Blending historical reality with myth and legend, Alejandro Morales recounts a community’s epic struggle to forge its destiny in HOMBRES DE LADRILLO, the Spanish translation of The Brick People.
In Morales' sweeping historical novel, Joseph and Walter Simons are ambitious entrepreneurs who, in the late nineteenth century, launch the Simons Brick Factory in Southern California. With the help of a Mexican who teaches them everything he knows about making bricks, the brothers build a life for themselves on the backs of the Mexicans who work the kilns.
Fearful of the unrest south of the border as the Mexican Revolution rages, the Anglo brothers strive to provide their Mexican workers with everything they need: homes for their families, a company store to shop in, a school for their children, and even a church to pray in. By the end of 1926, the brick factory is considered one of the most successful businesses of its kind. Simons is a model company town and a perfect example of the benevolent exploitation and control of Mexican labor. The history of Southern California—amidst the Great Depression, earthquakes and World War II—is intertwined with that of the Mexican workers who manufactured the bricks that laid the foundation of modern California.
In Morales' sweeping historical novel, Joseph and Walter Simons are ambitious entrepreneurs who, in the late nineteenth century, launch the Simons Brick Factory in Southern California. With the help of a Mexican who teaches them everything he knows about making bricks, the brothers build a life for themselves on the backs of the Mexicans who work the kilns.
Fearful of the unrest south of the border as the Mexican Revolution rages, the Anglo brothers strive to provide their Mexican workers with everything they need: homes for their families, a company store to shop in, a school for their children, and even a church to pray in. By the end of 1926, the brick factory is considered one of the most successful businesses of its kind. Simons is a model company town and a perfect example of the benevolent exploitation and control of Mexican labor. The history of Southern California—amidst the Great Depression, earthquakes and World War II—is intertwined with that of the Mexican workers who manufactured the bricks that laid the foundation of modern California.
