Overland: A Novel

The narrative opens in stagnant Santa Fé and follows a party of travelers and local residents as they debate and undertake an overland westward journey, weighing the dangers of the isthmus against desert crossings. Social scenes in town reveal clashing manners, flirtations, rivalries, and satire of local characters, while the subsequent travel portions portray the hardships of desert crossing, encounters with Indigenous groups, militia escorts, and the practicalities of provisioning. The work alternates domestic conversation and adventure episodes to examine frontier life, national expansion, and the tensions between romantic expectations and the realities of migration.