Roots in Adobe

To readers of Dorothy Pillsbury’s books, the residents of Tenorio Flat in Santa Fe are old friends. The forty sketches that make up this volume, first published in 1959, reintroduce the author’s Spanish-American, Indian, and Anglo neighbors, describing their ingenuity in adapting to the modern ways of life that have come eyen to tradition-steeped Santa Fe.

Roots in Adobe brings us the further adventures of the delightful Apodaca family. We see Mrs. Apodaca as she comes to grips with new-fangled voting machines and screw-back earrings, and we watch her youngest daughter, Carmencita, grow up with her muy guapo boyfriends, who are the joy and despair of the neighborhood. Cousin Canuto, another old acquaintance, campaigns to restore la atmósfera to Old Santa Fe, with surprising results.

Also a part of life in Tenorio Flat are Mrs. Pillsbury’s Anglo, and Indian friends. One of the most charming is the vigorous Indian Great-Grandmother, whose favorite pastime is watching baseball games between Pueblo teams.

These sketches, says the Christian Science Monitor, show us ‘an aspect of life where money and time count for little, but love and laughter a great deal.’