The Train to Santa Fe - Paperback

by Ginger Pinholster (Author)

In the 1880s, sixteen-year-old Chenoa, a gifted Tewa potter, boards one of the first trains from Española to Santa Fe, desperate to save her family from a bitter winter. Her journey sets in motion a legacy shaped by survival, sacrifice, and silence. Generations later, her granddaughter Rose, now elderly and ailing, pleads with Jonah--a kind-hearted nursing home orderly--to help uncover the truth of her stolen Native heritage before it's lost forever. As Jonah searches for answers, he grapples with his own struggles: raising his young son and falling for Jemi, a wounded veteran who longs to return to Bluebird Mountain. As their lives intersect, long-buried truths rise to the surface, revealing the enduring scars of colonization--and the strength required to heal. Inspired by historical accounts, The Train to Santa Fe imagines the impact of the railroad's arrival in northern New Mexico, tracing one family's story across generations. It's a powerful tale of cultural loss, love, and the quiet resilience of the human spirit.

Author Biography

Pushcart Prize nominee Ginger Pinholster-- an avid volunteer with Florida's Volusia Turtle Patrol and the Marine Science Center-- earned her M.F.A. degree from Queens University of Charlotte. Her second novel, Snakes of St. Augustine, was called " relentlessly beautiful and compelling." In 2024, Pinholster received a first-place fiction prize from Prime Number Magazine. City in a Forest, her first novel, won a gold Florida Writers Association award. A science writer for nearly four decades, she is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.