invited Georgia O’Keeffe to the American Southwest.” Mabel, born in 1879, turned her back on a glittering life in Florence, Italy and New York to savor the simple pleasures of Taos and her people. Inspired by Mabel’s book, Winter in Taos, together with the extraordinary house and its view across the sage plains to the Sacred Mountain, Elkins regains her health, makes friends and plunges into Taos adventures. The book is an invitation to readers to explore the lives of rebellious women. The author experiences the power of place and a quirky house which continues to create its own magical world.

Valmai Howe Elkins, while teaching childbirth education at McGill University, pioneered the hospital Birthing Room and introduced the concept and design across North America. The Rights of the Pregnant Parent, dubbed “the book that changed hospital birth,” became an international bestseller, followed by The Birth Report. With a Master of Fine Arts from Bennington College, she is the author of the novels The Dreams of Zoo Animals, about coming of age in Australia, and The Loneliness of Angels, a darkly entertaining look at alternative healing. Her insightful guide, Adventures of a Feng Shui Detective, builds on her Birthing Room experience to explore the ways in which our physical surroundings shape our emotional well-being.

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Hardcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-1-63293-433-8
198 pp.,$34.95

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-1-63293-258-7
198 pp.,$20.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-573-0
198 pp.,$4.99


SOUNDS AND SIGHTS OF TAOS VALLEY
By Helen G. Blumenschein

Helen G. Blumenschein, daughter of artist Ernest L. Blumenschein, and an artist in her own right was a chronicler of her time. In this book, she records and describes Taos, New Mexico as it was in 1972. Long an art colony, Taos had attracted many artists. By 1915 Joseph Henry Sharp, E. Irving Couse, Oscar E. Berninghaus and W. Herbert “Buck” Dunton had moved to Taos and with Ernest Blumenschein and Bert Phillips they formed the Taos Society of Artists. The six founding members were known as the “Taos Six.”

Helen grew up in this environment and recorded her impressions of Taos and the Taos Valley using “sounds” as an opening theme for this book. She then offers a personal glimpse into her world through a brief history of Taos, the archaeology of the area, and many illustrations including including sketches of such luminaries as Joseph Henry Sharp, Oscar E. Berninghaus, Frieda Lawrence, Dorothy Brett, Andrew Dasburg, Frank Waters, and Spud Johnson.

In 1962, Helen gave the family’s home and furnishings as a gift to the community of Taos and the Kit Carson Historic Museums (now the Taos Historic Museums). The museum celebrates the lives and art of Ernest L. Blumenschein, Mary Shepherd Greene Blumenschein and Helen. It also commemorates the formation of the Taos Society of Artists and the establishing of Taos as a world-renowned art colony.

Helen Blumenschein’s work was exhibited extensively during her lifetime, with shows in many esteemed institutions, including the New York World’s Fair, the National Academy of Design, the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Carnegie Institute, and the Paris Salon. To this day, Helen’s works can be seen in the permanent collections of the Cincinnati Art Museum Association, the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, the Newark Public Library, and the Carnegie Institute.

Includes bibliography and map of the Taos Valley and vicinity.


Softcover:
8 1/2 x 8 1/2
ISBN: 978-0-913270-04-2
68 pp.,$18.95


TAOS
A Pictorial Guide for Travelers
By Michael Butler

With its twisting narrow streets, lacking the familiar grid pattern, it can be difficult for travelers to find their way through Taos, New Mexico. This book is the answer to the traveler’s dilemma. With a map and color photographs included, this guidebook will enable travelers to successfully find twenty-four sites in and around Taos, including museums, historic homes, and natural wonders. Some sites tucked away on isolated side streets can easily be missed without this guide. Travelers can now find their way to Taos Pueblo, home to native inhabitants since about the year 1350, and to St. Francis of Assisi Church in Ranchos de Taos, the famous church painted by Georgia O’Keeffe and photographed by Ansel Adams. With a short history of each site included, travelers will gain an appreciation of all the ancient community of Taos has to offer.

Michael Butler has been writing about New Mexico and Colorado since his retirement as Administrative Manager for the Denver Parks and Recreation Department. He has a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from the University of Nebraska, specializing in geography and history. This has enabled him to research, write and lecture about the places he loves. He has written five books for Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America” series including Around The Spanish Peaks; Great Sand Dunes National Park; Southern Colorado-O.T. Davis Collection; Littleton; and High Road to Taos. He has lived in Taos, and currently resides in Santa Fe.


Softcover:
8 1/2 x 8 1/2 Illustrated, Color
ISBN: 978-1-63293-264-8
64 pp.,$16.95


THE TAOS CRESCENT
Poems
By Phillips Kloss

Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644

In this collection of poetry and prose, Phillips Koss portrays Taos, New Mexico, in light of its land and inhabitants. From the geology of mountain and desert to the wry quirks of human nature, Kloss is vivid in his accounts of this northern New Mexico hideaway. His reminiscences of the rural communities of the Taos valley are sharp and focused. His portraits of the Taos artists are sharper still.

Phillips Kloss was born in Webster Groves, Missouri in 1902. He moved to New Mexico in 1916 where he worked on his brother’s ranch, later graduating from the University of California at Berkeley in 1925. Once a reporter for the San Francisco Bulletin, he married the artist/etcher Alice Geneva Glasier (Gene Kloss) and moved to Taos, New Mexico in 1927. He is also the author of North Star, Rainbow Obsidian, The Great Kiva, and The Stronghold, all from Sunstone Press.

Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=NRCiAQAACAAJ&dq=9780865341654

Hardcover:
5 1/2 X 8 1/2
ISBN: 978-0-86534-165-4
64 pp.,$22.95

Softcover:
5 1/1 x 8 1/2
ISBN: 978-1-63293-150-4
64 pp.,$16.95


THE TAOS GUIDE
The Best Way to Get to Know this Famous New Mexico Resort
By Kathryn Johnson

Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644

The name “Taos” belongs to three separate communities: San Geronimo de Taos, or the Taos Pueblo and the oldest of the three; Ranchos de Taos, the old Indian farming center; and Don Fernando de Taos, the old Spanish town. The latter is what is most often referred to as simply Taos. Taos, old and new, is a magical blend of cultures and traditions. The people are diverse and so are their arts and recreation. However, the most diverse of all is the beauty of the land itself. This book celebrates and explains the many moods of Taos, New Mexico. It is both a guide and an appreciation of a very special American town.

Kathryn Johnson has explored Taos and shows the reader what to do and how best to do it. You’ll find listings of restaurants, hotels, ski areas, museums and much more. The author also shares her extensive knowledge of the background and history of this most intriguing city. Good for all seasons, it is complete with photographs by Johnson to help you see what you’re going to see before you see it.

Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=afktAAAACAAJ&dq=9780865340268

Softcover:
5 1/2 x 8 1/2
ISBN: 978-0-86534-026-8
64 pp.,$6.95


TAOS INDIANS
Facsimile of Original 1925 Edition
By Blanche Chloe Grant

Stories of the history and culture of the Taos Indians in New Mexico with a new Foreword by Marcia Muth.

One of the oldest Native American settlements in the United States is the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico. After the Mexican War ended in 1848 there was increased interest in the Taos Indians who were now part of the new Territory under American rule. Anthropologists and historians came to the area to study and when possible to record what they heard and saw. The Taos Indians were, however, often reluctant to share information with strangers. They wanted to be able to maintain their traditional way of life. Some people that they knew and trusted were welcome to hear the stories of their history and culture. Blanche Grant, who made her home in Taos, was one of those friends they knew that would tell the true stories. She also reminded them that the written word would be a source of information for their descendants. While the language and expressions that were used by Grant might not fall well upon the ears of the present reader, her account is an important historical document and an accurate telling things as they were when she wrote this book in 1925.

Blanche Chloe Grant was born in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1874 and died in Taos, New Mexico in 1948. A graduate of Vassar College, she also had studied art at the Art League in New York City and attended other art schools. She continued her successful art career in painting throughout her life but began a second career as a writer after moving to Taos in 1920. She began to research the history of Taos and the Southwest and the people who were part of that history. Grant wanted to make that history readily accessible to her contemporaries, so she wrote her books all based on the facts she had uncovered in her research into the past. She is also the author of When Old Trails Were New and Doña Lona (based on the life of the famous gambling queen, María Gertrudis Barceló, better known as Doña Tules), both from Sunstone Press.

Sample Chapter
Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=DTzXV8C1JOcC

Hardcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-1-63293-521-2
192 pp.,$34.95

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-605-5
192 pp.,$24.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-515-0
192 pp.,$4.99


TURBULENT TAOS
A History of this "Most Different" New Mexico Town
By Den Galbraith

Illustrated, photographs

See PRAISE FOR THIS BOOK below.

Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644

Revolutions, native conspiracies and subsequent insurrections, filthy mountain men sleeping on the dirt and wrestling with grizzlies, radical priests, belligerent American soldiers, betrayal, violence, early forms of commerce, and several other enthralling accounts are part of this small New Mexican town's history. Complete with illustrations and archived photographs, Turbulent Taos is the author’s groundbreaking examination of Taos’s wild past in its pre to post territorial days. Informative and entertaining, the narrative reads like a boozed-up solitary poet smiling into the calm desert night.

Huddle with the pueblo natives as they consult the spirits of the dead to revolt against the onslaught of Spanish imperialism in 1680. Learn what “The Massacre of 1760” was all about. Who were some of the first Americans to arrive? Who was Kit Carson? Why has Taos always been a hotbed for political turmoil? The author takes the reader on a journey from the vast expanse of early pueblo life to the artist colonies that have flourished since the late 19th century. Everything in between is hell. Men of all color have shed blood on this sacred land that makes one visualize the blood red reflection of the setting sun ricocheting off the intimidating Sangre de Cristo Mountains that shroud Taos.

Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=ZTlf6YPiwMEC

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-038-1
52 pp.,$9.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-046-9
52 pp.,$3.99


WHEN OLD TRAILS WERE NEW
The Story of Taos, New Mexico
By Blanche Chloe Grant

Facsimile of Original 1934 Edition with a New Foreword by Marcia Muth

This story of Taos, New Mexico covers some four centuries of history. It is the story of a village that never gave up despite periods of drought, violence from unfriendly Indians and other hazards of frontier life. At one time, Taos was even the site of a short-lived but bloody rebellion against the United States government. Grant tells this and other fascinating true stories of a settlement that was home to trappers and explorers and later to artists and writers. Among its famous and best-known citizens was the mountain man, Kit Carson.

BLANCHE CHLOE GRANT was born in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1874 and died in Taos, New Mexico in 1948. A graduate of Vassar College, she also had studied art at the Art League in New York City and attended other art schools. She continued her successful art career in painting throughout her life but began a second career as a writer after moving to Taos in 1920 and this brought dramatic changes for her. She first took on the job of editor of the “Taos Valley News” and began her years of research into the history of Taos and the Southwest. This led then to a series of books, many of which were about Taos and the people who lived there. Her art also changed and she painted Native American and Western subjects. Although an active participant in the Taos art scene, she continued to show paintings in New York. Gradually her main interests turned to her writing. Her books included Doña Lona, When Old Trails Were New, Taos Indians and she edited a biography of Kit Carson based on his notes, Kit Carson’s Own Story of His Life, all available again from Sunstone Press.

Sample Chapter
Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=56Rd3k959P8C

Hardcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-1-63293-494-9
420 pp.,$42.95

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-606-2
420 pp.,$32.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-182-4
420 pp.,$5.99


WINTER IN TAOS
By Mabel Dodge Luhan

Voted one of the 100 Best New Mexico Books.

New Foreword by Lynn Cline.

Order from Sunstone: (505) 988-4418

Winter in Taos starkly contrasts Luhan’s memoirs, published in four volumes and inspired by Marcel Proust’s Remembrances of Things Past. They follow her life through three failed marriages, numerous affairs, and ultimately a feeling of “being nobody in myself,” despite years of psychoanalysis and a luxurious lifestyle on two continents among the leading literary, art and intellectual personalities of the day.

Winter in Taos unfolds in an entirely different pattern, uncluttered with noteworthy names and ornate details. With no chapters dividing the narrative, Luhan describes her simple life in Taos, New Mexico, this “new world” she called it, from season to season, following a thread that spools out from her consciousness as if she’s recording her thoughts in a journal. “My pleasure is in being very still and sensing things,” she writes, sharing that pleasure with the reader by describing the joys of adobe rooms warmed in winter by aromatic cedar fires; fragrant in spring with flowers; and scented with homegrown fruits and vegetables being preserved and pickled in summer.

Having wandered the world, Luhan found her home at last in Taos. Winter in Taos celebrates the spiritual connection she established with the “deep living earth” as well as the bonds she forged with Tony Luhan, her “mountain.” This moving tribute to a land and the people who eked a life from it reminds readers that in northern New Mexico, where the seasons can be harshly beautiful, one can bathe in the sunshine until “‘untied are the knots in the heart,’ for there is nothing like the sun for smoothing out all difficulties.”

Born in 1879 to a wealthy Buffalo family, Mabel Dodge Luhan earned fame for her friendships with American and European artists, writers and intellectuals and for her influential salons held in her Italian villa and Greenwich Village apartments. In 1917, weary of society and wary of a world steeped in war, she set down roots in remote Taos, New Mexico, then publicized the tiny town’s inspirational beauty to the world, drawing a steady stream of significant guests to her adobe estate, including artist Georgia O’Keeffe, poet Robinson Jeffers, and authors D.H. Lawrence and Willa Cather. Luhan could be difficult, complex and often cruel, yet she was also generous and supportive, establishing a solid reputation as a patron of the arts and as an author of widely read autobiographies. She died in Taos in 1962.

Sample Chapter
Secure Movie & TV Rights
Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=76R9VFWtcd4C

Hardcover:
6 x 9
ISBN: 978-1-63293-194-8
292 pp.,$29.95

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-593-5
292 pp.,$26.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-137-4
292 pp.,$9.99


 
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