'Street of Too Many Stories’

“Here’s to all literature, the power of women’s stories and our ancestors all those women who have come before our mothers.” – Author Denise Chávez

Author Denise Chávez said if there are running motifs in her work, and there are many, they are about mercy, forgiveness, healing of families and looking at the people in our lives that have served us.

In her new book, “Street of Too Many Stories,” Chávez has woven the lives of four families intersecting in the New Mexican town Encantada and living on Encantada Street.

“So Encantada Street is about the intersection and healing of families,” she said. “And about the people that help serve them – the gardeners; Pasajero, a dog; and Sammy, a cat.”

For a hint at the stories inside, the cover of the book holds some powerful images, Chávez said. From “the wedding dress,” to “the piñata,” and even the dog and the cat can be found there.

“Initially I thought the streets are old and battered,” she said. “If you are driving down the streets, they are cracked. You look at the mountains. There is something about the image.”

People will see familiar pieces of our lives in the cover, but while they may look like the Organ Mountains, Chávez said, “It’s the mountains in the book, but its reminiscent of where we come from because if you drive around here you will see the power of the mountains and of the neighborhoods.”

The characters, too, are reflective of the people around us. For example, one of the characters in the book lives shuttered in her house. She’s from Mexico, never learned English, never learned how to drive, never bought groceries. Her husband did everything.

“This is reminiscent of my aunt, who never drove, never bought groceries, never did anything herself,” Chávez said. “My uncle did everything for her. She sewed, she had a life with her children, she was shuttered.”

Chávez said she worked on her first novel, “Face of an Angel,” at 600 pages, for seven years. Now, she worked on “Street of Too Many Stories” for seven years and it is 163 pages.

“I think as writers we become more concise, more distilled, more mature,” she said. “I’m older and it’s interesting to see the growth.”

She thinks of the process as an evolution of consciousness, she said.

“I really feel this book is a hard book, but it’s a powerful and merciful book,” she said. “You have this street, these families, but sometimes the street has a voice too. It speaks. It remembers when it was in the antediluvian days, when all of this was under water and this was an ocean. It remembers when the Camino Real was here and the carts were going through.”

But also sometimes, Chávez said, the ancestors will come out from that place wherever they live and look in the houses to see how the people are doing, checking in on them.

She said there is something of magical realism in this book, but it’s also very much a border story. The whole story is told in the introduction itself – but not really.

“It’s not the real story because you really have to go to the voice,” she said. “This book is an opera of sounds and words. It’s very theatrical.”

She can see it done as an oral theatrical piece because it features voices of the different people: the elderly man and his rented hospital bed; the young people struggling; even the cat has a story.

“It’s voice-driven and character-driven, which I really think is my strength,” Chávez said. “I think my drama background really helped with voice. There are a lot of interesting characters.”

Starting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29, a book launch event takes place at Nopalitos Restaurant, 310 S. Mesquite Street, where Chávez will read from and discuss “Street of Too Many Stories.” After the reading, the event becomes a pachanga party as everyone is invited to the patio for taquitos, wine and cookies.

Noting that the restaurant formerly housed a Baptist church she said, “It’s a great honor for me to read in a place of service a book that deals with women and families and what service is about.”

Before the official event, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on May 29, Chávez and her husband, Daniel Zolinsky, invite everyone to an open house at their bookstore, Casa Camino Real (one street east of the bookstore, as the crow flies, from the restaurant at 314 South Tornillo Street) for art sales, half-price books, coffee and more.

The book is available at Casa Camino Real Bookstore and other book platforms, including Conocimientos Press at ConocimientosPressLLC.com.

More book signings and readings are planned in Las Cruces, the area, and throughout the state. More information is available from Chávez at comezon09@comcast.net or 575-649-9173.