I was taken by not just the title of the book but also the name of the author. I found the name intriguing!
This was a collection of short stories very "tightly" told. They are to the point and precise, but at the same time full of unexpected drama. Practically all of them are set in ranches, horse country, and stuff of a related nature (all totally alien to me!). This was not an easy collection of stories to love but since the stories themselves are short, it was easy to finish the book fast.
The stories have a loner quality to them. The protaganists in the stories are all more or less one of a kind - they are also able to face the harsh realities of life particularly in the frame of their circumstances and specially the locality in which they are based. The weather is very much part of the stories - harsh, unrelenting weather in every form.
This was not an easy read by any means but its very harshness is the thing that draws you to the story. You do want to know how each story is going to end and this is the cleverness of Meloy.
If I don't get hooked in within a couple of pages, I tend to put books to one side and never pick them up again!
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed with how you persevered with the stories, even though the subject matter wasn't something that grabbed you particularly.
Ali x
I read this one awhile back, so I don't remember all the details. I do remember that I liked her novels a lot more, but I'm very picky when it comes to short stories. Still, I remember that I liked these, even though I'm not big on stories set in horse country.
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