There Will Be Consequences: A Biographical Novel of Old New Mexico
Resentment against New Mexican Gov. Albino Pérez boils over in the summer of 1837 into outright revolt. Considered an outsider after his appointment by President López de Santa Anna in 1835, Pérez further stokes anger by hitting up landowners for loans and imposing new federally ordered sales taxes, then jailing the ones who refuse to pay, such as Antonio Abad Montoya. Tensions escalate when Alcalde Juan José Esquibel resists Pérez’s authority and is himself jailed. After Montoya’s cousins break him out of prison, the alcalde issues a proclamation calling for unity and appoints a council of 12 as a substitute government for the area. A year-long period of violence begins with the death of Pérez in August 1837, and ends with the execution of José Angel Gonzalez, the rebel who replaces him.
Tollefson brings the rebellion to vibrant life by presenting the run-up to hostilities and the continuing unrest in a series of narratives from the points of view of the principal historical figures, including the Montoya family, Alcalde Esquibel, and governors Pérez and Gonzalez. She lets readers hear characters’ voices, view situations through their eyes, and feel their anger and fear. The author of five books about New Mexico history, Tollefson is skilled in joining fact with fiction. The result is a fresh look at Old New Mexico.
