Leaping Man Hill [Paperback]

Carol Emshwiller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1998

A beautiful family novel, set on a Western ranch around 1915, about adversity, recovery, love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Revisiting California's Owens Valley and the Ledoyt family in 1915, Emshwiller (Ledoyt) elucidates the grim realities of her characters' lives with poetic tenderness. In spare but animated prose, she illuminates the healing power of love in the story of narrator Mary Catherine, who has come to the Ledoyts' farm after a harrowing childhood spent with a series of abusive stepfathers and a self-centered mother. Plainspoken Mary Catherine has been hired to teach Abel, the fatherless, nine-year-old boy who has never learned (or perhaps never wanted) to speak, but communicates in mischievous ways. His mother, Oriana, has lost touch with reality, living in the past when her husband was alive. Abel's older sister, Charlotte, cruelly burdened with the responsibility of running the family farm, has also suffered loss in the death of her dream of being an artist, while Abel's brother Fay and cousin Henny are angry, violent and brooding. Henny is bitter and self-loathing after losing his arm in battle, and though Mary is first attracted to Fay, she falls in love with the withdrawn Henny. Their romance is riddled with obstacles, mainly because Henny has lost the desire to be a part of society. Mary Catherine's evolution is touching; initially a frightened hired girl who believes that "everything I've ever hoped was too much to hope for," she becomes an integral part of the Ledoyt family. Under her care, Abel discovers speech, and Henny confronts his own fears when he fights for her love. Emshwiller borrows elements of traditional romance, but layers her plot with dimensional characters whose emotional depth and yearnings are explored in alternating viewpoints and distinctive voices. Permeated with Western atmosphere and studded with small surprises, this is both a heartfelt family drama and a tender love story that marks Emshwiller as a writer of distinctive talent. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Here Emshwiller ostensibly continues the story of the Ladd family, begun in Ledoyt. However, this sequel concentrates on the experiences of Mary Catherine, who has come to the Ledoyt ranch to tutor the mute child Abel. Those familiar with Ledoyt are reintroduced to Charlotte and her mother, brother Abel, and half brother Fay. As the book opens, Mary Catherine focuses her attention on coaxing Abel to speak. However, soon after meeting cousin Henny, who was wounded in World War I, Mary Catherine must struggle to avoid suffering from unrequited love. Emshwiller employs narrative shifts among the characters just as successfully as she did in the first Ledoyt novel. Her portrayal of the Western landscape is keen and vivid and her dialog robust yet sensitive. Recommended for all libraries.AFaye A. Chadwell, Univ. of Oregon Libs., Eugene
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Mercury House (July 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562791117
• ISBN-13: 978-1562791117
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,087,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars tormented minds and aching hearts, January 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Leaping Man Hill (Paperback)

Besides the fact that the main character's mind chatter is like my own worst paranoia-worry-mind manifested, this book is beautifuly written. The author gives us a visual cacophony presented as characters and landscape, a symphony of sounds in the hills of the old west and heartache thick enough to swallow the reader up. This novel is a sensory delight. Just enough joy and just enough pain to make it a human experience worth relating to.

5.0 out of 5 stars I Love This Book, July 1, 2005

By 

mimi demare - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leaping Man Hill (Paperback)

I inherited this book and thus didn't have Ledoyt, the book which comes before it. It didn't matter. The story stands on its own and it is wonderful. Beautifully written--never over-written, though--beautifully perceived and understood humans. I can't say how much I like this book. As soon as I finished it I ordered Ledoyt.

Mimi