“Peg invites the reader into her soul-searching encounter, agonizing decisions, guilt, and redemption. We all should be companions on this struggle for the soul of America.”
A Stranger at My Door:
Finding My Humanity on the US/Mexico Border
A Stranger At My Door is a personal odyssey of challenge, failure, and redemption. A man in desperate crisis appears at the doorstep of a family home in the Sonoran desert. Attempts to do the right thing—to provide food, clothing, shelter—are hampered by the politics of fear and xenophobia. Taking a stand on the side of compassion, Peg Bowden, a retired nurse and humanitarian aid worker, explores the ethical and moral values that drive her life choices, which at this particular moment in time, do not align with the politics of her homeland. This is a tale of a relationship between two people whose very differences about the “other” forge a friendship that transcends the borders of their lives.
Peer Publishing, September 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9892009-3-6
ASIN: B07WHV2K9F
Also available from Smashwords, Google Books, and Target.com.
Praise for
A Stranger at My Door
“This is a drama of generosity and unexpectedness, illustrating the rewards of compassion. Peg Bowden's is an especially important book for the times we live in, and for all time.”
Paul Theroux, author of On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey
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“Propelled by profound acts of compassion and humanity, this story asks readers to reevaluate their notion of what it means to live an ethical life in America’s borderlands.”
Francisco Cantú, author of The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border
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“Peg Bowden knows what she's talking about, and she can walk you out into territory you might never forget.”
Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Devil’s Highway: A True Story
A Land of Hard Edges:
Serving the Front Lines of the Border
Peg’s first book is a series of true stories and personal reflections inspired by her early years volunteering at el comedor, a migrant shelter on the Mexico border. The author travels the “third country” of the Arizona borderlands weekly with a group called the Samaritans, providing clothing, medical supplies and counsel to migrants seeking safety and a living for their families. Investigating why thousands of people are willing to risk their lives crossing the Sonoran Desert, Peg begins to understand the complexities of human migration, and the love that drives people to risk their very lives.
Peer Publishing, July 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9892009-9-8
ASIN: B00M3QGJ2C
Praise for
A Land of Hard Edges
“Come spend a day with Bowden in the soup kitchen called el comedor. Filled with courage and compassion, this uplifting book is the best on the human side of the immigration equation that I’ve yet read.”
Bill Broyles, writer, educator, author of Sunshot: Peril and Wonder in the Gran Desierto
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“...Peg Bowden’s book stands as an eloquent testimony to the power of acts of love toward the other: the alien, the destitute, and the ‘illegal’ migrant.”
Dr. Joseph Pugliese, author of State Violence and the Execution of Law
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“Peg Bowden breathes life into crucial border issues so often lost in polemic. She sits us down to lunch with desperate, destitute Mexicans, our neighbors. And with warmth and wit, she shows us how humanity transcends lines on a map.”
Mort Rosenblum, reporter, author, educator
Coming in November 2019, from University of Texas Press
America’s Most Alarming Writer: Essays on the Life and Work of Charles Bowden
Edited by Bill Broyles and Bruce J. Dinges
A collection of fifty inspiring reflections on the life and work of award-winning writer Charles Bowden. Contributors include his editors, collaborators, and admiring writers, as well as his big sister Peg, who writes about their childhood, and growing up with “Chuck.”
Journal of the Southwest
Volume 61 - Number 1 - Spring 2019
Special Issue on Chuck Bowden, guest edited by Bill Broyles and Bruce J. Dinges
Essays and interviews about Chuck and “his” Southwest from some friends, family, and colleagues, including Jack Dykinga, Bill Benoit, Molly Molloy, Luis Alberto Urrea, Jim Harrison, Kathleen Dannreuther, and Peg Bowden.