The Road to Delano by John DeSimone
What the average American knows about the Delano Grape Strike would probably fit on the head of a pin. Most of us can quote a sentence or two from Martin Luther King Jr.’s impassioned “I’ve got a dream” speech. We can call up an image of Ghandi, clad in his signature wrap of white cloth, and of Mandela’s noble face and his snow-white hair.
But the memory of a weakened Cesar Chavez breaking a 25-day hunger strike seated next to Senator Robert Kennedy? Not so much. Yet Chavez’s fire and commitment had staggering repercussions, and John DeSimone’s newest offering, The Road To Delano (Rare Bird Books), brings it all back — more personal and powerful than a chapter in any classroom history book.
Initially, we’re introduced to Sugar Duncan, polished gambler and fine gentleman who marries the love of his life, gives up gambling and becomes an equally polished and successful farmer. Chapter One jumps 35 years to 1968 where we meet his son Jack who gets into immediate and mysterious trouble through no fault of his own. He asks the empty dusty road, “What have I done?” Nearby cows lift their wide, impassive faces.
Delano, California, was a town dependent on growing and harvesting grapes, which, in turn, is an industry dependent on Filipino and Mexican seasonal workers. This is a symbiotic, although tenuous, relationship in the town where Jack lives with his mother, goes to school, loves his girlfriend and plays baseball with his very best friend Adrian with the hope of getting scholarships and getting out of Dodge. By all rights, The Road to Delano should be a predictable coming-of-age story. It is not.
All the standard components of a love story are there, but they’re only part of DeSimone’s intention. He balances murder and loyalty, pits profit against exploitation and friendship against circumstance. The battle between landowners and workers swells to Hollywood proportions with our lovers stumbling around in the middle of it. Readers may not be sure how they would advise our young protagonists, or how to feel about the decisions they make.
The Road to Delano is a worthwhile read on a couple of levels: it’s a wonderful visit to John Steinbeck’s California and a valuable history lesson we may have missed in high school if we weren’t paying attention — or if Cesar Chavez and the Delano Grape Strike was never taught at all.
To learn more about DeSimone, visit his BookTrib author profile page and check out our interview with the author here.
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