5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fans of The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah will be drawn to The Hired Man by Sandra Dallas. This heartfelt coming-of-age story beautifully weaves together themes of kindness, resilience, trust, and justice, all with a touch of mystery and an unexpected twist. The characters are wonderfully crafted—likable yet layered—and I loved that you were never quite sure who could be trusted until the very end.

A propulsive and atmospheric novel exploring the meaning of justice and the effect prejudice can have on a small town.
This book was an engaging read, bringing to life the characters in a small town during the Dust Bowl, and the weight of suspicion and supposition on those less fortunate.
Enjoyed this very much!

Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martins Press for this eARC of The Hired Man by Sandra Dallas. This historical fiction set in the western USA during the dust bowl years finds the Kessler family hiring a man down on his luck to help around their farm. Dallas does an exceptional job of developing these characters and the many families and townspeople that surround them during this tough time in our country’s history. There are secrets kept and suspicions grow as a tragedy occurs involving Otis, the hired man. I found this book very compelling and hard to put down. I would highly recommend this book

Colorado, 1937 during the Dust Bowl. All that falls from the sky is dust. The story is well researched with deeply written characters. I highly suggest it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
I love the way Sandra Dallas creates her characters and brings the plot to life. This book easily kept my attention. There were a couple of twists that I didn't see coming. I don't want to give spoilers but this book does make you think about how people are treated.

My mind is still grappling with the twist and turns from this book. This is the first read from this author for me. Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC! I love a good historical fiction, but this one caught me with not only the history of the dust bowl, which I had little knowledge of, but also unexpected surprises. The story starts out with a small town during the dust bowl and a young girl who’s coming of age. Her family hires a wanderer, who the town is unpleased with because he’s not a local. There is a heaviness to this time period with the lack of food and the loss of every day luxuries, loss of life and the struggles during the dust bowl The family is the spotlight of all that is good and doing the right thing against all odds.The storyline kept my interest, and tho I typically can predict the outcome of a story, that was not the case in this story, I was left at the end, reviewing what happened and how I missed the plot twist coming. I I honestly might have to read it again just so that I can slow down and take it all in that being said there are some hard issues dealing with abuse and rape so this might not be a great read for younger readers.

A coming-of-age story for Martha Helen, a young woman growing up in Colorado in the 1930s amid the drought, dust bowl, and an ever increasing supply of vagrants. One day, in the middle of a huge dust storm, a vagrant (Otis Hobbs) stumbles to her family’s door with a half conscious boy he found buried in the dust. He becomes a room and board only “hired man” for the family, despite the ill will of many in the town. When a young girl is found murdered much later, the town is sure Otis is the perpetrator while Martha Helen’s family staunchly defends him.

Things don’t go the way you might expect — I won’t give anything away but I was happy that there was more to this story than the obvious. It’s a true coming-of-age, so we watch Martha Helen grow as more and more of the (not always pleasant or ethical) real world makes it into her awareness and eventually the composition of her adult self. In the process she reflects on loyalties, biases, good and evil, and understanding people as individuals. The town people really fell into “good” and “bad” categories, which normally feels shallow and manipulative to me. But in this case, you could see that those in the “good” category adhered to strongly held principles, while those in the “bad” category did not, either not having principles or literally not understanding when the crossed the line. It was particularly interesting to me to watch Martha Helen shift her understanding of individuals by watching what they actually did. Martha Helen put it well:

“For better or for worse, the drought and ill winds showed what we were made of. Some folks stole and cheated and hoarded. Others rose above the hardships and displayed strength and courage, even though it threatened to destroy them. The dust bowl changed us. Mr. Hobbs did too . During the time he lived with us, I grew up. I was barely more than a girl when he joined our family. By the time everything was over I was a woman.”

Good story, great characters, a real sense of place and time, all supported by writing that is so good and unobtrusive, you forget that you’re reading at all.

I've been a fan of Sandra Dallas since finding “The Persian Pickle Club” and was enthused to read and review her latest installment, “The Hired Men.”

The Kessler family, like many, are struggling to put food on the table, but still agree to hire a drifter, Otis Hobbs, to do work around the farm. Teenaged Martha and her best friend, Frankie, quickly crush on Otis but when Frankie’s body is discovered, all fingers point to Otis. Yet, the Kessler family continues to support him.

I am always amazed at how realistically Sandra Dallas can paint the scene in a variety of historical settings. But what Dallas’s novels especially memorable are her resilient protagonists and Martha Kessler is no exception. I had just finished reading “Before Dorothy,” which also deals with the plight farmers faced due to the dust storms. Yet, unlike some historical novels, the setting does not swallow up the characters—I really felt like, but that’s because Dallas brings plenty of heart to her characters, and it’s their perseverance that makes you want to keep reading.

Four and a half out of five stars.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and Net Galley for the privilege of reviewing this book.

Sandra Dallas has done it again--capturing my attention from the very first page.

Set in 1930's Colorado during the dust bowl, this gripping historical mystery follows young Martha Helen as she watches her mother offer shelter to a drifter despite the town's growing suspicion,
When murders begin, accusations fly. Is the stranger guilty--or is the truth far more shocking?

A fast-paced, twist-filled story of hope, heartbreak, fear and love. Excellent!Press for this ARC ans the opportunity to read and provide my own review.

In the time between the World Wars, and post stock market crash, drought conditions devastated a large swath of the country, reducing some towns from friendly communal places to towns where people were actively starving and desperate and suspicious of every new face.

When a stranger stumbles out of a dust cloud, holding a small boy, there is a mixed reaction by the townsfolk. While some are grateful that the child was found, more are suspicious as to why this man was the one to find him, and what he expected in return. It's a mean-spiritedness that is born out of hard times and fear. Mrs Kessler can't let this good deed go unrepaid, so she offers the man a job as hired man - work around the farm in exchange for a place to sleep and meals. Neighbors are angry and jealous because his presence means the Kesslers have enough to share with a stranger, while neighbors go with out.

Teen aged Martha Helen Kessler and her best friend Frankie are both attracted to and nervous about Otis's presence. He's good looking but older, and as part of his work arrangement Martha Helen has to see him at every meal. It is better to keep the lines clearly drawn. Frankie though has a different set of circumstances. Her angry defeated father beats her mother in frustration over a farm where nothing grows in the dust that blows non stop, but soon Frankie's mother leaves town and now Frankie is responsible for the house and her younger brothers. She looks at dating as a break from the misery but wonders if marrying any of the boys in town would amount to more than going from the frying pan into the fire. She flirts with Otis to Martha Helen's discomfort and the girls argue. As Frankie heads home a dust storm comes up and as everyone struggles to get to safety and then to clean up after the storm, they discover that Frankie never made it home.

A search party quickly gathers, because it is possible to 'dry drown' in the dust, so finding someone who's become disoriented by the dark clouds of dust, is a matter of life or death. Mr. Kessler, Otis, and Martha Helen join the search and eventually come across Frankie's lifeless body. Her shirt is missing, her skirt blown up, exposing her body. Did the wind do this? Animals? A man? Martha Helen is distraught and when the deputy Sherif wonders why of all the search groups, it was the group with Otis in it that found the body - a case of a criminal returning to the site of their crime? - she begins to have doubts about Otis.

The Kesslers meanwhile defend Otis, going so far as to use their savings to hire a lawyer to defend him. They are mindful that Martha Helen's older brother struggled after the war, and hoped that people were kind to him as he made his way home from California. We also learn that Mrs. Kessler had been unable to defend a man that came to her aid once and he was put to death when people misunderstood the situation. They feel a strong karmic debt and understand that being unemployed, or homeless isn't an indicator of evil. Mob justice isn't always just, but sometimes a person ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The details about this moment in time when dust was something that could kill you, or at the very least change your way of life are sobering. Erosion and drought meant that crops didn't grow, life stock couldn't really feed, stores closed down because people had no money to spend, men lost there livelihoods and took to the roads in search of work and a chance of a better life. Tramps or hobos, were everywhere. People feared them because they understood the desperation that lead them to this nomadic life, and because they knew that they were not so far from being cast out themselves. Women were expected to keep a household running with nothing and some, like the men who became hobos, chose to leave the misery they knew in hopes of finding something better, even if it meant leaving behind family.

Even those like the Kesslers, that still had a roof over their heads, some chickens and cows, enough to eat, still had to deal with the insidious dust. Days where after a storm, you would open a refrigerator and find the red or yellow dirt of another state inside it. Where all your once clean laundry that was inside your house, in your dresser drawers, would have to be washed again because it was now covered in dirt. It got everywhere and needed to be cleaned out.

Eventually, a rain storm comes out of nowhere and slowly life starts to go back to normal, the wind taking the dust and it's many secrets, with it.

I enjoyed this book for several reasons! This was a new author to me and I liked the way she wrote this story. I enjoy historical fiction and this had a mystery in it as well. I haven’t read anything really about the dust bowl during the depression before WWII and this book centers around a small town in the grip of depression. So many families got dusted out and had to move or starved to death. I was completely wrapped up in this story and I’ve already bought two more of her books.
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced copy.

Yowzah! This one was a wild ride! The story caught me up and didn't put it down until I was finished. Great writing, excellent story, fantastic plot twists and characters you'll love. Can't ask for more in a book.

This was sooooʻoo good!!! I loved every minute of it.
Im giving. This story 5 stars hands down!
I finished it one evening and even burned some midnight hours
I love anything written about the dust bowl era. Dallas does an amazing job with this one and it will be on ny shelf of favorites.
Wonderful characters that I enjoyed in getting to know too.
I didn't want to come back to the present.
I loved the murder mystery and Dallas did a great job of making us guess who it was. This is what kept me turning the pages.
Martha Helen is an unusual name but it's a pretty name. I thought she was wonderful!!
Did Otis kill Martha Helen's best friend or not? I'll let y'all read this well written story to find out!
Secrets never stay hidden for long do they?
I will be looking for more by her.
5 stars from me for a wonderful adventure!
My thanks for a copy of this book. I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine.

The Hired Man by Sandra Dallas is a coming of age novel intertwined with an eerie murder mystery. Dallas creates the atmosphere of desperation on farms and in a small town in eastern Colorado during the Dust Bowl effectively by showing the difficulty the drought and the dust storms have caused. Farms and businesses have failed, people are starving, women and children are often the target of men's frustration. In this setting Martha Helen interacts with her family who are still getting by on their farm. Some of her friends are not doing as well, when their family farms dry up. When a stranger rescues a young neighbor boy lost in a dust storm, Martha Helen's mother refuses to let him be run out of town for being a hobo. Dallas demonstrates the isolation and insularity of the High Plains through the reaction of neighbors and townspeople who want the hobo gone. When one of Martha Helen's girlfriends goes missing and is found murdered, suspicion immediately falls on the stranger. He is saved from a lynch mob and stands trial. He is found not guilty through a surprising admission by one of the witnesses. Martha Helen makes a disturbing discovery and there is a strange twist in the story. The final chapter occurs ten years later and tells what has happened to several of the characters. This is a tense story about growth and survival during hard times. Strongly recommended for readers of well researched historical fiction.

In 1937 Martha Helen's family takes in a drifter. Her best friend is found murdered. they suspect the drifter, but did he do it?

This is the first novel I’ve read by Sandra Dallas. I enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more from this author. The Hired Man is a historical fiction novel set in the 1930’s in a small town where the community is suffering from a long drought. A wondering vagrant saves a boy in a dust storm and is invited to stay on with a family as a hired work hand on their farm. The community is wary of this newcomer and many are unhappy that a family has taken in a stranger. This story has great character development and suspense. I recommend this book for historical fiction lovers.

Sandra Dallas has written a memorable book! The Dust Bowl in Colorado resulted in a continuation of the hopelessness and hunger of the Depression. Small town farmers viewed incomers, a hired man, Otis, as an additional threat to their safety and livelihood.
The happenings in the town and how they react to Otis are examined with deep insight by the author.
Wonderful read and terrific climax.

Loved this but , don't think this author could write a bad book! This is quite the story, how do you ever know where a person is good or bad? I believe we all have our own reasons why we defend or cry about a person being guilty!

It's 1937 in Colorado and the dirt has rolled in "it was Texas all right, because the dirt was red. Kansas sent yellow dirt. Oklahoma's dirt was brown." The clouds at this time were filled with dust instead of rain and life was hard. When a drifter blows in covered in dust carrying a heavy object, which turns out to be a missing boy from a neighboring farm, events are set in motion to expose the prejudices towards those who drift from place to place looking for work.

Prayers for Sale is one of my favorite Sandra Dallas' books and I believe The Hired Man is her best book. The kindness and brutality of man go hand in hand and Dallas has found a way to portray that dichotomy in her likable characters. About 7,000 people died during the Dust Bowl in the Dirty Thirties from lung disease, including lung pneumonia, malnutrition and accidents. Dallas has provided a glimpse into that historical time and life. The death of a young girl reflects deep seated beliefs as to who could possibly harm her. Her best friend, grief stricken, is torn between the evidence before her and public opinion. A heavy burden to carry. Excellent choice for Book Clubs and YA readers.

*Thank you NetGalley and the author for this ARC! All opinions are my own.

This was the uncorrected proof, so I’m sure it will get some more editing as it gets closer to publication so keep that in mind. This is a historical fiction that starts to have a slight mystery element to it!
I really enjoyed the setting of this book. I think that it is an era of history that often times gets overlooked. You can tell that the author did a lot of research about the time period and included small details that I was unaware of when it came to The Dust Bowl.
I thought that the treatment of Otis was well described due to him being a vagrant. I also liked the different families explained throughout the story and how the Dust Bowl affected each farm and each family differently. I think overall, the story could use a little bit more to it. I felt like it started to drag around 3/4 of the way through. Some of the characters also really got on my nerves. I’m also unsure how I feel about the ending. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I felt like the ending left a lot of questions still unanswered.