The Flight of the Deer

by Gilbert Veliz

Overview

Ricardo liked to say he was 100 percent American, and then he discovers his family's past with the country to the South that shares a two-thousand-mile border. It is the Mexican Revolution and its radical aftermath combined with historical events in the United States, which led to the flight of millions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781778390630
Publisher:	Gilbert Veliz Books
Publication date:	01/27/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	310
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Gilbert Veliz was born on February 11, 1937 in Bisbee, Arizona, a small town located close to the Mexican border in southeastern Arizona. He earned his law degree from the University of Arizona Law School in 1961. After graduation, Veliz began his legal career as a deputy county attorney in Santa Cruz County in Nogales. He later worked as a legal aid lawyer and staff member of the original Pima County Public Defender's Office in Tucson. In 1991, Veliz joined the newly established Federal Public Defender's office also in Tucson. Subsequently, he served as Chief Magistrate for the City of Tucson and was later appointed in 1976 to the Superior Court by Governor Raul Castro, where he worked until retirement. He was an active member of the Arizona legal community and was involved in various civic organizations. His wife Bertie, five children and ten grandchildren all live in Tucson.

Editorial Reviews

2023-11-22
A freelance photographer delves into Mexico’s history and his own ancestral roots in this debut novel.

Ricardo, a 50-something Mexican American,had known Father Reyes during his childhood in Bisbee, Arizona. Now, he’s delivering the recently deceased padre’s personal effects to a woman living in Guadalajara, in order to fulfill Reyes’ request. Unexpectedly, Maria Luisa Castañeda’s conversations with Ricardo turn into rich history lessons, centering on early-20th-century Mexico, a time when revolutionaries led three separate armies against one another. Several of their leaders ultimately became Mexico’s presidents, naming their own successors and igniting a series of bloody battles and assassinations. Ricardo subsequently has encounters with other people, including an elderly man in Sonora who fought in the Mexican Revolution and offers further knowledge about such things as Father Reyes’ relationship with Maria Luisa and Ricardo’s family’s probable link to the revolution. Ricardo also undergoes a process of self-discovery, as his journey makes him feel closer to his Mexican immigrant parents. Veliz’s story boasts a wealth of details on early- to mid-1900s Mexico, related by an engaging cast. Ricardo, however, receives only a modicum of character development; readers don’t even learn that he has a daughter until about three-quarters of the way into the novel. Still, recurring snippets of his storyline breathe life into descriptions of the myriad photographs he sifts through or recalls: “A squadron of airplanes with bicycle thin landing wheels, wooden propellers and single engines wait, on the recently cleared dirt runway, for their orders.” This timely story also brings readers into the modern day, with Mexican immigrants looking for employment in the United States continuing to have trouble crossing the border.

A riveting and enlightening novel of a country’s momentous past.

Kirkus Reviews