Local books: The shoulders on which we stand
Imagine. A young contemporary San Francisco woman takes a DNA test to confirm her white, Northern European ancestry and to preempt the possibility of any genetic health issues, only to find that the only thing she recognizes about her heritage is her name. This launches her on an investigation of her roots, a brilliant vehicle that enabled celebrated author Mary Smathers to research and write the historical California narrative that informed her award-winning debut novel, “In This Land of Plenty” (2020).
While the setup for the novel is a present-day circumstance, the saga quickly rolls back to 1767 which, if you remember from fourth-grade history lessons, marked the removal of the Jesuits from Spanish territories, including the 14 missions in Baja California. This led to an assignment of the Franciscans to take over the missions, with Father Junípero Serra appointed the new Superior of the region. Which is relevant to the storyline.
The novel ends, putting the saga on pause in 1850, as California is becoming a state, following the United States winning the 1848 Mexican-American War, and the rush to find gold after carpenter James Marshall found some while working at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma. A heady time for the novel to cease, begging for a sequel.
Author Mary Smathers (Courtesy image)The contemporary pandemic era became a fortuitous period in which to ponder one’s own past, present, and future, and also to invest in deep research for the sequel to Smathers’ novel, while sheltering in place. The result is “Unfamiliar Territory,” published April 20.
Where “In This Land of Plenty” ends, “Unfamiliar Territory” picks up the story and the pace of this saga, escorting readers from 1850 to 1873, when the “Panic of 1873” led to the country’s first “Great Depression,” giving original protagonist Nicole much more context to her DNA. Yet this sequel actually focuses on the effects the Gold Rush and the subsequent financial fall-out on protagonist of the era, Juanita Castro de la Cruz.
What happened to her family plays out in Smathers’ first book. What becomes of this descendant unfolds in the sequel.
“Anchored by four generations on a Mexican land-grant ranch,” said Smathers, “we are looking at the effects of history on this descendant, a character I made up based on history. Juanita now faces unimaginable upheaval as her homeland becomes an American state, and she is exposed to an unfamiliar language, religion, economy, and culture.”
“Unfamiliar Territory” explores a constant that frames California history, known as conflict. And the themes that arise from this include strong women in a time when their gender recognition was just emerging—through the eyes of the protagonist—as well as unlikely relationships that form through the circumstances which test a person’s mettle, plus the meaning of family, of generational ties, of diversity, tenacity, and courage.
Smathers, who devotes herself to an admitted “tremendous degree of research” behind her epic novels, loves the process and leans into it as she develops her storyline and the scaffolding that supports it.
“I found, in doing research,” she said, “that letters were so important in the 1850s and going forward. It was the only way to get news. I love primary-source material, those crafted from contracts, collections of letters, old newspaper articles, journals, and what reporters could uncover across the country.”
What Smathers finds fascinating about poring through old letters is what they reveal, not only about events of the day but also how people felt about their impact on their lives. And to think, she said, people had to wait months in those days to find out what was going on with family members across the country.
Readers will learn a lot about early California history—what drove people to wagon-train their way across the country, how few made it, and what they found when they arrived. And, with a little patience, we’ll discover a lot more, since subsequent sequels are in the works.
A native of northern California, Smathers earned a degree in Latin American Studies from UC Berkeley before completing a master’s in education and second in educational administration and policy analysis from Stanford — a quintessential straddling of “the great divide,” at least during football season. While developing her public school career as a high school teacher, administrator, teacher trainer, educational grant writer and educational entrepreneur, she, with husband David Payne, raised their children in Morgan Hill before settling in Carmel. In addition to her early California duology, Smathers has published a collection of contemporary short stories, “Fertile Soil: Stories of the California Dream,” plus a bilingual children’s picture book series, “Tropical Tales.”
Currently, the couple divides their year between Costa Rica, where he surfs and she is working on a subsequent sequel, as well as her picture book series; and Carmel, where she plays tennis, and he swims.
Smathers will present a book launch event for “Unfamiliar Territory” on Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Carmel Valley Creamery. “In This Land of Plenty” and “Unfamiliar Territory” are available at River House Books and at Pilgrim’s Way in Carmel, and at Bookworks in Pacific Grove, as well as via Amazon.com.
