Return to Abo

by Sharon Niederman

Called home to a funeral in Monte Alto, a small ranching community in New Mexico, journalist Maggie Chilton finds herself face to face with everything she left behind when she graduated from high school. Against the harsh beauty of the landscape and the memories it holds, three generations of women--Maggie, her mother, and her teenage daughter--struggle to make peace with each other and the land they love.
"What a read! Sharon Niederman has a real genius for illuminating the lives of individuals seeking one last shot at redemption in a landscape that demands too much. . . . Niederman has given us a global tale, one of place and displacement, where love and hope somehow persist whenever people dare to call a place home."--Demetria Martinez, author of "Mother Tongue"
"A realistic and convincing novel. Sharon Niederman portrays the true spirit and tenacity of the women of the rural Southwest."--Linda Davis, CS Ranch, Cimarron, New Mexico
"I don't think I've ever read anything so real about New Mexico. Niederman gets the land, the people, the talk, the issues, the places and how they look and smell and how warm and true they are. Her powers of observation and her deep empathy and love of New Mexico ring true."--V. B. Price, author of "The Oddity"

303 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 2005

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satisfying read about the women (and men) who make their home in a small ranching community in rural New Mexico. The author expertly sets the tone and atmosphere of this part of the world while weaving a touching story about family, loyalty, landscape, and love. An enjoyable read!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being familiar with the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument and Mouintaire, New Mexico increased my enjoyment of this book. The author relates realistic facts, descriptions of the locale and issues of small town NM.

[Jody · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was all right, not outstanding. I enjoyed the local New Mexico setting and the general plot. Some characters and scenes would have benefited from more development and fleshing out.

[Pegi Ferrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 with a bump for local color. Some gaps in the story along with some lovely descriptive phrases and passages.

[Story Circle Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a novel about interesting women set in a starkly beautiful part of rural New Mexico, Niederman's first novel won't disappoint. It's another journey story: Maggie, who grew up on a hard scrabble ranch in central New Mexico, the girl who made good as a journalist in faraway San Francisco and then lost heart for her work and ultimately, her stellar job, comes home for the funeral of her mother's ranch foreman, Elias, the father figure of her childhood. Maggie ends up staying to care for her mother (who of course does not want Maggie's help) and for the ranch itself.

The crackling energy of the characters makes Return to Abo a good read: Maggie's punk and multiply pierced teenage daughter, who arrives after being kicked out of the prep school her father enrolled her in; Maggie's lost high-school love, the Mayor of the small town; and the wonderfully eccentric and resilient collection of old ladies who form Maggie's mother's bridge group; and the spare and entrancing New Mexico landscape itself.

by Susan J. Tweit
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women