Customer Reviews

The Homesman

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I bought this book at a thrift shop,had no idea what it was. As I began reading I thought I knew where it was going, and almost stopped reading. But it intrigued me, and it fooled me, and after three years it still enters my mind at times. It is a wonderful story of a quiet part of our American history, and illustrates perfectly just how heroic the women of that great western migration were. This should absolutely be made into a movie. And please, no 'Star Power' touch-ups. The book jacket said it was soon to be made into a movie--wonder who passed on that deal?

The forgoten part of the western story, that of women children and families, is portrayed in this very human story. If life was hard for men settling the west, it was even harder for their women. Many reached the limits of their endurance and lost their minds as a result. Small comunities at these times engaged a 'Homesman' to escort the unfortunate women back to the eastern states. Mary Bee Cuddy, school teacher, 'plain as an old tin pail', independent means, is the 'Homesman' for her small community. For help on her jouney she engages a 'lowlife army deserter' she manages to rescue from hanging.

The story becomes an multi strand tale of the hardship of the trail and the personal harships of loneliness and isolation. For Mary Bee the issues of her life as a woman overwhelm her with unfortunate outcomes.

Not a grand novel, it doesn't have the scope of 'Lonsome Dove' nor is deft and complex like the work of Peter Mattiessen ('Lost Man River', 'Bone by Bone'). Never the less, a well crafted piece of work, very touching and very readable. Worth finding secondhand, probably worth a reprint........why hasn't anyone made it into a film over there?

The Homesman won both the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America and the Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame as the Best Western Novel of 1988, a fairly rare sweep of the Western genre awards for one year. This novel was also a Book of the Month Club selection. The Homesman will one fine day be made into the extraordinary film it cries out to be, but until then remains Glendon Swarthout's other Western masterpiece, along with The Shootist, which became John Wayne's final film and also won a Spur Award as the Best Western Novel of 1975 from the Western Writers of America.

The Homesman is a devastingly, humane story of early pioneers in America's West in the 1850's. It celebrates the ones we hear nothing of -- the brave women whose hearts and minds were broken by that life of bitter hardship. When a nineteen-year-old mother loses her 3 childrento diphtheria in three days, or a woman left alone for two nights has to shoot wolves as they crash through her window, it is no wonder they should lose their minds. After a dreadful winter, the Rev. Dowd finds there are 4 such cases in his parish and, as yet, no asylum.

A "homesman" must be found to escort these women East to civilization. Not a job anyone would volunteer for, it falls to Mary Bee Cuddy, ex-teacher, spinster -- indomitable, resourceful, "plain as an old tin pail." Brave as she is, Mary Bee knows she cannot succeed alone -- and the only companion available is as low-life and untrustworthy as may be: "George Briggs" the claim-jumper.

Thus begins a trek East, against the flow of the country, against hardship, Indian attacks, ice storms, loneliness, and the unceasing aggravation of a disparate group of mad women, which provides a series of tough, fast-paced adventures and introduces two wonderful, idiosyncratic characters. This is the tale of their journey, and a tribute to the valor of the men and women who homesteaded the frontier, whether they survived or not. The Homesman is narrative fiction of the first rank. And in Mary Bee Cuddy, Glendon Swarthout has created a portrait of a frontier woman that is as moving and believable as it is unforgettable.

Reviews -- "An epic journey across the plains...It is as good as novels get." Cleveland Plain Dealer

"One of Swarthout's best...An absorbing epic of endurance." Kirkus Reviews

""Glendon Swarthout is a master storyteller...The Homesman is one hell of a ride." Los Angeles Daily News

"No reader should attempt to guess what happens. Surprise piles upon surprise...Glendon Swarthout has honed writing excellence to a nearly unsurpassable level...A powerful novel...A classic of vivid realism and gripping storytelling." Associated Press

"Captures both the adventurous spirit and realities of frontier life." Booklist, the American Library Association

"Love and madness on the frontier...totally involving from its very first words...a dangerous journey into the soul, an exploration of the relationships of men and women to each other, to their environment and ultimately and most devastatingly -- to themselves...impressive...shattering...convincing...nothing less thana study of the human spirit." Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Swarthout's tale reeks with period atmosphere...A very good story rich in characterization...Pioneer passions...Earthy stuff with which the West was won." El Paso Herald Post

"A classic of Western Americana. Filled with the sights, sounds, and daily trivia of frontier life and peopled with authentic characters...A novel that can't be put down and once finished will not easily be forgotten." Flint, Michigan Journal