Querencia by Stephen Bodio
It’s fitting to begin this new blog by re-viewing an old favourite of my own. When I was a sales rep, I sold books that were published by a small press in Livingston, MT. Many of the books produced by Clark City Press were excellent. I represented this company (through its Canadian distributor) and literally handsold their list to my customers, the booksellers and librarians of Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, because I fell in love with the publisher and its books. Most of my customers also enjoyed reading these books and, in turn, handsold them to their own customers. Recently, when checking up on the availablity of Querencia, I was so pleased to see that this company was still in business. And, at that time (a month ago), Bodio’s book was still listed among their backlist titles. But upon checking again today I’ve discovered that this book, my favourite!, is no longer displayed on their website! Stephen Bodio’s own website does list the book as being in print and available from Amazon. Phew! And I was also interested to see that Bodio now maintains a blog.
Now, on to the book itself… What I loved about Querencia was the writing, pure and simple. I have reread this narrative book many times and still feel that it is fresh with every reading. And it’s also a beautiful love story - not only expressing the love Bodio had for Betsy Huntington, a woman who shared so many of his interests, moving with him from Boston to New Mexico, but also the love he had during that time for his surroundings, friends, food, and life in general. After reading it the first time, I wanted to move to Magdelena, New Mexico, he describes his space that well. It seemed to be heaven on earth. The title loosely means “that little, unspecified area in life’s arena where one feels safe, serene.” This is exactly the feeling evoked in me when I read Querencia the first time, and whenever I reread it.
Querencia
by Stephen Bodio
published by Clark City Press
