Little Century by Anna Keesey (June 2012)
September 15, 2012 2 Comments
It’s been several days since I finished Little Century, but the images are still fresh. I have a vision of Oregon at the turn of the 19th century, the smell of the land — sage and juniper and pine — on the high desert around Bend. Yes, I was actually close by last month, in the mountains between the Willamette and Deschutes Rivers. It’s Keesey’s vivid writing, though, that brings the land alive; and my recent visit, as well as growing up in the West, allows me to simply confirm: Little Century is the closest to the real thing you will get, without actually going there. And the story itself — a girl coming of age and falling in love while being pulled in opposing directions by the range war rivalry between sheep herders and cattle men — is fascinating. I remember reading a review of this book, and thinking, “should I? Should I not buy it?” I had decided against it, in part because this is her debut and I was unsure a “western” would get checked out by our patrons. But after reading it, I bought it for the library. It’s a can’t miss. And I wouldn’t call it a “western” — Little Century crosses genre boundaries. It’s literary, but so easy and delicious to read; it’s historical fiction; it’s a romance; it’s a mystery; and it should truly appeal to both men and women. Highly recommended!