Beverly Silva's short stories and her confessional poetry give a touching and powerful vision of her struggle for self-expression and economic independence. Important themes of the Chicana and feminist perspectives make Silva's work a personal reflection of significant social movements of the past twenty years.

Silva was born in Los Angeles on 12 May 1930; her parents divorced when she was two. Because of the onslaught of the Depression, her maternal grandparents moved north to a ranch in Oregon, taking her with them. Her grandfather, a bricklayer with no formal education, spoke a smattering of six languages, and was a "born philosopher, storyteller and linguist." On weekends he would play the banjo and they would sing. In retrospect Silva finds her grandfather's gifts to her--his humor, courage, and ability to thrive in both North American and Mexican cultures--of the greatest importance in her own formation as an individual.

When Silva...