To a widow with children

To a Widow with Children is a warm, funny novel that provides an endearing portrait of humanity in a small South Texas town. The novel focuses on the four children of a widow and follows their crazy antics that disrupt the peace of their sleepy village. The arrival of a stranger - a veteran of the Mexican Revolution - captures the imagination of the townspeople, including of course the children and their mother.

Among the characters who populate this heartening tale are an unforgettable assortment of townspeople: a robust priest with endless patience, a mean-spirited cuckold, a love-starved naive telegrapher, the lovable but conniving children, the town's collection of old codgers who provide a chorus for all the happenings of note and, of course, the beautiful widow, a hapless over-aged suitor and the war-worn veteran.

The comedy of errors that follows makes for delicious reading. All the gossip, false starts, foiled plans and mischief gradually, deliciously lead to an epiphany, an uplifting denouement of celebrations.