Crossroads in Casa Corte, a novel by Anne Schroeder, is a haunting story that takes place in a Chihuahua cantina on the eve of el Día de Los Muertos, Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday honoring dead loved ones and making peace with the eventuality of death by treating it familiarly, without fear and dread.
It’s autumn, 2020. While a storm rages outside, inside a cantina a group of eight men talk about the women they have known. Their tongues are loosened by plenty of pulque (a traditional Mexican fermented alcoholic drink) and cerveza (Mexican beer). The stories told span Zihantanejo, Mexico City, the Arizona border and California. Among the eight men, besides the owner of the cantina, is a potter, a local farmer, an American professor, a salesman, two American cowboys, a priest and a mean-spirited man called Mendoza. Mendoza is known to treat his wife badly, mistreats animals, and has nothing but negative things to say about the other men’s stories. His insults and badgering bring some to blows, others try to ignore him.
I was impressed with Crossroads in Casa Corte and the knowledge the author shares of Mexico and Mexican culture. The realm of experiences as told by the men are at times gritty, sometimes heart-rending, some riddled with guilt, and at times joyful. But through it all, Mendoza’s crude remarks bring the stories down to his level. It’s clear that Anne Schroeder knows the area and its people, knows how to navigate multiple story lines, and above all, knows how to tell a gripping story of change and redemption.