The Last Shepherd
ISBN: 9780874178876
Platform/Publisher: Project MUSE / University of Nevada Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Chapters; Download: Chapters
Subjects: Life change events; Family secrets; Basques; Inheritance and succession; Sheep ranches; Young men; Basque Americans;

In Etchart's novel, Matt Etcheberri faces a choice between toiling on the family's Arizona sheep ranch or pursuing his hopes of attending college. Early on, Matt counts what he hates most: "One-I hated sheep. Two-I hated the ranch. Three -I hated my father." But his father's unexpected death leaves Matt orphaned at 20 and unsure of his future. During his father's funeral, Matt imagines what his small community must think of his situation: "He's the last Etcheberri-the last shepherd." Matt is ready to sell the ranch when he discovers that someone else, who he didn't know existed, has inherited it: his aunt Isabelle, who still lives in his father's hometown, a small Basque village in the French Pyrenees. Matt embarks overseas to meet his relation, blithely unaware of what lies ahead. A strained family dynamic and the strangeness of the Basque language and customs at first stymie Matt as he attempts to unravel his lineage. But delving deeper into the town and its history, he starts to see why his father and grandparents fled. Etchart (The Good Oak) deftly captures the pastoral setting, elegantly contrasting this with the family suffering that Matt uncovers. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Martin Etchart is director of the creative writing program at Phoenix College. He has written screenplays and another novel, The Good Oak (University of Nevada Press).

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