The farthest home is in an empire of fire

the long version

In his 1999 memoir Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation, John Phillip Santos told the story of one Mexican family--his father's--set within the larger story of Mexico itself. In this new book, he tells of how another family--this time, his mother's--erased and forgot, over time, their ancient origins in Spain. Every family has a forgotten tale of where it came from. Who is driven to tell it and why? Weaving together a highly original mix of autobiography, conquest history, elegy, travel, family remembrance, and time-traveling narration, Santos describes a lifelong quest to find the missing chronicle of his mother's family, one that takes him from South Texas and Mexico to Spain and ultimately to the Middle East. He raises profound questions about whether we can ever find our true homeland and what we can learn from our treasured, shared cultural legacies.--From publisher description.