Waltzing Montana

I really loved this book . Pat , Mildred, have left an imprint , the characters became alive while reading ..this story is full of love , longing and grief ...

The story written in Waltzing Montana by Mary Clearman Blew, is a wonderful story of rural Montana just after the Great War. However, the formatting leaves something to be desired. The story hints at a history that you are just given snippets of throughout the book. It isn't until you are over halfway through that you get the entire backstory between the characters. This leaves the reader feeling a little lost and off kilter for most of the book. That feeling is compounded by a changing of scenes from one paragraph to the next in some places. I read an unedited ARC so this part might be resolved in the editing process but there's no space or break to let you know that you are changing scenes or characters. There are also times that you are reading about a character in the present and all of a sudden they are reminiscing and the reader has no warning. These issues aside, I must say that I really enjoyed the story. Thank you #NetGalley for the opportunity to give my honest opinion on #WaltzingMontana.

Waltzing Montana by Mary Clearman Blew

Mildred Harrington is a horseback riding midwife in 1925 in rural Montana. She's returning home from a medical visit and comes across her old friend Pat Adams, lying injured, off the side of the road. She barely gets him onto her horse and carefully gets him back to her place. Her friend Renny, who lives at her farm, helps her to get Pat off the horse and into a wagon, so she can splint his broken limb and haul him to the Sister's Mission so he can be tended by a medical doctor. Pat tells her and the Sister's an excuse as to how he became injured, that doesn't add up to the injuries that he has suffered.

Pat eventually tells everyone how he came to be injured. It has something to do with his own father.

Mildred and Pat have a long history together. They've lived near each other, for most of their lives, they've loved each other for most of that time.

I enjoyed the book, it is well written and easy to read.

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley with no obligation to post a review.

I had a hard time with this one. The story itself is promising. A montana midwife who takes care of her neighbors and is respected for her care. She successfully nursed most of her town thru the spanish flu of 1918. However, our tough nurse hides a secret. This secret comes to a head when she finds an old friend beaten and broken in the prairie. Long lost love, family secrets and finally a sort of healing.

While I fell in love with the plot of the novel, the way in which it was written is a bit off putting. There is little to no transition between one thought and the next. You go from one character's point of view to another's who is discussing something completely different. It's almost like stream of consciousness. The writing style is difficult to get past. The saving grace is the story itself. Frankly I kept reading because I wanted to know what the hell happened. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.

I liked the subject matter and the setting. The writing was jumbled and disheveled. Bits and pieces sutured together with no clear breaks. Perhaps,thst was due to,the format on an e-reader, but it made it difficult to follow. I would get lost a d have to discern who was who and what was really happening. I’ve read other books by this author, but this one was not one of my favorites.

i liked that it was inspired by a real life person, the story was well-written and I enjoyed going on this journey with Mildred. It had what I was looking for in this type of book and I look forward to more from the author.

“
Reading Waltzing Montana, by Mary Clearman Blew, felt like recovering from an injury. I realize that this is a strange way to describe a book, but it’s the closest I can come to explaining the good ache I felt while reading it. This is not a pan of the book, either. Reading this book felt good, even if parts of it were painful. Really, this book felt like the sometimes painful ache we feel when we’re healing because those painful parts are tempered by the hope that the characters will one day be well...”– Annie

Very interesting and well written. This story will stick with me for a while. Thank you netgalley and publisher for this arc in exchange of an honest review