Shadow Ranch: Novel, A [Paperback]

Jo-Ann Mapson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 1997

The impact of four-year-old Spencer's death has rocked the Carpenter family. For Lainie, the loss of her son is unbearable, and now both her marriage and her very sanity are threatened. Her guitar-obsessed, slacker brother Russell isn't doing very well either, and his own love relationship is rapidly coming undone. Then there's Bop, her fierce and crusty 80-year-old grandfather. When he falls in love with a retired stripper, their earthy romance touches each of the Carpenters' lives in unexpected ways.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Mapson combines larger-than-life characters and earthy dialogue in a story with more suds than substance. It's been three long years since Lainie Carpenter's four-year-old son died from heart disease, and none of the Carpenters has fully recovered from the loss. Patriarch Charles Russell Carpenter II, a thrice-married cowboy-millionaire who resides in a dilapidated Frank Lloyd Wright house, can't fix his family's problems with money no matter how hard he tries. Granddaughter Lainie, awash in unpaid hospital bills and chronic depression, is at odds with both her grandfather and her husband. Lainie's brother, Russell, feels trapped by a soulless relationship with a divorcee. Their luck begins to change when Charles weds his fourth wife, a brash former stripper who helps the family reconcile. Mapson creates likable characters and has a breezy, readable style, but she loads down her characters with more than their fair share of life's problems. Still, even as readers grow weary of the onslaught, the relentless pull of her narrative will keep them glued to the page. Joanne Wilkinson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Yet another sensitive family drama set in today's New West from the author of Hank & Chloe (1993) and Blue Rodeo (1994)--this one featuring a rich and feisty California octogenarian, his ex- stripper lover, and the troubled grandchildren who disapprove, disapprove, disapprove. The Carpenter clan of southern California has been rich ever since the family-owned Shadow Ranch started shipping its citrus fruit all over the country, but its members have carried a curse through the generations as well. The curse takes the form of a defective heart--a genetic time bomb that has already taken the lives of 80-year-old Bop's grown son and his only great-grandson, four-year-old Spencer. It's hard for Bop's surviving grandchildren, Lainie and Russell, to understand why their gentle father had to die while irascible old Bop is still kicking in his landmark Frank Lloyd Wright house back on the bay--running through a series of gold-digging wives, riding his bad-tempered horse, and trying to run his grandkids' lives even though they stubbornly refuse to take his money. Lainie has enough problems as it is--trying to maintain her marriage and hold onto her part-time job in the wake of her son's death. Russell, whose casual love affairs and career as a used-record salesman have proved most galling to his grandfather, looks on the old man with greater equanimity--although when Bop takes up with Earlynn, an ex-stripper he spots on the Sally Jesse Raphael Show, Russell worries that Bop's worst faults may turn out to be his own. In the end, time heals all wounds, with help from good-hearted Earlynn, and the Carpenters find themselves happy at last, contrary to all expectations. Less eccentric and arresting than Hank & Chloe, with a way of rambling for long stretches, though Mapson's empathy for the modern western psyche still elucidates and entertains. (Literary Guild alternate selection; $40,000 ad/promo; author tour) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (March 28, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060928433
• ISBN-13: 978-0060928438
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #390,506 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

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartwarming, 10 hankie story, February 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Shadow Ranch: Novel, A (Paperback)

Once again, Jo-Ann Mapson wrings out your heart in this story of the Carpenters, Bop the grandfather, Lanie, his granddaughter, trying to recover from depression after losing her 4 year old son to the same heart disease that took her fathers life, and her brother Russell, a hippie throwback facing his own romantic troubles and trying to strum his troubles away on his guitars. None of them have healed from the loss of Spencer, Lanie's 4 year old, until Bop meets an ex-stripper with a heart of gold that helps to heal the rift between grandfather and grandkids. As a mother, I couldn't help but cry while I read the book and felt how painful it would be to lose your child.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A sensitive look at people who find love at different ages, December 5, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Shadow Ranch: A Novel (Paperback)

Have you ever had a book come along that you were "meant" to read? This past summer I saw Shadow Ranch at my local book store and bought it because I knew that it would be about life in Southern California, where I've always lived. It turned out to be the perfect book for me. I had just started a relationahip with an "older man," and along came this book about love and life and more importantly hope. A mature love affair can be a wonderful thing

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book..., May 19, 2008

By 

L. Baker (Show Low AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadow Ranch : Novel, A (Paperback)

This is probably my most favorite book of Jo Ann's and I've read all but one. The book came in good condition, but the service was sloooowwww.
Took almost 3 weeks!