#x1C;A completely engaging tale following a handful of remarkable settlers. #x1D;-Entertainment Weekly #x1C;Lively. . . . Vivid characters. . . . Enthralling reading. #x1D;-The Miami Herald #x1C;Compelling. . . . That Vida brings so much fresh energy to the timeworn Western genre-complex characters, engaging stories, cutting-edge historical revisionism-is no small feat. #x1D;-Austin American-Statesman #x1C;An imaginative and thoroughly researched tale driven by intriguing characters. #x1D;-Denver Post #x1C;Should be placed on the same shelf withLonesome Dove,Texas, andPale Horse, Pale Rider. #x1D;-The Monitor(Texas) When cholera strikes San Antonio in 1843, Aurelia Ruiz discovers that she might have the power to heal-and also to curse. Meanwhile, Joseph Kimmel, a schoolteacher in Missouri and the son of a Polish Jew, learns of his brother#x19;s death in San Antonio and sets off for Texas. On his way, a runaway slave steals his horse. After being rescued by Henry Castro, a man who is importing immigrants to populate his planned city, Castroville, Joseph agrees to marry a young Alsatian girl to save her from a Comanche chief who has demanded her. Then Joseph encounters Aurelia and becomes enamored with her. Comanches, Tonkaways, Mexicanvaqueros, immigrant farmers, and runaway slaves all play a part in Joseph#x19;s rebirth as a rancher, but when a renegade band of Texas Rangers descends upon the ranch, everything changes. Nina Vidais the author of six previous novels:Scam,Return from Darkness,Maximillian#x19;s Garden,Goodbye Saigon,Between Sisters, andThe End of Marriage. She lives with her husband in Huntington Beach, California. From the Trade Paperback edition.