The youngest of four children, Steve Brown was born in the 1940’s and grew up on
a cattle ranch in the Sonoran Desert. In 2007 Steve was struck by a major physical
disability that led to a long hospitalization, followed by an extended recovery period.
These stories emerged during his recovery process.
All characters are fictional and any resemblance to real persons living or dead is
purely coincidental.
Set in the American Southwest throughout the second half of the twentieth century,
this collection of short stories introduces two ranch families:
Tacho the horseman and his wife Sofia, a beekeeper, trace their families’ heritage
to the time of New Spain;
Sara escapes the turmoil of the eastern cities to join her husband, the narrator
of these stories, whose ancestors came to the desert with the railroad soon after
the Gadsden Purchase;
Their children, Anita and Nico;Andrea and Linnaeus; born to ranch life.
In a high desert landscape as unforgiving as it is beautiful, these families work
to build a life and make a living even as they wrestle with the dilemmas of race,
gender and politics that characterized America in the second half of the 20th Century.
Sol y Sombra chronicles their joys and sorrows as they seek harmony with the desert
and one another. Joined by occasional lawmen, a few fancy women, cowboys good and
bad and dudes from the cities, theirs is a story of hard work seasoned with trust,
loyalty and compassion.
Sol y Sombra recalls life in the Sonoran Desert before the days of cell phones and
GPS’s, when survival depended on skill with horses and guns, strong families and
respect for the land.