Hank & Chloe [Paperback]

Jo-Ann Mapson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 1994

Chloe Morgan is a thirty-three-year-old part-time waitress, small-time horse trainer, and full-time thoroughly toughened Western woman living in a corner of the dwindling canyonlands of Southern California. Calloused and wary, Chloe allows herself to love with total abandon and complete faith only her horse and her dog. That is, until a quirk in the weather and a sunrise funeral service cause her to cross the path of Henry Oliver, a sedate professor of folklore at the local college, who, like Chloe, has his reasons for holding back. But once Hank steps inside Chloe's makeshift cabin in the hills, Chloe realizes she must come to terms with her losses and decide between the life of solitude she had always thought was her fate and the love of a man who seems—at first—all wrong.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

A warmly human first novel that lingers in the mind long after its heroes have seen the sunset--from poet and storywriter Mapson (Fault Line, 1989--not reviewed). Hank, middle-aged, middle-class, and still single, teaches folklore and mythology at the junior college in his southern California hometown. Chloe, 33 and struggling to make it through each day, waits tables at a local diner, gives equitation lessons to rich kids, and has recently moved from her pickup truck to a one-room, cold-water shack in the canyons. The two meet when Chloe, once a prize-winning rider whose life collapsed after her cowboy lover drank himself to death, helps a professor at the college birth a new colt. Hank, transfixed by Chloe's beauty as she sheds her bloodstained sweatshirt, offers her his prized Irish cotton shirt to wear instead. Hank trails Chloe to the diner and soon, despite their obvious differences, the two become an oft-remarked- upon item around town. Then Chloe's shack is invaded by police who tear up her house, break her ankle, and arrest her for assault, apparently at the behest of developers who are after the land. Hank grabs the chance to rescue his lover from jail and shepherd her through the legal process until justice is done. But to Hank's dismay Chloe refuses to play damsel in distress, preferring to break up with him instead and sink back comfortably into fatalism and despair. Friends and family shake their heads in mourning, but folklorist Hank knows another quest is in order: This time he leaves his job and begins a journey of the soul, patiently rebuilding a shack in the Arizona desert--until Chloe comes riding up in her truck to make his day. Gentle, earthy, down-home fiction from the New West. (First serial to Cosmopolitan) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Hank and Chloe are as star-crossed as Romeo and Juliet but sexier and frankly, a lot more fun. This is a love story with a salsa bite and a winning heart." -- Barbara Kingsolver

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (April 8, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060924640
• ISBN-13: 978-0060924645
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #386,069 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Southern California and lived there for most of my life, the middle child in a pack of five. Early on, my mother made a reader of me, with weekly library visits. I thank her for me becoming a writer. Her willingness to read to me, her funny sayings, and endless patience telling me stories, turned me into a storyteller. In elementary school I discovered clever poems and stories could get me out of homework assignments, and took complete advantage of that.

My first published book was Fault Line (stories) and until recently difficult to find. I've now obtained several cases of the book and hope to get it up on Amazon for sale soon. Since then I've published ten novels: Hank & Chloe, Blue Rodeo, which was made into a CBS TV movie starring Kris Kristofferson, Shadow Ranch, Loving Chloe (and a sequel to Hank & Chloe), The Wilder Sisters, the Bad Girl Creek trilogy, which includes Bad Girl Creek, Along Came Mary, and Goodbye Earl, The Owl & Moon Cafe and Solomon's Oak.

My eleventh novel, Finding Casey, will be published by Bloomsbury USA and UK in October 2012.

In 2000, my husband/artist Stewart Allison and I (and our four dogs--do not try this at home!)loaded up the car and drove the Alcan highway to Anchorage, Alaska. We lived there eight years, enjoying the Northern Lights, visiting moose, amazing glaciers and the occasional bear (honest!). When my job changed, we took advantage of the opportunity to move to the place my husband wanted to retire, Santa Fe, four Mexico. We live in a little pueblo-style house on the prairie with our five dogs and many "projects-in-progress." Stewart and I have been married thirty-six years. We have a grown son, Jack, who is an RN.

Everyday I pinch myself that I've somehow managed to end up a writer, my life's dream. Thanks to all of you who read and buy my books, it's a dream come true.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hank & Chloe, May 16, 2002

By 

Sandra Mitchell "Sandra Mitchell" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hank & Chloe (Paperback)

Jo-Ann Mapson takes us to small town life in Southern California where the locals still call upon the town vet for all of their animal care needs, and the main diner is the source of good old home cooking. Chloe is a character who strives for independence. Raised in a multitude of foster homes, Chloe has built a wall of defense around herself and only allows room for love in her horse Absolom and her dog Hannah. Living in a small shack without running water or electricity, Chloe is a person of simplicity. When she meets Hank, the timing couldn't be better. As their relationship unfolds, Chloe endures a series of personal crisis that allow Hank to show her that the possibility of love is not something that we all only get one chance at. However, the question remains, will Chloe let herself believe this, or will she keep her barriers up?

Hank & Chloe is a cute story of two people struggling to learn how to love one another, despite very different backgrounds and current lifestyles, but it teaches how love can overcome these things and a love for life can transcend surface differences.
I only gave it 3 stars because at times I was somewhat bogged down by all of the horse references, as Chloe is a true horse lover and the story centers around this. Despite this, one can appreciate the obvious love that the author has for nature and all of it's beauty. Jo-Ann Mapson is an excellent writer. I favored Bad Girl Creek a bit more, but will still read Loving Chloe to see where she takes these two characters and look forward to more works by this very talented writer.
Jo-Ann Mapson

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars you won't want it to end., June 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hank & Chloe (Paperback)

Hank and Chloe is one of my all-time favorite novels. The story keeps you up late turning pages, the characters become friends you won't want to say goodbye to, and the writing is a pleasure to read. This is JoAnn Mapson's best book, though her others are well worth reading. I've got Loving Chloe -- just haven't had a chance to pick it up yet. And anyway, I think I want to read Hank and Chloe just one more time . . .

This is one of the few novels I've recommended and shared (along with Talk Before Sleep, Elizabeth Berg; Map of the World, Jane Hamilton; Moon Passage, Jane LeCompte)-- it is such a rich and satisfying read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real people/Real-life romance, May 20, 1999

By 

Jo Manning (Miami Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hank & Chloe (Paperback)

Jo-Ann Mapson writes so real it hurts! Hank and Chloe are flawed human beings; they belong together, but their problems seem unsurmountable. Mapson provides no glib solutions, no easy fixes; love is hard, and it doesn't always work out. She is a terrific writer, one who deserves to be more popular and appreciated. This is mainstream women's---and men's!---fiction at its best. What a lovely story.