MOUNTAINS OF THE BLUE STONE
A Contemporary Novel of Redemption
“A man stages his death to escape his life and a marriage-gone-stale, and in the process has a serious run-in with a mountain lion. High in the New Mexico mountains, he is found and taken to a tiny Hispanic village where brujas nurse him back to life in all its dimensions. There, in a place where secrets are protected, he is allowed to heal his body and soul. He discovers his true gifts, re-enters life, and finds a new sense of purpose. A beautifully crafted, life-affirming resurrection story with unforgettable characters, Cave has given us that sense of mystery that is New Mexico.”
—Michelle Miller Allen, “Great Reads,” New Mexico Woman
“Fleeing his plush decaying world and a marriage gone stale, Drake Cavanaugh is badly injured while staging his own death. Found unconscious, he is carried to the tiny Hispanic village of Descanso, tucked away in the high and remote mountains of New Mexico. Here he begins a physical, metaphysical, and intellectual recovery. He becomes increasingly part of a strange world of saints and witches, ancient gods and murder, mysticism and miracles. And it is here that he discovers a startling truth, though not the one he seeks. Dorothy Cave’s Mountains of the Blue Stone is smoothly written and deeply engaging. A great and memorable read!”
—The Midwest Book Review
“From Sunstone Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico, comes a very interesting story by Dorothy Cave, Mountains of the Blue Stone. While trying to stage his own death to escape a life he no longer wants to live, the main character is, instead, badly injured and taken to a remote Hispanic village in the New Mexican mountains. There he encounters a strange, new world of ancient gods and mysticism, achieving a physical, metaphysical, and intellectual cure. This may well sound rather soppy, but the author brings an extensive background in the area and in life to this story, infusing it with a real talent that will draw you into this world. This is an excellent novel that deserves wide attention.”
—Alan Caruba, Bookviews
“Drake Cavanaugh, an unhappy lawyer in a miserable life, stumbles across Descanso, a tiny Hispanic village set in the high and remote mountains of New Mexico. Here, he begins to see the true meaning of happiness and the essence of life. It is a strange world of saints and witches, completely alien but oddly familiar to him. He must overcome many obstacles in order to find the truth that he seeks. Dorothy Cave uses her extensive experience and travel of New Mexico to show the world the beauty she has discovered. She skillfully spins a story rich with cultural and linguistic details. She expertly captures the innocence of small town life. Cave brings Descanso alive with her vivid description of its residents and their customs. By the end of the novel, the reader dreams of giving up the hustle and bustle of today’s world and going back to ‘that forgotten pocket of God’s overall,’ where nothing is too important and everything can wait until mañana.”
—W. David Laird, Books of the Southwest
“Mountains of the Blue Stone is New Mexico author Dorothy Cave’s first novel and her third book. Her first two nonfiction books, Beyond Courage and Four Trails to Valor, garnered awards and raves. This time around Cave creates a world of almost timeless and mystic New Mexican beauty. Cave tells the tale of one man’s journey, his path to survival and enlightenment after his ‘death’ in a world gone mad. Drake Cavanaugh has an enviable life. He is a successful lawyer in a firm he owns with friends. He has a lovely home and is married to the beautiful and prominent Leona. The question becomes… Why does a man who has so much plot his own death and withdraw half a million dollars from the bank?
“While on an annual elk hunting trip with two friends, Drake Cavanaugh disappears, apparently killed after a struggle with a mountain lion. Meanwhile, a badly injured man, Carlos, is brought to Descanso. Descanso, which means resting place in Spanish, is a fictional village in northern New Mexico where the people live in the ‘old way.’ It is here that Carlos is nursed back to health by Soledad and her grandmother, Teresita. Carlos’ injuries are severe, and it takes the great skills of old Teresita as a ‘curandera’ to save his life. Others in Descanso are not as generous and consider Teresita a ‘bruja,’ a witch, and give her a wide berth when passing her in the streets of the little village. Even Soledad is a little afraid of her grandmother’s mysterious ways, but continues to learn the healing ways of the old ones.
“As Carlos heals and begins to move around the village, he meets his new neighbors and learns about this world that exists apart from the one he has known in the other New Mexico. There he meets Francisco, a carver of santos, who lives with a dark secret, and Padre Lorenzo, Father Andreas, Doña Rosalia and Alarico Vicente, a survivor of Bataan. Carlos moves into a rented house in Descanso and begins to clean and fix it up, making his own retreat where he can observe and draw the villagers. Carlos travels around talking to the people and drawing them in their daily routines.
“He offers a room to Father Andreas when he flies into the village in his Super Cub plane for his regular visits. They engage in lively debates and talk about the people, whose lives Andreas wishes to change. All the while Padre Lorenzo embraces the people, including their differences, especially those of the Penitentes, which drives Father Andreas to despair.
“Soon nine years have passed and Carlos is an accepted member of the little community. Then change comes, even to little out-of-the-way Descanso. As events unfold, some people evolve while others remain the same. The change has forced Carlos to leave the village, but it has helped him on his journey of discovery. Carlos leaves one mountain village in search of another in his spiritual and mystical quest.
“In this novel, Cave has woven a fascinating look at the past with a steely-eyed look at the present and a hopeful look to the future. At the end of the novel, the story continues as Drake resolves the life he abandoned with the one he has created with his rebirth. Cave has created a fascinating world, rich in the history of New Mexico and the people who populate her. It is worthy study which leads to introspection and speculation on the state of the state.”
—Leslie Doran, Farmington Daily Times
“Cavanaugh, the main character in Roswell writer Dorothy Cave’s first novel, Mountains of the Blue Stone, is disenchanted with life in the Land of Enchantment. Despite ‘a good-looking wife … no bitchier than most,’ a successful career and a beautiful home, Cavanaugh feels unfulfilled. Cavanaugh’s malaise doesn’t last, though. On a hunting trip with some buddies, he falls off a cliff and is presumed dead. He’s found by a man named Julian who comes from a village called Descanso, which isn’t on any map. Descanso is named after the impromptu places where old-time funeral processions would stop to rest.
“His stay in the village marks a transition for Cavanaugh. It’s where he embarks on a second life—one steeped in Hispanic New Mexican history—where parish church bells ring ‘pink-toned’ at dawn. Here, Cave skillfully captures much of New Mexico’s historic Hispanic mystique. She notes the nearby Penitente morada where zealous Catholic men whip themselves to atone for sins, as well as the santo on Cavanaugh’s caregiver’s wall. Cave, who’s written two books before Mountains, both nonfictional accounts of New Mexican soldiers serving during World War II, says, ‘I’m trying to present a picture of the little villages, the little hamlets, the Hispanic leftovers from the 17th century that are rapidly disappearing.’
“Cave, a historian and frequent contributor to New Mexico Magazine, says she’s worked hard to accurately portray life in historic New Mexican villages. For example, she says that before attempting to describe the types of flora and fauna that were used by New Mexican healers, she researched current plant life at similar altitudes in the state. ‘I tried to be demographically correct,’ Cave says. ‘I believe with Chekhov, that the aim of fiction is absolute truth, and you have to stick as close to truth as you can.’
“Cave first explored northern New Mexico’s past as a child accompanying her dad on geologic expeditions. Mountains is a fine read for anyone trying to grasp this state’s elusive, yet enchanting, mystique.”
—Franchesca Stevens, Albuquerque Weekly Alibi
“For those of us who may feel that we have landed ‘accidentally’ in Northern New Mexico, the story of Drake Cavanaugh is particularly insightful. A high-powered lawyer with a proportionate sense of disillusionment, Drake makes off to the mountains for a weekend of male bonding and—unbeknownst to his companions—a search for the back door out of the world he has come to loathe. Fate provides him the freedom he seeks, but in a manner more traumatic and much richer than he could have expected.
“The world he literally falls into is one of magical stones and mysterious atmospheres, of familial tradition and betrayal, of faithful innocence and the encroachment of ‘civilized’ modernity. This land is deftly portrayed for us by Roswell author Dorothy Cave in her new novel, Mountains of the Blue Stone. Cave appears remarkably familiar with the landscape of Northern New Mexico, the gods of river and stone who dwell here, the gente who have lived and died among the mountains and llanos for centuries and the sometimes acrimonious arrival of self-serving novices.
“Enter Drake Cavanaugh. Carlos, as he becomes known among those who resurrect him, finds himself in Descanso, which although fictitious in name is in other respects an authentic Hispanic village. There, he is nursed to health by the local bruja and her apprentice, Soledad. All too soon, Carlos awakens to a life in which he can no longer be the powerfully active force he once was. His life now consists of absorbing the sun within his mending bones, learning to communicate in a tongue not his own, documenting the world around him with lines on paper and listening to the day-to-day tales of the folks around him with an ever-opening heart.
“Like the web of cultures, deities and traditions that compose the Land of Enchantment, Mountains of the Blue Stone is told in fragments, as a time line shift from the long past. In a series of vignettes that are woven together, we learn of the sacred campana of Descanso’s church as it travels its tortuous trail from Spain and of the quiet, timeless span of years during which Carlos collects his thoughts and the dreams of others. Finally we arrive in the present, where Carlos returns to his own world and begins the daunting task of reclaiming his original identity.
“As we wind along the path up this blue mountain, we encounter such characters as Teresita, a far-seeing witch who begins her spiritual journey as a defense against those who view her as different. We also meet the local santero, Francisco. A humble and enchanting man, the santero has spent a lifetime learning to listen to raw logs and heed their desire to become saints. The priest, Padre Lorenzo, wheezes and sniffles his way among the parishioners, dispensing comfort and guidance, before performing one last Easter miracle. There’s also Julian, an eager youth caught between two worlds, who ventures to Taos to serenade turistas with his voice and guitar. Last, but never least, we meet Soledad, apprentice to Teresita, who chooses to practice her craft with her right hand. In the high cirque of peaks of El Rincon, Soledad completes Drake’s recuperation. It is within this mountain stronghold that a blue stone returns to its original source of power.
“Mountains of the Blue Stone is an exploration into the many levels of human thought and relationship. At once magical and spiritual, visual and esthetic, intellectual and philosophical, each of its stories form the basis of a tale well told. It is a tale that many of us would do well to consider, for there are many reflections of it in our own lives. Perhaps somewhere, not far from here, Descanso still lies quietly resting, unsullied by the march of progress; a place where gods and saints and people commingle to weave the fabric of a rich and generous life.”
—Mary Alden, The Taos News
“In Mountains of the Blue Stone, Dorothy Cave takes readers on a delightful journey along the border of modern day New Mexico and the pueblos reminiscent of New Mexico’s past. The protagonist, Drake Cavanaugh, is a disgruntled lawyer who becomes frustrated with life as he approaches a sort of mid-life crisis. One morning, while on a hunting trip with friends, he is attacked by a mountain lion and disappears.
“He finds himself in the town of Descanso, a Hispanic village modeled after many of the small towns which dot the mountains of New Mexico. One of the villagers takes him there after he is found bleeding to death at the base of a cliff. Cavanaugh finds refuge in Descanso for six years as he searches for the remedy to mend his soul long after the poultices applied by the curandera—folk-medicine healer—have cured his body. The story line of the book weaves in and out of this ancient world as Cavanaugh seeks out secrets lost to civilization.
“Cave said she hopes her novel helps readers find a better appreciation for these little mountain villages. ‘These little villages are part of New Mexico and are part of our heritage,’ she said. ‘Whether you are Hispanic or not, they are part of our history and I hate to see them just being wiped out. I think it is sad to lose a way of life that has been so rich and I think we are losing them because of modernism and industry.’
“Cave became familiar with these villages, which Descanso is modeled after, as a young girl who spent her childhood exploring the mountains of northern New Mexico with her geologist father. That is where she found her inspiration for not only the village, but the colorful characters found within it. ‘I’ve always loved the people. These are people who are realists, they are close to the earth, they are real people and I’ve always love them,’ Cave said of the village people she has met over the years.
“She also spent a great deal of her time researching the details for her novel. Not only did she research the book’s larger themes such as witchcraft and la hermandad, she also researched many of the fine details such as the flora and fauna of the village. These details add to the novel and make it a delight to read. The reader struggles along with Cavanaugh and the other characters as they attempt to reconcile tradition with modernization.
“Cave has traveled widely, danced with the Atlanta Ballet, acted and taught. She is the author of two histories, Beyond Courage, which won the New Mexico Presswomen’s Award, and Four Trails to Valor.”
—Tammy Sanner, Roswell Daily Record