La Ranfla and Other New Mexico Stories

Martha Egan

Martha Egan's collection of seven short stories transcends the limits of regionalism. In "Carnales," a grudge lasting generations ends with a standoff in a village cemetery. The unruly dog in "Mutt" helps a young silversmith learn to stand her ground. In "Time Circles" a trip to a ceremonial in Navajo Country encourages a woman to open both a new business and her heart. The veterinarian in "Guapo" rescues a dog that changes her life forever. A pair of newly arrived hippies learn to play by New Mexico's rules in "La Ranfla." A broken down MGB strands a college boy in a border town in "Granny," where local life proves to be unexpectedly seductive.

"In La Ranfla, Martha Egan captures the quirkiness of Northern New Mexico in a series of colorfully drawn short stories rich with wonderfully authentic characters. It’s a fine, fine ride."--Anne Hillerman, author of Santa Fe Flavors and Hillerman's Landscape: On the Road with an American Legend

"Short stories have the ability to capture a restless reader, too busy to commit to the full-time needs of the novel, if they are worthy. And worthy is what Martha Egan has created in La Ranfla and Other New Mexico Stories....Egan successfully brings the reader into her land of flavor and fullness, a place that resonates long after we pull into our own driveways, La Ranfla's exhaust trailing like memory."--Sacramento Book Review

Martha Egan began to write fiction in response to her experiences as a Latin American folk art dealer attempting to cope with the U.S. Customs service. Her nonfiction books are Milagros: Votive Offerings from the Americas and Relicarios: Devotional Miniatures from the Americas. Egan owns Pachamama, a folk art gallery in Santa Fe.

Papalote Press

5 x 8 214 pages