Highwire Moon

An Indian woman from Mexico travels to the U.S. for work. She meets an American and has a child with him. She is deported and has to leave the child behind. Years later the woman returns and tries to find the child, who is also seeking her.The conflicts of culture and the struggles of people to make a living and overcome legal restrictions make the story dramatic. Interesting characters of varying backgounds abound. The harsh landscape of the Southwest, beautifully described, is the stage.The story is suspenseful and remains in the reader's mind. Excellent.

This is a riveting novel of a mother and daughter's search for each other through time, distance and dreams. The book describes in heartbreaking detail the lives of undocumented farm workers, foster children, and others on the margins of our society. But the story is balanced by the presence throughout of the moving spiritual rituals that sustain many of its characters. To read Susan Straight's novels is to enter a world unique in American fiction.

Susan Straight delivers a tremendous novel which deals with a wide range of current social issues. Teenage pregnancy, migrant workers, drug abuse, and the foster care system mix in a surprisingly fast paced page-turner. Buy it, read it, enjoy it.

WOW! I liked Straight's earlier novel, I Been in Sorrow's Kitchen, so I bought this right away when I saw it on the shelf. It's the story of Serafina, an indigenious Mexican woman, and Elvia, the half-American daughter she was forced to leave behind during an immigration raid. The two spend years searching for each other throught Mexico and Southern California. Straight does a great job of portraying the region's beauty and heartbreak. The characters are so flawed, yet so compelling, and the pacing and suspense makes this hard to put down. Warning, though: really packs an emotional whallop. A must for mothers and Steinbeck-lovers. Why hasn't Oprah picked this yet?

Susan Straight's novels based in her imaginary Rio Seco have provided some of the best portraits and stories of contemporary life on the edge. Her latest novel is no disappointment. I found Highwire Moon to be a compelling, riveting read, especially in terms of her insights into the lives of today's immigrants from Mexico. Read it, and pass it on!