The Turquoise Ledge

August 23, 2010
Novelist, essayist, and poet Silko (Gardens in the Dunes) find in her deeply meditative memoir-cum-journal an exquisite harmony between the native ways of her ancestors and the cycle of nature that unfolds in the high desert of Arizona where she has lived for 30 years. Practicing speed walking over the steep trails of the Tucson Mountains, Silko gained an un-self-conscious state in which she observed the changes in nature and spied turquoise, an important signifier of water and rain for the indigenous peoples of the area. Stories of her growing up in the pueblo of the Laguna tribe in southeast New Mexico alternate with her daily reflections living among the companionable rattlers, macaws, pack rats, and grasshoppers: born in 1948 of mixed parents, Silko was early on made aware of the rich heritage of the elders such as in the grinding songs of the old women, yet she also felt the shame of the pueblo people in the loss of their land to the American government and the Indian slave trade. The bulk of her beautifully composed memoir takes place at her Tucson ranch, where she records the rhythms of drought and rain, and recognizes in the visitations of animals and spirits she calls "Star Beings" a fluid and delicate life's balance between human and nature.

Starred review from September 1, 2010
The turquoise stones Silko finds in the Tucson Mountains near her home embody the story of the land and her own complex heritage. A MacArthur fellow, Silko drew on her Laguna Pueblo, Cherokee, Mexican, and European ancestry in her previous books, including her seminal novels Ceremony (1978) and Gardens in the Dunes (1999). She digs even deeper in this richly veined, dramatic, and mysterious self-portrait, telling gripping stories of suffering and wisdom from each branch of her complex family tree that reveal the consequences of racism, the war against Native Americans, and the abuse of nature, including shocking glimpses into the Indian slave trade and the dire effects of the atomic bomb tests and uranium mining. Vivid portraits of her grandmothers and mother are matched by amazing tales of the animal members of Silkos extended family, from horses and dogs to macaws and rattlesnakes. Mesmerizing descriptions of desert and drought, musings over the significance of turquoise, concern over environmental destruction, harrowing personal struggles, and haunting revelations of spiritual forces converge in a provocative and numinous memoir that backs Silkos resounding perception that in the Americas, the sacred surrounds us, no matter how damaged or changed a place may appear to be.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)