Characters in ‘Shadows on Parallel Trails’ travel land that is
now Gilroy, HollisterThe book
”
Shadows on Parallel Trails
”
was conceived when author Brian Augustine’s father told him
stories of historical Western figures.
Staff Report
The book “Shadows on Parallel Trails” was conceived when author Brian Augustine’s father told him stories of historical Western figures. Those stories stuck with Augustine, and decades later, he used them as the basis for his book.
The story, which is set in California’s wild west between 1870 and 1875, is based on actual events. As the plot unfolds, readers are treated to romance, stagecoach robberies, major horse chases and a gun battle near the Pinnacles. All the while, characters cross through the land that is now Gilroy, Hollister and Tres Piños.
In the story, a native Californio revolts against the influx of white adventure-seekers taking over ancestral land. One of those “gringos” is a sheriff who is determined to bring order to the west and make the natives conform.
As the events progress, Augustine, a native of the East Bay, fictionalized the events by leading readers through the mental process the characters may have gone through before making their historic actions. Augustine used his more than 30 years of experience as a mental health therapist to analyze the characters and follow what may have very well been their cognitive process throughout the events.
“I never forgot those stories my dad told me, and the more I researched the stories as an adult, the more I thought to myself, ‘This is a story I’d like to tell,'” Augustine said. “The story goes through parts of Alameda County, Santa Clara County and what would soon be San Benito County, so people will recognize landmarks. I hope they enjoy the story as much as I did.”
