This book is wonderful! It has some suspense and keeps the reader wanting more. It combines faith, love, a little romance, a little western and a great plot to really pull the reader in and help them become a part of the story. You can really feel like you're there.

posted Jul 16, 2008 at 6:46PM

The characters are wonderful, reminded me of Kent Haruf and Kaye Gibbons.

posted Aug 13, 2009 at 11:02PM

This is, hands down, one of my favorite books. I love the fact that the reader can almost hear echoes in the text of Western novels Enger must have read as a child. Reuben and Swede might as well be Scout and Jem Finch, reincarnated in the 1960’s American Midwest, having only switched places as protagonist, and having lost none of their rare spunk.

posted Jul 2, 2011 at 1:52PM

An eloquent novel of the strength of family, the power of love, and the grace of faith.

posted Sep 20, 2011 at 1:51PM

I wanted to love this book, given its years of praise, but in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to embrace it the way others have. It is well-written with fully three-dimensional characters, but after slogging through its poetic asides and endless metaphors, I felt no closer to these people than I had at the beginning. Nor, as an Agnostic, did I relate to the author’s faith-filled worldview, which may have kept me from appreciating this book on a deeper level. It left me with much to think about and discuss with my book group, but it ultimately joins the ranks of books whose cult following eludes me.

posted Dec 5, 2012 at 9:48AM

 Add a Comment