Sky is Half the World: The Spirit Bear and Other Stories

By Craig Deutsche

The Antiem Valley is a tiny, fictional community, hidden between low mountain ranges and covered by an immense sky. Hot in summer and cold in winter, its citizens are hardy farming and ranching families of California's early 20th century. They built their school, their homes, and their lives beyond the edges of a growing America. In spite of their isolation, these are people we all know.There are na?ve children as well as adolescents in rebellion. There are several young men and women who left the Valley to chase dreams while others remained home working alongside their elders. Among the elders we find a tyrannical preacher dominating his flock and then a burned-out FBI agent returning to his childhood home. Parents fret over grown daughters who have become lost souls in distant cities while other families feud over fence boundaries. Some of these persons are immigrants, and one story tells of the bittersweet love between an older Lazaro Estrada and much younger and childlike Angela. Vaqueros herded cattle and told campfire stories of adventures, murders, and ghosts. And there are also accounts of strong men and women who worked and survived under difficult conditions. Although modest in size, the Antiem Valley is nevertheless a reflection of the times and people of our country. The events of this book occur in a wide landscape and span years of both prosperity and drought.The great and constant presence in the lives of these people is the wide sky overhead. Sunrises, sunsets, thunderstorms, and starry nights are a part of the people living there. Under this huge umbrella, the individual actors are small, but they are an integral part of the much greater natural world in which they live.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1983970565
• ISBN13: 9781983970566
• Release Date: November 2018
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 6.0"