— Book Review —

“An Apricot Year”“An Apricot Year”Title: “An Apricot Year” Author: Martha Egan

ISBN: 978-097558816-1285 pages, cloth

Price: $25.95Publication date: Feb.29, 2012

Publisher: Papalote PressDistribution: University of New Mexico, unmpress.com

By Rosanne BoyettBeacon Staff Writer

Editor’s note: Book review articles are available online at

www.cibolabeacon.com/bookreviews.

This novel could describe many older women who have won-dered how “life got so crazy.”

Author Martha Eagan weaves a tale of one woman’s journey thatbegins innocuously enough with a birthday gift from her husbandand four adult children.

It’s a dream come true for 50-year-old Luli Russell—she is goingto Santa Fe and spend time just on her paintings.

Forget the responsibilities of marriage and motherhood; she canspend a whole month without family interruptions.

Luli willingly leaves behind the responsibilities of her role asbookkeeper for her husband’s construction business.

She can give her undivided attention to mastering her watercolortechniques.

But, as the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for.”Halfway through her newfound existence in Santa Fe she learns that her husband has absconded with the savings account, and Luli must find

her own way in this strange new place.It soon becomes apparent how expensive it is to live in Santa Fe, and how very different than her home state of Wisconsin. The artist begins to

view herself as exotic as a palm tree in Antarctica.As the days unfold she becomes involved in her neighbor’s lifestyles. Luli finds a job working at a shop where she encounters some of the city’s more unusual residents.Her newfound friends include Flip, who is in the final stages of alcoholism.The artist gives freely of her time caring for the dying man. She helps Flip remain in his home until he is hospitalized.Flip continues to beg for Luli’s help to mend fences with his family.The author continues, “Maybe they can pardon you for whatever happened?” she asked him.He shook his head. He stared despondently at the faded, worn carpet at his feet. ‘It’s much too late, my dear. Especially now that I’m a complete

wreck of a human being, surely living out my last days. I could never make up for the wretched way in which I abandoned the, my son, in particu-lar.’”

Eventually she agrees to Flip’s pleas to help him find his long-lost family in the Caribbean.That promise leads to unforeseen consequences that ultimately change Luli’s life.“I’ve noticed that people often move to Santa Fe in search of a new life,” wrote Egan, a longtime resident of the state’s capital, as she explained

her motivation for writing this novel. “Some achieve happiness and fulfillment here; others are frustrated and unable to adjust to local realities.Those who can’t relax and go with the flow – and enjoy the novelties of New Mexico – usually return to wherever they came from.”

This book is about the value of family, which does not have to include blood relatives, adventure, self-reliance and one woman’s search for mean-ing in her life.

Martha Egan began her writing career at the age of 60. Her other books of fiction include: “Clearing Customs,” “Coyota,” “La Ranfla & Other New

Mexico Stories,” and two nonfiction publications, “Milagros: Votive Offerings from the Americas,” and “Relicarios: Devotional Miniatures from the

Americas.”

Egan is a Santa Fe resident who regularly returns to visit her native Wisconsin.