White Dove, Tell Me

In the town of Urepel, Arizona, Xabier Etxea, a young Basque-American sheep rancher, and his wife grapple with the rituals, mores, and spirituality of their heritage and the realities of living in the new American West. Their tenuous balance of the past and the present is disrupted when Xabier’s father is unexpectedly killed.

In the wake of this tragedy, Xabier learns that not only is the family ranch in jeopardy of foreclosure but his father’s death may not have been the accident it first appeared to be. Now, he must find a way to save his family’s ranch while unraveling the mysteries leading to his father’s death. Along the way, Xabier strives to adhere to his father’s memory and words--the invitation to stay true to who he is without losing his arima (soul).

In lyrical language that evokes the mythologies that have shaped the Etxeas’s worldview, White Dove, Tell Me speaks to the divided self that seeks to honor the family’s Basque heritage, while they strive for understanding in a new land.

Martin Etchart is a native Arizonan who received his BA and MFA in Creative Writing from Arizona State University before going on to earn his PhD. His novels include The Good Oak and The Last Shepherd, which won an Independent Publisher Gold Medal for Adult Multicultural Fiction. He is currently an English professor at Phoenix College where he teaches creative writing and literature.