It's hard to deny Tea Obreht's talent for luminous prose--The Tiger's Wife glowed with the poetry of her language. Inland is a more difficult and less rewarding read: despite the glorious language, these characters are harder to connect with and the reader has to work harder to tumble into the story.

DNF. I loved The Tiger’s Wife, and have tried to like Inland, but at almost half-way through I am struggling to connect to any of the characters, and to find the thread of the two stories which are meant to come together. The writing, in places, is luminous and full of poetic beauty, and then it gets bogged down in wordiness. Some have described this as a thriller, but I have found it dull and meandering and have finally given up – two stars, which feels both generous and not nearly enough for an author I so badly wanted to love again.

I just couldn’t engage with these two stories enough to stick with this one. Quite descriptive, but the plot appears to be non-existent about 20% in

Not 100% sure why I requested this one. It is not something I would normally read. I feel bad saying so but I see why this isn't my thing. I decided to not finish about 12% in because I just couldn't connect to the story. I'm sure it's lovely but so not my thing.

This is the most unique book I've come across in a long while. The reader is led on a peculiar journey of two characters: the first of an immigrant written in the first person through discussion with his dearest friend (whose identity will certainly surprise you), and the second of an American frontier woman written in the third person (who has unexpected conversations of her own). Throughout the story, these two seemingly unrelated story lines keep the reader guessing. It is in the convergence of these two narratives that everything ultimately becomes clear.

Obreht is a talented writer, no doubt. The confluence of her talent and intellect makes for a compelling read. I must, however, admit that this novel takes a certain amount of patience, as the author's method of writing, though appealing, is also somewhat obscure. Initially I thought this novel was headed down an eerie path, then I thought it could possibly be a murder mystery, but then it veered once again. Eventually, I discovered it was a historical fiction novel, and learned about the little known U.S. Army Camel Corp. which made it a worthwhile read. I must admit, I would've like the stories to have been a bit more intertwined, as I was expecting a major "Aha" moment during the climax. So, for those of you that like having a general idea where the narrative is headed, this novel may prove frustrating, especially when it is much like reading two separate stories. However, if you're game for a very different style of storytelling, one that requires thought and patience, this is a novel you'll enjoy for its uniqueness.

Many thanks to Random House and Net Galley for gifting me with this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. This title will be released on August 13, 2019.

You could describe Inland as a Western, a ghost story, or historical fiction and it is all of that and more. I think of it like a man and a woman soul searching, looking for forgiveness and reason in a very harsh world. There are many parallels to water and nourishment.
Nora needs love and nourishment of her soul because of the harsh climate and her singlehandedly having to take care of her family and ranch while her husband is searching for water. Lurie seems to be searching for adventure but realizes it does not nourish his soul. The land is in dire need of water and the story also includes camels who are able to do things that horses and men cannot in the harsh desert. The writing is lyrical and descriptive and full of longing for an easier way of life. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

In the mid-1800s Lurie, who is brought as a child by his father to the US from Bosnia, travels west. Nora is an American woman who moves to Arizona in the late 1800s. From this simple premise Obreht has written an engrossing novel of the challenges encountered by those who try to survive create a meaningful life under harsh conditions. Both Lurie and Nora face down their own internal demons caused by the death of others. Lurie sees some of these people while Nora’s speaks to her in her head.

Obreht uses American history of this time period and these two remarkable characters to talk about truth and deception, the human desire to connect with those who have died, and mental survival under times of extreme stress.

The writing is remarkable. I was able to clearly see, hear, and smell the environment around the characters. The Lurie sections are written in first person, while the Nora sections are in third which illustrates Obreh’ts writing talent.

This is a book to read slowly in order to absorb every sentence, scene, and chapter. It is magnificent.

Having received this from NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - many thanks - I honestly have to say that I found this story hard to engage with. While I got the premise of the story, I’m just not enjoying the book and that’s what I read for. It’s not bad writing, it’s simply a disconnect for me with its maundering pace. I’ve returned to it a few times, and sadly am resigned to add it to my did not finish list.

Thank you for not writing another novel set during WWII but a Western instead! A little confusing at times but the writing was excellent and kept me going. Ended up loving it.

Inland is a very well written book that nonetheless left me cold. I've struggled for weeks now to get past 40%, but I've found it too unrelentingly depressing to continue. The novel opens well, painting a clear picture of the landscapes and lives of the protagonists, but it was alternately too painful and too dull to continue. Obreht is a great technical writer and I hope to read more of her work someday, but not this one, alas.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC.

3.5
Ok. My mind was totally unprepared for this. Honestly, I didn't know what I was getting myself into except for the fact that the author is Obreht and that I quite enjoyed her debut, The Tiger's Wife.

On my first attempt, I just couldn't get into the story. But once again, it's her special way with words that I gave it another try. And I was sure glad I did. Second attempt was much better.

This novel was set in the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory in 1893. It revolved around Nora, an indomitable frontierswoman, who was waiting for the return of her husband who had gone in search of water and her sons who had left home after a rowdy dispute; and Lurie, an outlaw escaping from the authorities, turned cameleer for the Camel Corp, Both stories were told in different times - Nora's took place over one day, Lurie's over decades. When they finally 'met', I was blown away. That canteen...wow.. The canteen that held the water that held the past, the future, hopes, dreams, fears.

Lurie and Nora couldn't seem to let go of the past, although Lurie seemed to be making an attempt by moving farther away from it, and not letting the voices of his dead loved ones drown his thoughts; while Nora was trying hard to keep the memories of her daughter alive and continued to talk to her everyday, and did not want to move from Amargo, where she and her husband had started their family, no matter the circumstances.

My take? It felt almost as though Lurie was meant to make this journey for that tin canteen to be handed over to Nora, to give her hope and the strength that she needed, to move on.

If you have this book in your hands, step away from all distractions, clear your mind, take a deep breath, then dive in.

If you're reading this because you enjoyed The Tiger's Wife, all I can say is just don't expect the magical elements from her debut to be present here.

That said, I'd only recommend this to those who enjoy reading magical realism and (very) slow-paced, yet beautifully written novels.

Thank you #Netgalley and #RandomHouse for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This novel contains some of the most beautifully written sentences I've had the pleasure of reading. I'm looking forward to reading and discussing this book with one of my book clubs later this year.

Read this on a long car ride. As I am a huge fan of historical fiction and The Tigers Wife I had high expectations for this book. I have to admit it was very difficult to read, especially the beginning. I kept nodding off as I just didn’t connect with the characters or storyline, which was very chaotic and chopped up, with seemingly no flow. I committed to finishing it. Either the ending was better or I was less tired but it seemed somewhat more cohesive. Sadly to say, it definitely did not live up to my initial expectations. Thank you to Tea Obreht, Random House, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book to be published on August 13th.

Inland is a western, but a new and exciting kind (to me, anyway). Think News of the World or The Son, with non-stereotypical characters, exquisitely descriptive settings, and almost fantasy-like plot lines. Obreht writes beautiful sentences that you will marvel at, but her writing never fails to tell a terrific story.

In the midst of a drought in the Arizona Territories in 1893, we meet Nora, an independent frontierswoman, and Lurie, a former outlaw. Nora is waiting for her husband and sons to return to the parched homestead, while her youngest son is convinced that there is a mysterious beast prowling about. Lurie is haunted by the ghosts of his past who want him to take an epic journey. Nora’s story is told in one long, hot day, while Lurie’s takes place over decades. Their intersection is the perfect combination of magic and realism.

While the book is densely written, required my attention, and I had to start again from the beginning after I stopped reading for a few days, once I understood that both Nora and Lurie speak to the dead and read about the U.S. Army’s camel corps, it was one of the best books I’ve read in quite a while. Read to the very end and you will be rewarded.

Tiger's Wife was recommended to me, sounded intriguing - I thoroughly enjoyed the first 61% of book.
I was mesmerized by story...then it became more difficult to follow. But as I was in beginning of book I requested and received an ARC of Inland.

I started Inland taking notes to help me follow the story
then I became confused about The Missouri section .. who, who, who?
I thoroughly enjoyed the Amargo section
The San Antonio had me confused again... I had to reread it and study hard to follow storyline.
this continues for remainder of the book.

Tea is an excellent and talented writer, and I thoroughly enjoy how she describes- she is talented
Then she goes down the other path too deeply and I am confused and I do not enjoy it at all.
I am torn to say 5 stars or 2 stars...some of her writing I would be pushing the book in everyone's hands
Then her other writing has me asking somebody to read it
to explain to me the storyline because I cannot figure it out.

I had a really hard time getting into this book. The book was well written but I just couldn't engage with the plot.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

Goodreads Review, Posted 5/25/19:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2824909541?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1


Text:
This novel may not be everyone's cup of tea (or cool drink of water), but I absolutely loved it. Tea Obrecht's writing is vivid and breathtaking and her insight into the the motivations and "want" of the human spirit are stunning. If, like me, you jot down beautiful phrases, descriptions and passages from books you eat so that you are able to linger over and recall them later, you'll be reaching for your journal quite often while reading this book.

Two stories run parallel for most of the book, one a rousing invocation of a forgotten chapter in the history of the American Southwest and the other a heart wrenching view into the loneliness and hardship of one Arizona frontier woman's life. Obrecht has a distinctive narrative voice and I know of no other writer who can so effortlessly fuse the fantastical with the grit and brutality of real life under trying circumstances. Maybe I was smitten by this book because I love forgotten histories or because the West is a mythical and familiar landscape in my own life. All I know for sure is that or I'm a sucker for a really good story and "Inland" is all that and more.

The jest of the novel revolves around the struggle in the drought ridden Arizona desert of late 1800s with young mother "Nora" who has been left to defend the family's" homestead while awaiting the return of her husband who left in search of water but has never returned.

Its while shes waiting and worrying that she meets "Lurie"
a Turkish immigrant whose hard upbringing has changed him into a wanted outlaw on the run from his past and for his future .
Though though storyline did drag in certain chapters it always moved along nicely again . What I enjoyed most about this novel than others I have read of late were .
1.Unquieness to both pioneer characters make up from other HF books .
2. Love how eloquently the author makes her OWN UNIQUE statements..these are keepers to share in a Hallmark card !

Immersive in a time and place we think is familiar, Inland joins and stands out from what seems to me to be a flourishing of the "Western" - think The News of the World, Outlander, The Sisters Brothers, The Heavenly Table and The Son. The focus is on characters who are anything but stereotypical but instead are outcasts in some way. Independent women, immigrants not far from their birth cultures, children with physical/mental differences. It is books like this that keep me enthusiastically reading.

Homeless and orphaned at age six, Lurie survived by working with "the Coachman" and sleeping in his stable. He helped collect "...lodgers who'd passed in their sleep, or had their throats cut by bunkmates." Grave robbing was included. Lurie developed a hunger. "A hunger that could not be satisfied...the want grew and grew." Apprehended by the law, he was sent away with other ruffians to the midwest. Securing a job at a mercantile and working with co-workers Donovan and Hobb Mattie, small robberies morphed into stagecoach robberies by the "Mattie Gang". Lurie was now a wanted man, on the run from Marshall John Berger.

Nora Lark felt "unbounded" by husband Emmett's move from town to town "to get away from all his mistakes and shortfalls." Nora was fiercely protective of their homestead in Amargo, Arizona territory. The year was 1893. Emmett, with sons Rob and Dolan, ran a small press, the Sentinel. Nora cared for youngest son Toby, blinded in one eye from a riding accident, wheelchair bound Gramma, and seventeen year old Josie, who communicated with the dead, a clairvoyant of sorts.

In order to create inner peace, both Lurie and Nora needed and found comfort in strange ways. Nora conversed with deceased daughter, Evelyn. This was comforting when Emmett journeyed to Cumberland for water. The family rain barrel was almost depleted. Rob and Dolan go to work at the print shop, or do they? Nora awaits the return of her husband and sons. Lurie's inner peace comes when working as a cameleer. He "talks" with Burke, his trusty camel, one of the pack animals for the U.S. cavalry.

"Inland" by Tea Obreht was filled with the struggles of frontier settlers living inland. The Camel Corps was instrumental in carrying salt, dry goods, even mail. Camels could bear heavier loads and in less time than horses. Author Obreht has taken two seemingly distinct storylines and masterfully connected them in a fascinating, poignant historical novel. Highly recommended.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group-Random House and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Inland".