Chasm Creek by Patricia Grady Cox
Review by Richard Abbott
It is a very long time since I read a Western.
Back in school we had Shane as a
class book, and from the same era (and I'm showing my age here) I was a keen
watcher of the two television series The
Virginian and The High Chaparral.
But since those long-ago days I think I have only encountered the Western genre
in films. To this British reader, coming across placenames like Rio Verde or
Yuma evokes a feeling of going into a fantasy land, where anything might
happen.
So it was with an entirely appropriate sense of riding into the unknown that I started Chasm Creek, by Patricia Grady Cox. There were familiar elements that you meet almost at once. There is the mysterious man with the shady past, the abandoned wife struggling to make ends meet for her family, the lawman balancing his sense of natural justice with the pedantic legalism of "wanted" posters, Indians of several kinds, the optimistic prospectors hoping to strike lucky, and a whole mixture of diverse individuals making up the rest of the small town. There are motives of hate, love, revenge, self-sacrifice, over-protectiveness and partnership. The human environment was intricate and intriguing.
What I had not expected was so much enticing description of the natural world. The untamed beauty of the region comes over vividly in the writing, and successfully imparted a delight in these days of wildness.
Mounds of brittlebush dotted the incline. Dried stems once held flowers, but now burned naked, stabbed through clusters of gray-green leaves. Waxy creosote glistened in the harsh light as the sun climbed across the sky's bleached dome.
or...
When the clouds parted the desert's drab browns and greens had been replaced with splashes of red, vermillion, ochre, olive, yellow. Flat land, soaring monoliths, all a rainbow of colors. Directly below him the ground opened in a deep gash. A clear turquoise stream ran through it and a spindly rock formation towered almost to the top of the surrounding cliffs.
Thinking back, I should have expected this, as
the old TV shows were full of spectacular sunsets and desert vistas alongside
the human interactions. Apparently my adult appreciation noticed much more than
my childish eyes had ever done. Here, the stern vividness of the land throws
into stark perspective the actions of the men and women who live in it. Several
of the characters have family ties back in the softer, safer states on the Eastern Seaboard, and could easily return there. However, surrounded by a
natural world like this, one can entirely understand why they do not go back.
There are, of course, differences in this plot from the ones I remember from childhood. The Native American groups are presented in a much more diverse and compelling way than used to be the case. In particular, their connections with the land - for both good and ill - are an important feature of the novel. The world of the dead, of dreams, and of spirits is both accessible and elusively remote. People's motivations are more complex and more real. Happy endings are elusive.
On a technical level, the book is well presented and prepared. For my taste I would have preferred a few more commas here and there to help readability, but this is a minor issue.
The heart of the book is not its technical presentation, but the way in which the human story draws you into the vastness of the western landscapes. You emerge from this book with a sense that the world is very large, and that with a little perseverance, a person might find all manner of beauty in it.
About the Author:
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Richard Abbott is the author of In a Milk and Honeyed Land and Scenes From a Life. He can be found at his website or blog, on Google+, Goodreads, Facebook and Twitter.
Review by Richard Abbott
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So it was with an entirely appropriate sense of riding into the unknown that I started Chasm Creek, by Patricia Grady Cox. There were familiar elements that you meet almost at once. There is the mysterious man with the shady past, the abandoned wife struggling to make ends meet for her family, the lawman balancing his sense of natural justice with the pedantic legalism of "wanted" posters, Indians of several kinds, the optimistic prospectors hoping to strike lucky, and a whole mixture of diverse individuals making up the rest of the small town. There are motives of hate, love, revenge, self-sacrifice, over-protectiveness and partnership. The human environment was intricate and intriguing.
What I had not expected was so much enticing description of the natural world. The untamed beauty of the region comes over vividly in the writing, and successfully imparted a delight in these days of wildness.
Mounds of brittlebush dotted the incline. Dried stems once held flowers, but now burned naked, stabbed through clusters of gray-green leaves. Waxy creosote glistened in the harsh light as the sun climbed across the sky's bleached dome.
or...
When the clouds parted the desert's drab browns and greens had been replaced with splashes of red, vermillion, ochre, olive, yellow. Flat land, soaring monoliths, all a rainbow of colors. Directly below him the ground opened in a deep gash. A clear turquoise stream ran through it and a spindly rock formation towered almost to the top of the surrounding cliffs.
There are, of course, differences in this plot from the ones I remember from childhood. The Native American groups are presented in a much more diverse and compelling way than used to be the case. In particular, their connections with the land - for both good and ill - are an important feature of the novel. The world of the dead, of dreams, and of spirits is both accessible and elusively remote. People's motivations are more complex and more real. Happy endings are elusive.
On a technical level, the book is well presented and prepared. For my taste I would have preferred a few more commas here and there to help readability, but this is a minor issue.
The heart of the book is not its technical presentation, but the way in which the human story draws you into the vastness of the western landscapes. You emerge from this book with a sense that the world is very large, and that with a little perseverance, a person might find all manner of beauty in it.
To get your name in the drawing for a FREE signed paperback copy of Chasm Creek, simply comment below OR at this review's associated Facebook thread located here.
About the Author:
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| At Canyon de Chelly on the Navajo reservation in northeast Arizona, overlooking the canyon and Spider Rock |
Patricia Grady Cox is a member of Western Writers of America, Women Writing the West, the Association of Personal Historians, and a writers’ group dubbed The Snakebite Six. Her nonfiction work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, and as ghost-written memoirs. Her love of the southwest—the landscape, the history, the culture—infuses her work with authenticity; she is becoming known for her ability to transport readers to the old west and immerse them in the time period so completely "you can smell the dust." Originally from Rhode Island in the U.S.A., she moved to Arizona 24 years ago and currently lives in Phoenix. For more information, to view the Chasm Creek book trailer, and read reviews, visit her website or check out her Amazon author page.
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I think it was a hard life in those days, not quite as simple as Portrayed in The TV programmes (I did enjoy the programmes though) This sounds a bit more real
ReplyDeleteI can see John Wayne in the photos :-)... I'm in...
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, a lovely review. Congratulations! Keep the stories coming. Doris
ReplyDeleteExcellent review, Richard. I have read "Chasm Creek," and in my opinion you really nailed it!
ReplyDeleteI think it would make a great western movie. Few have been made recently and this surely would be a great one.
ReplyDeleteHigh Chaparral was the best! I loved that Montoya family. I don't think, that I have ever read a Western story, unless it was a biography or about the Canadian prairies. After reading your review, I think I should check out that genre. The dessert is a magical place. Good to see, that the author has incorporated that description into the novel.
ReplyDeleteDenise congratulations you are the lucky winner of the signed copy. If you can let me know your address details via Facebook r some other means I will ensure they get passed back to the author.
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