Rolando Hinojosa (1929–2022)

This short novel, first published in 1983, is really a series of anecdotes and vignettes describing the Texas Mexicano community in fictional Belken County, right on the border with Mexico in the Rio Grande Valley. In these snapshots, the border between the two countries is portrayed as more of a state of mind than a physical border, and some of the families here have been on the Texas side of the line since before there was a Texas. The writing is delightful, and many of the same stories pop up several times, but told from different perspectives. There is much humor, some gentle, some more broad. The sparse interactions these characters have with their Anglo Texas neighbors across the tracks (and in institutions of power, like the courthouse), reminded me at times of the interactions that the shtetl Jews have with their Russian and Polish neighbors in the writing of authors like Singer and Alechem. Some of the humor is reminiscent (although not strictly analogous) to those writers, as well. At any rate, The Valley reads quickly (and is quite short) and feels breezy, yet is ultimately revealing and thought provoking. Plus, I learned some interesting things about the history of the Texas/Mexican community.… (mere)