Summer, 1944. While his father ships out with the Navy, seventeen-year-old Josh Arnold is uprooted from Alabama to a dusty New Mexico village. His mother, Ann, loathes every moment, drowning her disdain in bridge games and bourbon. But Josh? He adapts.
Thrown into Sagrado’s eccentric community, Josh befriends classmates, a scandalous local artist, and the Montoyas, who care for his family’s home. Through their warmth, humor, and chaos, Josh learns more about duty and love than his privileged Southern upbringing ever offered.
Told with irreverent wit and wry observation, Josh’s coming-of-age is both hilarious and tender. War rages abroad, but in Sagrado, the battles are personal—identity, belonging, responsibility. Will Josh emerge as more than a displaced outsider, or remain forever caught between worlds?
