Mecca is a novel that will stay with me for quite some time. Not only is the writing beautiful, but I got attached to the characters. Several stories come together to create this wonderful work by Susan Straight, and they show a diversity that is hidden from the eye and describe some of the presumptions and bigotry present in our society.

The title of this book is apt, since Mecca is both an actual place in California, and a mecca for some, for different reasons. Each character has an intricate, well-told story, some of them connected to each other in ways the characters themselves are often not aware. This makes these life stories, the types so seldom examined, all the more intriguing.

Straight is able to recreate the landscape for us, the beauty of the mountains and canyons, along with the wind, the dryness, and the heat. We are there to witness the struggles of people living in another California (without beaches and mansions), who are often caught between two worlds– their family obligations and traditions, and the outside world’s laws and conventions.

Mecca is wisdom, emotion, and history woven together in a precious, heartbreaking tale that I strongly recommend.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, and Netgalley, for the opportunity to read and review this book, my first experience with this author.