The Gates of the Alamo

The Alamo is one of those American legends that will probably never die. Harrigan's superbly written fictional account presents this saga through the lives of three fictitious characters: Mary Mott, a widow and innkeeper; her teenaged son, Terrell; and a naturalist named Edmund McGowan. We see them interact with Crockett, Bowie, Travis, Austin, and Houston at various places in Texas and the City of Mexico. Add to this a number of fictitious and historic Mexican characters, and we have a first-rate story. George Guidall's performance of this long work is admirable. His characterizations are all consistent and entirely convincing. The narrative sections flow smoothly. David Crockett is an especially noteworthy treat, one of the most memorable characters this reviewer has heard in a long time. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

Starred review from January 31, 2000
Settling his fictional cast firmly at the heart of 19th-century Texas, novelist Harrigan (Jacob's Well) retells the story of the Alamo with consummate skill, weaving a wealth of historical detail into a tight, moving human drama. Mary Mott, honest widow and frontier innkeeper near the Gulf Coast; her 16-year-old son, Terrell; an itinerant, fiercely independent botanist named Edmund McGowan; and a small collection of soldiers in Santa Anna's army are among those whose lives are disrupted as factions within the rebellious Mexican state unite in the common cause of independence. In a serpentine plot that never runs dull, Harrigan traces the growing war fever, beginning in 1835, neatly avoiding political debate by presenting the various arguments plainly from each point of view. When Terrell runs away after an emotionally disturbed girl, who is pregnant with his child, commits suicide, his mother and McGowan follow after him. All three wind up in the Alamo and are caught in the futile and ill-conceived 1836 battle on the outskirts of San Antonio de B xar. Faced with the formidable chore of handling such monumental legends as William Travis, James Bowie, David Crockett, Sam Houston and, of course, Santa Anna, Harrigan takes a judicious middle path, treating them respectfully but not smoothing over their flaws. Strict traditionalists may bridle at the deft ease with which Harrigan manipulates the bloody siege to allow a sentimental conclusion to his novel, and exacting historians may note his glossing of Mexican tactics in the final storming of the old mission, though the gore and guts of 19th-century combat are faithfully rendered. Yet Harrigan has crafted a compulsively readable historical drama on a grand scale, peopled with highly believable frontier personalities--Mexican as well as American--and suffused with period authenticity. 100,000 first printing; 11-city author tour.

In 1911, Terrell Mott is honored by the citizens of San Antonio as the last survivor of the Alamo. As the parade progresses, Terrell remembers those terrifying days when war between the Texas colonists, Comanche Indians, and Mexico erupted at the Alamo, resulting in freedom for Texas. Henry Leyva skillfully creates the lives of Terrell; his courageous mother, Mary Mott; their friend and unlikely hero, Edmund McGowan, a botanist, in Mexican Texas. Leyva seamlessly slips from English to Spanish and back again while following the action and tension of the plot. The bloody war scenes leave nothing to the imagination, and Leyva is there every step of the way, illuminating the mythic battle. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine