The Horse in the Kitchen: Stories of a Mexican-American Family Book

This book is part novel, part short story collection and part biography. Flores, a writer living in Tome, New Mexico, utilizes the stories his father told him as inspiration. The stories follow a Mexican family living in Northern Mexico, who are driven to desperation by the Mexican revolution and emigrate to the US, first to Douglas, AZ, then Laveen a small town outside Phoenix, and eventually spend some time in California. The stories are told from the viewpoint of one of the middle sons, the writing is simple yet elegant. The hardships and prejudice the family endures are heartbreaking, but tempered by humor and a strong sense of family, duty, love, and perseverance.