The Trackers is a story that reveals a lesser-known aspect of history, as Frazier takes the reader out west during the Great Depression. The story follows an artist, Val, who moves to a small Wyoming town to paint a mural in a post office. His job is part of the WPA effort to employ artists to bring art and joy to those affected by hard economic times. While in Wyoming, Val links up with a local rancher and his wife, and soon finds himself on a quest to bring the wife back home. Frazier can paint a picture and tell a story well. I do wish more of the story would have focused on Val's painting, but the journey to bring Eve home was enjoyable nonetheless.

Charles Frazier’s The Trackers is a beautifully descriptive novel about Depression-era painter Val Welch and his trip to Wyoming to paint a mural. There he meets John and Eve Long. I voluntarily read a complimentary copy of this well-written book with mystery, suspense, and distrust throughout its pages. Well done, Charles Frazier, master storyteller!

“The Trackers” by Charles Frazier is a tale of romance, broken dreams, and adventure. Set in Wyoming during the latter part of the Great Depression, we see how Valentine Welch inadvertently becomes entangled in the relationship of Eve, a former traveling singer, and John, a war vet with dreams of becoming a senator. Val takes a WPA job as muralist for the local post office. He rooms at John & Eve’s cattle ranch where he not only learns about people with means but also learns about the rough life of racking from Faro, the ranch boss. Val’s life is turned upside down when Eve suddenly leaves and John sends Val to “track” her whereabouts in Seattle, Florida, and San Francisco. But while tracking Eve he loses track of his initial mission of completing the mural.

When reading the novel, I kept imagining it as a movie. It would be a great movie with the right cast. Val reminds me of Nick Carraway from “The Great Gatsby” because he is an interloper who unknowingly is used by others. I would encourage my students in AP Lit to read this book.

Thank you to Charles Frazier, HarperCollins, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved this one! I thought Frasier beautifully captured a time, place, and mood in our history being the Depression with such character and it was so well-written

I just couldn't get into this one, the lack of punctuation and movement in the storyline was too much.

I have enjoyed Frazier’s writing and storytelling ever since I read Cold Mountain. That remains my favorite of his novels. This story of a young, idealistic painter commissioned to paint a mural on a post office wall in Wyoming as part of the New Deal WPA program is enjoyable in many ways . The descriptions of the landscape across the country, the realistic feel of what was happening in the country during this post Depression era and the protagonist himself are among the pluses here. The story line is interesting as Val paints his mural of three trackers to portray something of the areas history and then as he becomes involved with people in the town and becomes a tracker himself. I might have given it 4 stars if it weren’t so very slow moving. As much as I liked the writing and wanted to know more about Val, the pace of the story kept me from enjoying this as much as I’d hoped. I recommend this to tried and true Frazier fans for the writing.


I received a copy of this book from Ecco through NetGalley.

3 stars
“I’ll tell a campfire tale too, but no ghosts or big bears that need to be killed…My story is messy…..Val, good Lord, you don’t interrupt a campfire story.”

Frazier has a good concept of an epic cross-country journey, set during the Depression, 1937. I liked the historical tidbits he embedded, noting what was happening in the country: the search for Amelia Erhard, Duke Ellington playing Caravan, the Golden Gate Bridge.

His writing is solid and sparse, “Up above the redwood tops, chalky black light swelled. On the ground, green-tinged darkness,” but the characters were weird, unpredictable, and seemed lost. “All three Orsons hardly moved, perfectly happy to sit in total silence for minutes at a time between short bursts of questioning me. Time dragged forward reluctantly. “(Reviewer note – yes, it did.)

The Trackers was a love story – but not; an adventure/ western tale – but not quite. Just rambling over the range, framed with frontier justice and some other messiness.

Not one of Charles Frazier's best, but an insightful look at a time in American history. Very hard to top Cold Mountain.

Just the kind of book I love to read! It was so very atmospheric. Frazier has been one of my favorite authors since reading Cold Mountain, and this was a triumph. At times I was uncertain if Frazier could shove all that was promised between the covers... somehow it was done without a hitch.
A great book club read. Lots to "see" and you will not be bored.

I had a very difficult time getting into this book for some reason. I really wanted to like it and hoped that as I continued it would get better, but for me it just didn't.

I was disappointed in what to me was a lack of good character development. None of the characters nor the story resonated with me. I didn't love any of the characters and I tend to be more character-driven. I have to somehow feel connected to the characters and/or their stories but I wasn't. As far as the story's plot goes, I thought it was a good idea that (again, for me) just didn't work.

Neither did I find the story itself engaging or intriguing. I almost did a DNF but because it was a free e-ARC from NetGalley decided it would only be right to finish it.

One helluva book by Charles Frazier. This story of the wild west of Depression-era America paints a great portrait of a world not too often explored, and I was hooked from page one. The mystery at the center of the story was compelling, but what was especially interesting about this book was Frazier's ability to create a vivid picture of the world of 1930's Wyoming and beyond.

Great story of life during and after the Great Depression, as the nation was rebuilding and art investments were being made. Val is an artist, hired to paint a mural in the post office and stays at the Long Ranch. Infamous in its own right, we slowly learn about the elusive Long family and are taken on a wild romp across America to track Eve down. A great read!

A bit slow at times, but the descriptions of the place and time period were wonderful. Happy to have a different sort of historical fiction to recommend.

The lead in this Great Depression saga is young painter Valentine Welch, who heads to small-town Dawes, Wyoming in order to paint a New Deal mural for its Post Office.

Art lover and ex-WW I sniper John Long has offered to put Val up in a cabin on his nearby ranch. Staying there embroils Val in the lives of Long and his much younger wife Eve, who used to sing in a western swing band.

After Eve leaves with a valuable Renoir, Long presses Val to search for her, which takes him to San Francisco, Seattle and the Florida swamps - and back again.

The author's lyrical descriptions of Val's trials and surroundings pull reader interest at least as much as the mystery of Eve.

Interesting, in a light and breezy 1930’s way, and dark, in a Southern gothic way. But the characters were a bit too slippery for me to feel much for them.

I have enjoyed Charles Fraziers novels, and this one does to disappoint. Val Welch has come to Dawes, Wyoming to paint a mural in the post office. He is funded by a New Deal program to support artists during the Great Depression. A wealthy landowner has offered him housing while he completes his project, which is to paint a hopeful picture of the heroic people who helped to settle the west. John Long, the landowner, his trophy wife and a curmudgeonly rancher soon become involved in his life. Uneducated Eve seemed to have not much in common with her husband and when her husband's intents to become governor of the state become clear, she takes a valuable painting and runs away. Del is charged with finding her. His journeys take him from Florida, where the pictures of life in the depression there are strikingly different than Florida today, to Portland and Seattle. If you haven't lived it, or have not been told tales of the Great Depression, you will gain a new insight about life during that tumultuous time.. You will also have an opportunity to think about morality, life choices and what it takes to paint a mural. I received this a an arc from NetGalley and under no pressure for a positive review.

I really enjoyed this book and Charles Frazier did not disappoint. Set in the Depression era, the story line about the artists was very interesting and historically accurate. The characters were well-drawn and the artist turned detective depicts the portrait of America at that time.

Loved this tightly wound western noir. Great character building, and lovely descriptions of the West.

A New Deal painting assignment in Wyoming begins an epic American road trip to find Eve after she disappears from her Wyoming home.

I thought it was nicely written with a lot of Americana and American life and struggle during the Depression.

Themes:
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My feelings: 🙂🤓

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A quick read, but sort of flat for me. It would have been a lot more dynamic/personal very easily. Easy and ordinary!