Chapultepec

by Norman Zollinger

In 1847 in Mexico, Lance Corporal Jason Jeremiah James of the 4th Kansas rifles fought at Chapultepee. on the parapet of that great fortress, James saw something that haunted him for fifteen years. In 1862, James is colonel of the 4th Regiment of La Legion etrangere --France's fabled Foreign Legion--and is again stationed in Mexico.

Educated in Paris, the lovely New Englander Sarah Kent Anderson has arrived in Mexico to look after her dead brother's silver mines. Although she is a girlhood friend of Empress Carlota of Mexico, Sarah quietly supports the republican president, Juarez. Her growing attraction toward Jason James only furthers her confusion.

As Sarah Anderson struggles to choose between her sympathy for Juarez and her love for the new emperor and empress, Jason James must not only come to grips with his torn loyalties and the woman he loves, he must stand again at Chapultepee and face the demons of his youth.

Genres: Historical Fiction

672 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1995

About the author

Albert Norman Zollinger was an award winning Albuquerque novelist whom fellow author Tony Hillerman called a "Renaissance Man.". To quote Hillermann: "He was a guy that, if you quoted Shakespeare for him, he could give you the whole play, and if you mentioned a poet, he could recite two or three of his poems. He was the most intelligent man I've ever known. Norman Zollinger always had a few kind words for me: "God damn it, when are you gonna start writing again?" He was a man who knew one big thing: if you're a writer, you should write. Nothing else matters. "Unlike some of the rest of us, Norman Zollinger lived this truth. That's a hell of a good thing to be able to say of a man." Hillerman also called his long time friend a "warm-hearted man" who was interested in everybody: "Zollinger liked people and he loved helping "wannabe writers" more than anybody else".

Norman Zollinger was born in Chicago, where his father had built up a plastics business. As a young man he joined the US Air Force, and was an air force pilot in WW II, flying 51 missions as a bombardier on a B-24 in Europe. After the war Zollinger joined his father's Chicago business, and within a year he was running the company, which engineered plastic components for the telecommunications industry.

Zollinger started writing his first novel in 1969, and in 1970 he decided to leave his high paying executive job and move his family to Albuquerque. He had become enamored with New Mexico while he was stationed at Roswell AFB during World War II. He decided to follow his writing dream and opened a bookstore, the "Little Professor Book Center" in Albuquerque. His first book, "Riders to Cibola" was published in 1979.

Zollinger's most recent novel was "Meridian" published in 1997, and contract negotiations were under way for his latest book, "Coyote". His other works included "Corey Lane", "Passage to Quivira", "Lantrec" and "Rage in Chupadera". Two of these books, "Riders" and "Rage" won the Western Writers of America Golden Spur Award.

For seven years, he taught at the Norman Zollinger Taos School of Writing during the summer, as well as teaching a course at the University of New Mexico Honors Program that he and Hillerman had started. Zollinger also offered creative writing workshops for service veterans who were physically challenged, in conjunction with the organization "Very Special Arts New Mexico" and the Veterans Administration. He received the Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement from the Western Writers of America in 1998. For him, he said, "It may not be the Pulitzer or some of those other awards, but it's the highest honor for a man in Western letters."

Norman Zollinger died in Albuquerque on the 5th of March 1999.

Reviews

[Chrisl · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of three books by Zollinger I recommend. What was happening outside the USA during our civil war? (Tony Hillerman was fan of Norman.)
***
Mexico-1860s-Fiction ... the French Invasion of Mexico in the 1860s when the USA had internal challenges.

A review from Kirkus : KIRKUS REVIEW

� Mexican history again serves as a backdrop for Zollinger (Not of War Only, 1994), this time in an ambitious story of the French imperial adventure of the 1860s. Having left the US Army after the Mexican War and joined the famous French Foreign Legion, Captain Jason James is back in Mexico to prepare the way for Napoleon III's establishment of a Catholic empire in Central America with the Austrian Prince, Maximilian, on the throne. The valiant, handsome James must face ghosts from the past, most notably a death threat from a cousin who, like the US, is conveniently distracted by the American Civil War. Meanwhile, Sarah Anderson, beautiful, Boston-bred, and French-educated, also arrives in Mexico to handle the affairs of her murdered brother. Joined by American Marine Lieutenant Matt O'Leary and Cipi, a dwarf gifted with prophecy, among other soldiers and servants, the pair becomes enmeshed in the politics of France's adventure in Mexico. Both Jason and Sarah are expatriate Americans, but each is also faced with divided loyalties: Sarah is friend to Maximilian's consort, Carlotta, yet develops an affinity for Benito Juarez and his revolutionaries; and when Jason becomes a colonel in the Mexican Imperial Army, he's divided between sworn duty and deep commitments to his native democratic principles. Falling in love, the two wrestle through their conflicts against the background of a Mexico ripped apart by internal politics and bloody warfare; not only will their love last, but because of their social and political connections, they'll find themselves on hand for most of the important events in the short, tragic rein of Maximilian I. Few of the characters ever really come to life, and Zollinger's dialogue is bitten to death by anachronisms (``jettison,'' ``completely looney''); but the story is romantic and the history is real, giving a pull to this blood-and-dust tale of mid-19th-century politics south of the border.

[Noor-hal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. It was quite a page-turner, could not stop reading it! And I really liked the parallelism Zollinger established between the tragic Richard II of England with the Emperor Maxl von Habsburg, defeated by Henry IV (this case Benito Juarez). Loved also how this historic events were the frame for such a love story. Showtime should do a TV series out of this.

[JoAnn Ainsworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic story line is solid, but I got swamped by details of the lives of the historical characters and historical facts.

[Kevin Clement · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK. Entertaining. Provided some information regarding Mexico and the short-lived reign of Maximilian that I did not know.

[Herman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this book captured me. Period. Otherwise, the story was fair and the themes were basic. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl struggle through the circumstances set by historic events. The boy (Jason Joseph James) and girl (Sarah Anderson) are Americans in a foreign land (Mexico) as Mexico lives through the events of Max & Carlota's short reign as rulers of Mexico.
JJJ also has a cousin who provides an ugly past that JJJ has to deal with. JJJ also has a man-servant, Cipriano, who provides counsel and protection for JJJ. In addition, JJJ has a maid-servant that provides some love during stressful times.
In parallel, SA is a good friend to Carlota and provides friendship and counsel to Carlota. At least, until Carlota travels back to Europe and cracks, mentally.
In the end, the boy finally reunites with SA and they live "happily, if not forever."
Not exactly a page turner but I love these historical fiction accounts where some of the characters were for real.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable read. The characters and history were very interesting. The detailed descriptions of military tactics and action was the only tedious part. I enjoyed learning the history of this time period in Mexico.