In This Land of Plenty

IPPY Award Winner! Best Regional Fiction--E-book, Bronze, from the Independent Publisher Book Awards, 2021

 Selected as a Shelf Unbound 2020 Best Indie Top 100 Notable Book

"...engaging story that inserts aspects of real-life West Coast history into these parallel narratives. ...the novel ultimately delivers a stirring plot." --Kirkus Reviews

"…an invitation to not just accept but cherish the value and beauty of diversity. In this ambitious work, Smathers imparts the wisdom of studying the past in order to move more fully and sincerely into the future."  —Publishers Weekly BookLife Review

"…truly a treat for the mind." —Readers' Favorite Five Star Review

When Nicole discovers through DNA reports that her ancestry is far different from the white, northern European background she thought was hers, she enlists the help of her great grandmother to investigate their roots despite protests from her father. The search takes Nicole and Great Gram into the attic of their historic San Francisco Victorian where the family's true history unfolds. Slowly the two women unravel the mysteries of their 250-year family tree, from California's native inhabitants and its earliest European colonizers through the generations to the Gold Rush. In This Land of Plenty is a meticulously researched and beautifully written historical fiction family saga that introduces a diverse cast of characters and the complex social issues that populate California's rich history while drawing a direct line to today's residents.

"In This Land of Plenty captures the complex dynamics of family, exploration and exploitation, and the necessary accommodation to circumstances without submission. Extraordinary accomplishment by the author." —Diana Y. Paul, Award-winning author, Things Unsaid


Fans of historical fiction will fall in love with this novel's:

*Strong research and vivid depictions of historic California

*Inspiration from the original Spanish soldiers on the Portola expedition to explore and settle Alta California

*Connections to the native Ohlone people and other tribes who populated the area for thousands of years, and to the De Anza settlers who walked eighteen hundred miles from Sinaloa to the San Francisco Bay

*Strong characters, and many women, who are both relatable and fascinating

*Emphasis on the importance of family


In This Land of Plenty is already popular with book clubs:

"As a Mexican American woman aware of histories of the colonization of our indigenous and Mexican lands, I was eager to read In This Land of Plenty. I was thoroughly captivated by this book and couldn't put it down. It is embedded in a historical context that is not whitewashed, but instead meticulously researched, respectfully describing the interdependent colonial relationships and interactions between the Spanish explorers, missionary priests, and indigenous peoples. The author is to be commended for the respectful portrayal of the Ohlone people, their lands, family relations, and especially different forms of their resistance to colonization through key characters." --Elena Flores, Rock Steady Boxing Book Club, San Francisco, California

"This historical novel prompts lively discussion because of its many layers and cultural ironies. Our Californian members loved this perspective on their homeland."

--Sherry Hemingway, Morgan Hill Book Club, Morgan Hill, California