A Ballad of Love and Glory by Reyna Grande, author of The Distance Between Us, is historical fiction based on the Mexican-American War. In 1846. after the controversial annexation of Texas, the US army provokes a war with Mexico over the disputed Rio Grande boundary. In the novel, a Mexican healer falls in love with an Irish soldier who defects from the US army and joins the Mexicans forming St. Patrick’s Battalion.

Meticulously researched and based on historical figures and true events, Grande’s novel is both epic in scope and intimate in detail, full of the tragedy of war and the beauty of unexpected love. I learned more about the Mexican-American War from this novel than I ever did in school. Most of Western America belonged to Mexico long before it did to the US, so perhaps we should rethink how we treat people at the Southern Border. A highly recommended and timely read.