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In a stunning literary achievement -- with
a power and scope in the tradition of John Steinbeck and Theodore
Dreiser -- Luis J. Rodriguez captures the soul of a community
and a little-known era in America's history in his epic novel
about love, family, workers' rights, industrial strife, and
cultural dislocation.
When the Salcido family departs for the
United States, their flight is hardly different from the journeys
of the indigenous tribes who roamed America for tens of thousands
of years, or immigrants who sailed across entire oceans, or
countless others who have left their native lands behind for
the promise of a better life.
Traveling mostly on foot, Procopio Salcido
and his future wife, Eladia, leave Mexico for the United States
to escape the bleak realities of their homeland.
Finally settling in Los Angeles, the young
couple discover that the hopes they have for their children
must now be weighed against the backdrop of the mighty Nazareth
steel mill, their engine for survival, which will eventually
become the lifeblood of their own American dream.
Spanning sixty years and three generations,
Music of the Mill is set in the industrial boom of
post–World War II Southern California, where jobs seemed
plentiful, communities thrived, and racial harmony prevailed.
However, while postwar prosperity seemed to supply jobs to
many migrant African American, Mexican, and poor white workers,
in reality there was great struggle and racial discord --
low-paying, backbreaking labor and the cruel manipulation
by manufacturers who pitted groups of workers against one
another.
For the Salcidos -- especially for Procopio's
idealistic son, Johnny, and his young family -- the hard knocks
of life often resound louder than their own sense of hope.
When their aspirations have long since lost their luster,
retaining their dignity and sense of worth becomes the family's
greatest challenge.
Destined to be a classic of American literature,
Music of the Mill, the long-awaited first novel by
Luis J. Rodriguez, portrays the journey of one family caught
in a web of politics, racial polarization, and corrupt unions'
power struggles, revealing the drama, pain, joy, and humor
of working-class life.
Luis J. Rodriguez is the
author of several critically acclaimed books, including Always
Running, The Republic of East L.A., and Hearts
and Hands, as well as poetry and books for children.
He lives with his family in California.
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