“Ginger Pinholster’s powerful exploration of intergenerational trauma, resilience and second chances will leave you breathless. This gorgeous novel, set in the cedar-dappled mountains of New Mexico, is vividly evoked through lyrical prose. Readers will fall in love with these characters, their unique voices, rippling across multiple points of view, and the heartbreaking mystery that binds their lives together. The Train to Santa Fe is a mesmerizing tour de force.” —Crissa-Jean Chappell, Florida Book Award medalist, author of Never Leave Me Alone and Sun Don’t Shine

“A tale rooted in the past, but reaching up like a sturdy sunflower to the light of a hopeful future, The Train to Santa Fe speaks to the healing power of a generous, forgiving heart—a transformative force even when it is not fully understood. A deeply satisfying read.” —Jeffrey Dale Lofton, Georgia Book of the Year Award winner, author of Red Clay Suzie

“A train track built on human greed and cultural plundering: this is the legacy Ginger Pinholster’s characters inherit in The Train to Santa Fe, and they bear the scars of broken histories. Through fragmented memories and chance connections, they piece together identities that finally root them in their pasts, and that begin to heal old wounds. Pinholster treats her characters with grace and compassion; even the most flawed and troubled will win your heart.” —Ann Cummins, author of Red Ant House and Yellowcake

“Equally charming and heartbreaking, Ginger Pinholster’s The Train to Santa Fe is a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit. Though these wounded, vulnerable characters are on distinctly individual searches for wholeness, healing, and above all, love, their lives intertwine within a mysterious tangle of families, lost and found. Pinholster’s heart for their—and our—deepest longings is palpable, and her grasp of history, generational trauma, and family dysfunction renders The Train to Santa Fe a novel I won’t soon forget.” —Gerry Wilson, author of That Pinson Girl and Crosscurrents and Other Stories

“An artfully woven, vividly told tale. Three distinct characters—a wounded warrior, a father kept from his son, and an elderly woman reclaiming her Native heritage—are brought together by an intriguing mystery, requiring new-found courage and determination to rectify a stolen past.” —Virginia Pye, author of The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann

“A trio of struggling yet appealing characters discover unexpected family connections in Ginger Pinholster’s highly readable new novel, The Train to Sante Fe. Sante Fe native Jonah needs to appease a volatile ex-partner so he might enjoy joint custody of their young son. In nearby Albuquerque, wounded warrior Jemi impatiently awaits a better prosthetic leg so that she might hike her beloved Bluebird Mountain and reclaim her grandfather’s cabin. Recently separated, she too is grounded by a child. Meanwhile, in the nursing home where Jonah works, ninety-four-year-old Rose wants nothing more than to recover her Native roots. All that remains that might document her legitimacy is the stunning Pueblo pottery of her grandmother.

In the background stands another essential character: the landscape. The topography and nature of northern New Mexico play an essential role in the lives of these flawed but determined characters: the cottonwoods and pines; the mountains, bluebirds and coyotes. Above all, in the novel’s gradually revealed backstory live the state’s much abused original residents. For this is also a tale of theft: of identity, livelihood, and even children. The train of the title is a conveyance of evil that long ago brought the Anglo exploiters to New Mexico, come to steal the Native American arts as well as the people themselves. It is this poignant underlying theme of erasure that drives this lovely story of family lost and found.” —Catherine Browder, Petrichor Prize winner, author of The Manning Girl