Tears of the Mountain (review)

John Addiego's novel takes place in two historical periods, both in the nineteenth century, and alternates between them, following a recurring set of characters. In each period, the story focuses on Jeremiah, who travels with his family from Missouri to California in 1845 and struggles to untangle himself from an accusation of murder in 1876. Along the way to California, Jeremiah also meets Lucinda, his eventual wife, as well as his rival for her attention, William. The lives of these three characters, in addition to a charismatic teacher, Professor Applewood, intertwine in the first narrative and collide in the second.

The part of the story that treats the younger Jeremiah actually covers a longer period of time, from 1845 to 1867, while the story that treats the older Jeremiah spans a single day. These alternating chapters are joined by a lone sentence that blends the last phrase of the prior chapter with the first phrase of the subsequent. Because of these techniques, the book becomes something of a hybrid, borrowing both from modernist and postmodernist traditions. While this kind of writing isn't often associated with "western" literature, there have been successful examples of unusual structures and historical characters in western settings, such as Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose (1972).

Addiego's book, in part because of the times, people, and places treated, recreates familiar aspects of California history. Perhaps due to the novel's structure (describing over twenty years in one narrative and one day in the other), the plot tends to cover too much material in the earlier period and too little in the later. In the former, Jeremiah experiences so many wellknown events that often the book rushes through individual scenes. Just the story of Jeremiah on the emigrant trail would have been sufficient to fill the entire novel, yet the narrative follows him all the way to the Civil War, including Bear Flag skirmishes, grizzly attacks, the US-Mexican War, the Gold Rush, a previous marriage, and even time on a hide ship. On the other hand, the narrative that follows Jeremiah through a particular day has the opposite problem: it covers too little ground and becomes sluggish. Action tends to increase as this story moves toward the end of the day, but it sometimes feels like a series of historical set pieces without any urgency driving the characters forward. When the crisis finally emerges, the book veers toward melodrama.

Those who enjoy California history and historical fiction might appreciate the book's broad canvas and appearances by figures such as Fremont and Vallejo. There are also moments of memorable description, such as the bather in a hot spring with a "face red as a cooked crab" (61). But there aren't enough to carry the book. Furthermore, despite its design, the book remains fairly conventional in execution. The characters who receive the most attention are Euro-Americans, and most characters, including Native Americans and Californios, behave according to expectations. Those looking for new perspectives on, or textured renderings of, nineteenth-century California will likely be disappointed.