The Outsider [Mass Market Paperback]

Penelope Williamson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1997

After Rachel Yoder's husband is murdered by outlaws in an act of outrageous greed, she must raise her 10-year-old son alone on the Montana Plains. One day, a handsome stranger dying from a gunshot wound walks into her ranch. With simple kindness, she treats his injury and nurses him back to health. Soon Rachel finds herself drawn to this mysterious outsider with a violent past--and must put her future on the line for a last chance at happiness.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For her latest western romance, Williamson (Heart of the West) adapts the recipe used in the John Wayne film Angel and the Badman (itself retooled for Harrison Ford in Witness): take one strong-willed, God-fearing Plain woman; add one worldly tough guy with a penchant for firearms; dramatize the difference between redemption and revenge; and stir. Time passes steadily with a "sweet sameness" for the hardworking Plain People in the Montana mountain valley where they raise their sheep, until one bleak late-winter day in 1886, when wounded gunslinger Johnny Cain staggers into widow Rachel Yoder's hay meadow, leaving a trail of bloody footprints. Rachel tends to the handsome stranger, who gradually recovers and seems to bond with Benjo, her stuttering nine-year-old son. Filled with "the smells of fried mush and blood," "the sour stink of sheep" and "the whispered perfume of apple blossoms," The Outsider contains plenty of details that nicely evoke the hardships of life on the frontier, along with the simple joys. Dialogue ranges from terse (Plain people aren't big talkers) to corny: "I know I'm nothin' but a worthless chippy, a whore, a tart, sportin' gal and fancy gal," says the town prostitute to the town doctor. The plot is unreservedly melodramatic, as some evil ranchers plot against the Plain people and Johnny and Rachel hem and haw their way toward consummating their forbidden love. But there are enough supporting characters and subplots to keep historical romance fans turning the pages all the way to the bittersweet ending, in which the relative merits of revenge and redemption come to somewhat of a stalemate.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Williamson's follow-up to Heart of the West (LJ 2/15/95) provides the same realistic sense of place and time that have made her characters and story lines so compelling in the past. Rachel Yoder is a widow with a young son living alone on a struggling sheep ranch. Her husband, Ben, was unjustly hanged for cattle rustling. When a wounded gunman shows up on her doorstep, Rachel takes him in, nurses him back to health, and then hires him to help her through the sheep-shearing season. Rachel's strong religious beliefs and ties to her Plains religious community contribute to her angst as she tries to ignore her growing attraction to Johnny Cain. Her final decision whether to turn her back on family, her heritage, and her God and choose an uncertain future with Johnny is a poignant moment that won't leave many readers unmoved. This is rich, wonderful reading sure to please any fan of good old-fashioned storytelling. Strongly recommended for all public libraries.
-?Margaret Hanes Sterling Heights P.L., Mich.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Vision (August 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446604771
• ISBN-13: 978-0446604772
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.9 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #555,260 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable!, March 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Outsider (Mass Market Paperback)

I have never been so affected by a book as I was reading THE OUTSIDER. This book is absolutely incredible! It is the story of two very different people who come together to find the most beautiful and sweetest love, and of one man's figurative journey from the utter depths of hell to the light of heaven.

I think what made me love this book so much is the depth of the characterizations, especially that of the hero. Ms. Williamson writes with a lyric beauty that makes you come to know the mind, heart, and soul of *all* the characters. I can't quite find the words to describe the hero, Johnny Cain. He is so completely lost, so very tortured, and so desperately in need of love....and the heroine, Rachel, gives to to him wholeheartedly, and by doing so, saves him. Ironically, there is only one scene in the entire book, where we get a glimpse of Johnny's thoughts. Because Johnny is an "outsider", we never learn what he thinks and feels, never see his point of view (a quite ingenious and appropriate [but at times, a bit frustrating] tool, I must say). Except for one scene at near the end, and oh, what a heartbreaking scene it is! A life long man-killer, Johnny believes himself to be beyond redemption, ("I *like* being damned," he says at one point) but it soon becomes poignantly clear that he craves and needs redemption (and the hope that comes with it) above all else. There is an aching sweetness and tenderness to Johnny Cain, the notorious, hardened killer, that makes him so unforgettable. I completely fell in love with him. ;-)

I know I haven't mentioned anything about the plot or the other characters, but, to me, it is Johnny, the outsider, that defines this book.

Needless to say, THE OUTSIDER is a very emotional, and often difficult, read. I don't think I've ever cried so much while reading a book. The last 30 pages or so are especially sad and poignant...I don't want to give anything away, but I have never seen a hero and heroine go through what Johnny and Rachel did.

I cannot say enough about Ms. Williamson's writing. She is truly unparalleled. I've read two more of her books, and loved them both, but this one is definitely my favorite (if not favorite book I have ever read). Thank you so much for this book, and for creating Johnny Cain. :-)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful, Moving Book! Simply Awesome!, April 28, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Outsider (Hardcover)

"The Outsider"is the best book I read during the Year 1996.
There are books which you read and are almost immediately forgotten. Then, there are some will linger in your mind and heart forever. "The Outsider" is one of these rare books. There is an awesome beauty about this books which makes it one of the most unforgettable book I have every read.
The story takes place in an Amish community. Rachel is one of the Plain people. She takes care of her 10 year old son while trying to run a small sheep farm. Her life is one of religious contentment - until "the outsider' comes into her life and stirs passions she had thought buried with her husband. Johnny Cain, a famous gunslinger, comes badly wounded into her life. Rachel soon realized underneath the harsh exterior lies a soul which is crying out for love. Cain believes that he is damned and there is no redemption for him. Rachel, gentle and kind, gives him a ray of hope and he begins to slowly accept that there is some good in him. It is a joy to watch their love for each other slowly grow and finally blossom into the rare and beautiful flower it is. Their growing love for each other is complicated by the obvious, her religion. Rachel fights the attraction she feel for him. Her pious brother-in-law who is also in love with her does not help to make things easy and he continues to judge and criticize her.
The ending of the story is sure to bring tears to readers' eyes. Rachel allows love to guide the hard choices that she has to make. With "The Outsider", Ms Williamson establishes herself as one of the best of the genre. "The Outsider" is a major achievement. It is a hauntingly moving and powerful story. The language of the book is like beautiful poetry, but there is a simplicity that reflects the gentle qualities of the Plain People. One of the qualities I admire about the book is that Ms Williamson's portrayal of the Plain People is detailed and realistic. She lets us see them as the gentle, simple folk they are but we also see the inherent cruelty in their ways.
Ms Williamson, I feel honored to have read this book.
Wayne Jorda

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful, captivating surprise!, December 20, 2004

By 

Thelma Rose "thelma-rose" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Outsider (Hardcover)

I happened upon the Showtime movie based on this book and was totally entranced by it. Imagine my joy to read "Based upon the novel by Penelope Williamson" among the movie credits! I immediately found the novel on Amazon, ordered it and received it within a few days. I could not put it down! I am not a fan of "bodice rippers", but I do like an interesting historical romance if the characters aren't caricatures, as so many are. Well, Johnny Cain and Rachel Yoder, despite their romance novel names, are anything but! Ms. Williamson is brave enough to give her characters flaws like ordinary human beings. Johnny Cain, when he stumbles upon Rachel's farm, is not a completely likeable or charming guy, but it is believable that he would be taken in by the love and warmth of Rachel's home and family - especially when the reality of his own origins surface. I could have done with a little less of the prostitute/doctor story line but, all in all, it was one of the best books I have read! The ending of the book is somewhat darker than the movie's version, but it moved me so that I reread it several times! I rate this novel right up there with another of my favorites, "Outlander"! Watch the movie (it's available on Amazon, I think), then read the book. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.