I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. Not my usual style or genre, or even time period. But it was interesting, and the main character was easy to root for.

A great story told in the time period and vernacular of the era. Its hard not reading this with a southern accent in your mind. Jessa is a great character to admire and route for.

I love coming-of-age tales with female protagonists. Think Ree Dolly in Daniel Woodrell's WINTER'S BONE or the incomparable Mattie Ross in Charles Portis's classic, TRUE GRIT. Now Kate Anger has added to that wonderful tradition with the story of Jessa Campbell. Set in the late 1900s in Texas, seventeen-year-old Jessa is unexpectedly sent away by her father to settle a family debt. In her lonely and dangerous travels, she becomes involved with a treacherous man named Will Keyes, and ends up pregnant and abandoned. Upon finding her way back home, her father, furious, sets out on a vengeance tour. What happens will forever alter the course for this family. Anger's writing is beautiful and lush. She brings alive the flora and landscape like an artist with a brush. Some of her sentences are just breathtaking. This hardscrabble but poetic tale is highly recommended.

A mesmerizing read both for the story and the excellent writing itself! The story is so engaging that I simply couldn't put it down until I finished. The author is excellent at portraying both her characters and her setting. I could see everything clearly in my mind and I felt like I was right there, experiencing it myself. This is the kind of book I'd use in a literature or a history class because I would be confident that my students would totally engage with the subject matter and I know it would provoke all kinds of discussion. It's right up there with To Kill A Mockingbird. I can't wait to read what the author writes next. I hope this will gain wide readership.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book. It's a total keeper!

this was a great historical novel, I loved getting to this time-period and meeting the characters. It was great to watch the characters grow. The story was a really well done story and I could feel the struggle that was happening in this book. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and I felt the emotions during this story, they felt like a true family. Kate Anger is a great writer and I look forward to where she goes from here.

"They nodded. She waited less than ten seconds after they left to slide open the window and slip outside. She ran. Fear made her fast. She considered running all the way home. Ten miles back to the Shinnery. But then her father would know everything, be crushed by it."