I am a fast reader, and I couldn't absorb the prose written in late-1800's vernacular, so I listened to much of the book. The narrator did a fine job reading until she got to the dialogue. Her voices for Beaulah and Clyde were very good. The voice of Nettie Mae was way too strident, making the character less likable. When reading Nettie Mae's thoughts and dialogue I had some empathy for her. Listening to the narrators depiction of her, she seemed less dimensional-- just a bitter, hateful woman. The voice of Cora made me cringe! It was horrible, vapid, falsetto fake. I swear my teeth hurt every time I heard the narrator recite Cora's dialogue! What was bad? The slow pace and the endless description killed it for me. I finished the book, but my interest faded as it went along.

I wish there had been a sterner editor to stem that rush so it would be less repetitive and about half the length. I kept thinking of the quote I read from Kwame Anthony Appiah, the Chair of the judges of the 2018 Booker Prize, when the judges were commenting about the need for better, tighter editing.

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The book is told in alternating character voices – each one unique in its way. Ms. Hawker has a magical way of writing so that the reader feels immersed in the story. Living on the frontier in 19th century Wyoming was not for the faint of heart and you get a real sense of that as these two families strive to work together just to survive without their men. Olivia Hawker’s writing is beautifully descriptive of the land and its people. I love that the story was loosely inspired by her own family. I adored these two families and the strong women. Death comes when it comes. You can’t do a thing to change it, once the great and final decision has been made.” The other teenager in the story, Clyde, the dead man's son, doesn’t think about the incident much either. His father is blown away by a neighbor and yet his thoughts about the incident are never examined. He doesn't say or think anything like, “I never would have thought Dad could do something like this.” Or “Wow. What a way to go.” Clyde must bury his murdered father. Wouldn’t that incident be rough to process mentally? The moment is well-told and memorable, yet Clyde never thinks of it again. Of course, Cora and Nettie Mae have unsettled feelings between them, but when winter comes, they are forced together to tend the land and care for their children.

The power of this book comes from the way the author brings her characters to life. Our main protagonist is Beulah Bemis age 13. She is the eldest of the Bemis children. Smart, capable, but dreamy and a little magical. Beulah sees and notices what others don't. Beulah is the lynchpin of the story. The Bemis and Webber families rely on each other for survival. There’s no one else around, so they need each other. Ernest finds his wife, Cora, cheating with their neighbor, and now, Ernest is in prison with the two women left to survive on their own. I came across it on Goodreads a couple of years ago. It intrigued me enough to add it to my WTR list; and, After Clyde becomes ill, Nettie Mae accepts that keeping two farms going is too hard for her teenage son, the two families have no choice but to join forces and Bemis family moves into the Webber house hold. They begin to prepare for the long hard winter, harvesting vegetables, preserving food, cutting and seasoning fire wood. Despite combining the food/supplies they have both women are concerned that cupboards will be empty before the end of winter and their children will go hungry. I didn't go into colonialism in this particular book because it's a story that's very self-contained an …more Such a great question. Thank you for asking it.What’s it about? Two families living out on the plains of Wyoming in 1876 (I’m already interested), far from civilization. Cora, one of the wives, sneaks off (routinely) with the other woman’s husband, a man named Substance (yes, Substance). Cora and Substance are caught by Cora’s husband, and he shoots and kills Substance. Cora’s husband turns himself in and is jailed for two years, 20 miles away. Cora (the cheating wife), her daughter Beulah, and her two sons, must survive the winter next door to Nettie Mae, the wife of Substance (note Cora is responsible for Nettie Mae’s husband being shot). Nettie Mae has one son, Clyde, an older teenager, who is left to accomplish the work of two farms with the two fathers gone. The book is about what should be a rather complex relationship between the two families, especially the two women. And there is the burgeoning attraction of Beulah and Clyde to each other. This for me was one of those books that the story was pretty decent but I got bored reading it. It should have been good but as I sit here thinking about it I just can't find a reason to say it was. It's set on the frontier, but it's not *about* the frontier, if that makes sense. It's about death--how people cope with it (or avoid coping with it) and how different religious or spiritual perspectives will influence one's ability to handle death (or not handle it) to varying degrees. It's also about humans finding their proper place *in* nature instead of trying to exist apart from nature. Wyoming, 1876. The Bemis (Ernest/Cora and daughter Beulah) and Webber (Substance/Nettie Mae and son Clyde) have relied on each other for survival. But when Ernest Bemis finds his wife, Cora with Substance, Ernest kills him. While Ernest is in prison, the women left behind, despite their feelings of anger and shame, they must live together in one roof to survive the harsh winter. Their children Clyde and Beulah inevitably start to develop feelings for each other. This is a book that grabbed me from the the very first paragraph. It starts with a murder when one man goes down to the river and finds his wife with his neighbor. This leaves the two families living out on the Wyoming frontier without their men as winter is coming. The families are forced to come together to survive despite the dislike between them. Their farms are far from any other neighbors and without each other neither will make it.

Wyoming prairie in 1876, two isolated farming families live next door to each other and one night all hell breaks loose. When Ernest Bemis discovers his wife Cora and his neighbor Substance Webber cheating! The meek mild Ernest shoots Substance and kills him. He rides to the closest town, he informs the local sheriff about his crime and he's jailed for two years. Going in, I expected to find it hard to sympathize with Cora. Cora’s loneliness certainly led her to a decision that ultimately ruined the lives of many people. But I didn’t find Cora to be a bad person. In fact, I found the way she handled herself to be filled with a surprising amount of grace. I would like to have seen more about the before Cora. But the Cora we saw was someone who really just seemed to have lost their way. Wyoming, 1870. For as long as they have lived on the frontier, the Bemis and Webber families have relied on each other. With no other settlers for miles, it is a matter of survival. But when Ernest Bemis finds his wife, Cora, in a compromising situation with their neighbor, he doesn’t think of survival. In one impulsive moment, a man is dead, Ernest is off to prison, and the women left behind are divided by rage and remorse.

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I was really looking forward to this one, as I had a family member who lived in the area where it takes place, but even that wasn’t enough to keep me connected. I didn't go into colonialism in this particular book because it's a story that's very self-contained and really only touches on the personal experiences and internal struggles of four people. If it had been broader in scope and had encompassed a wider variety of characters, or if it had involved more far-flung action instead of being contained to a few acres of land, then I certainly would have touched on the political issues of the setting. Bound by the uncommon threads in their lives and the challenges that lie ahead, Cora and Nettie Mae begin to forge an unexpected sisterhood. But when a love blossoms between Clyde and Beulah, bonds are once again tested, and these two resilient women must finally decide whether they can learn to trust each other—or else risk losing everything they hold dear. About the Author: Wyoming, 1876. For as long as they have lived on the frontier, the Bemis and Webber families have relied on each other. With no other settlers for miles, it is a matter of survival. But when Ernest Bemis finds his wife, Cora, in a compromising situation with their neighbor, he doesn't think of survival. In one impulsive moment, a man is dead, Ernest is off to prison, and the women left behind are divided by rage and remorse.