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The Homesman
IN PIONEER NEBRASKA, A WOMAN LEADS WHERE NO MAN WILL GO
Soon to be a major motion picture directed by Tommy Lee Jones. The Homesman is a devastating story of early pioneers in 1850s American West. It celebrates the ones we hear nothing of: the brave women whose hearts and minds were broken by a life of bitter hardship. A spokesman; must be found to escort a handful of them back East to a sanitarium. When none of the countys men steps up, the job falls to Mary Bee Cuddy& ex-teacher, spinster, indomitable and resourceful. Brave as she is, Mary Bee knows she cannot succeed alone. The only companion she can find is the low-life claim jumper George Briggs. Thus begins a trek east, against the tide of colonization, against hardship, Indian attacks, ice storms, and loneliness; a timeless classic told in a series of tough, fast-paced adventures. In an unprecedented sweep, Glendon Swarthouts novel won both the Western Writers of America's Spur Award and the Western Heritage Wrangler Award. A new afterword by the author's son Miles Swarthout tells of his parents Glendon and Kathryn's discovery of and research into the lives of the often forgotten frontier women who make The Homesman as moving and believable as it is unforgettable.
Soon to be a major motion picture directed by Tommy Lee Jones. The Homesman is a devastating story of early pioneers in 1850s American West. It celebrates the ones we hear nothing of: the brave women whose hearts and minds were broken by a life of bitter hardship. A spokesman; must be found to escort a handful of them back East to a sanitarium. When none of the countys men steps up, the job falls to Mary Bee Cuddy& ex-teacher, spinster, indomitable and resourceful. Brave as she is, Mary Bee knows she cannot succeed alone. The only companion she can find is the low-life claim jumper George Briggs. Thus begins a trek east, against the tide of colonization, against hardship, Indian attacks, ice storms, and loneliness; a timeless classic told in a series of tough, fast-paced adventures. In an unprecedented sweep, Glendon Swarthouts novel won both the Western Writers of America's Spur Award and the Western Heritage Wrangler Award. A new afterword by the author's son Miles Swarthout tells of his parents Glendon and Kathryn's discovery of and research into the lives of the often forgotten frontier women who make The Homesman as moving and believable as it is unforgettable.
255 pages, Paperback
First published March 6, 1988
About the author
Glendon Swarthout
38 books83 followersGlendon Fred Swarthout was an American writer. Some of his best known novels were made into films of the same title, Where the Boys Are, The Shootist and They Came To Cordura.
Also wrote under Glendon Fred Swarthout. Twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glendon_...
Also wrote under Glendon Fred Swarthout. Twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glendon_...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 670 reviews
February 17, 2020
What a terrific character driven novel with absorbing story that was fast paced and heart-breaking
In Pioneer Nebraska, A Woman by the Name of Mary Bee Cuddy, leads where no man will go...
This book was recommended to me because I loved Lonesome Dove and while this novel is certainly more concise (250 pages as opposed to 980 in Lonesome Dove) it by no means is any less exciting as it grabs the readers attention right from the first page.
A devastating story of the early pioneers in 1850s America’s West. It Celebrates the ones we hear nothing of, the brave women whose hearts and minds were broken by a life of bitter hardship. A “homesman” must be found to escort a handful of them back East to their families or to a Sanitarium.
This novel has a wonderful vivid sense of time and place and takes the reader back to a time in history where hardship, bravery and loneliness went with setting up homes on the plains and raising a family. Makes me thank my lucky stars as a woman that I was born born in more modern times as I don’t think I could have had the courage or the bravery to last a week out on those plains.
While this had heartbreaking moments, there is humor in the novel and I found myself laughing out loud on several occasions. I loved the characters and had a hard time parting company with them by the end of the Novel.
A terrific historical fiction story, that is a real page turner for those who enjoy stories set in the Wild West and a book that I will remember years from now.
In Pioneer Nebraska, A Woman by the Name of Mary Bee Cuddy, leads where no man will go...
This book was recommended to me because I loved Lonesome Dove and while this novel is certainly more concise (250 pages as opposed to 980 in Lonesome Dove) it by no means is any less exciting as it grabs the readers attention right from the first page.
A devastating story of the early pioneers in 1850s America’s West. It Celebrates the ones we hear nothing of, the brave women whose hearts and minds were broken by a life of bitter hardship. A “homesman” must be found to escort a handful of them back East to their families or to a Sanitarium.
This novel has a wonderful vivid sense of time and place and takes the reader back to a time in history where hardship, bravery and loneliness went with setting up homes on the plains and raising a family. Makes me thank my lucky stars as a woman that I was born born in more modern times as I don’t think I could have had the courage or the bravery to last a week out on those plains.
While this had heartbreaking moments, there is humor in the novel and I found myself laughing out loud on several occasions. I loved the characters and had a hard time parting company with them by the end of the Novel.
A terrific historical fiction story, that is a real page turner for those who enjoy stories set in the Wild West and a book that I will remember years from now.
January 7, 2022
It's almost impossible to imagine the hardships of living in the Nebraska frontier in the 1850's. Backbreaking, neverending work. The looming threats of Indian attack, wolves, disease, and deadly ice storms. Not everyone is cut out for this life. For some, though, it is though they are made for it. Mary Bee Cuddy, spinster, "plain as an old tin bucket", is as capable as they come. She is about to embark on a journey to Iowa, acting as homesman, escorting four women whose minds have come unhinged. As other reviewers have noted, this was a piece of history with which I was unacquainted. It was riveting and heartbreaking.
My thanks to Sara, whose review propelled me to find a copy immediately. Upon finishing, I handed the book to my husband and told him he was going to want to set to and take holdt. It's just that kind of story, you want to share it with others you know would embrace it. All the stars, no contest.
My thanks to Sara, whose review propelled me to find a copy immediately. Upon finishing, I handed the book to my husband and told him he was going to want to set to and take holdt. It's just that kind of story, you want to share it with others you know would embrace it. All the stars, no contest.
April 26, 2023
This story is brutal. But then, so were the stories of so many brave souls who settled the Frontier in the nineteenth century, so I suppose Swarthout got the tone about right. In any case, I loved it.
A fascinating, thrilling, tender, and surprisingly funny novel, which I'll doubtless remember for the rest of my days.
A fascinating, thrilling, tender, and surprisingly funny novel, which I'll doubtless remember for the rest of my days.
January 18, 2020
A disquieting story about how some women dealt with the hardships and isolation of pioneer life and how some of them were "saved". This could have happened to Caroline Ingalls (of THE LITTLE HOUSE series by Laura Ingalls Wilder) when her husband, Charles Ingalls had the family traipse all over the country looking for a better place to live! I loved the twists throughout the story! Not your typical western!
May 12, 2022
Spoiler alert**
“I stood outside the sod house looking around at the prairie. Who could ever live in this desolate place? I stepped down into the dark kitch*en, a home with only one door and too few windows. Its walls had been plastered with old newsprint that had become yellowed and torn with age, its floor, dirt. Mr. and Mrs. Ed Brown had built this homestead in 1909. What was it like for them? I would have gone mad out here as some women, and even men, had. What was there to do other than sit in the kitchen’s darkness during the long winters listening to the wind blow over the prairies and the coyotes howl?
–Jessaka, Badlands National Park 2014.
Both photos are of Mr. and Mrs. Brown’s home.
The women came out west with their men. Or sometimes men had first built their homesteads and went looking for women back east. Sometimes they had lied to them about the conditions of their homesteads. I have a great ranch, and we have wonderful neighbors, a great doctor, and all the food you can eat. They got some women pregnant so they couldn’t run away when they pulled up to his so-called ranch. Being shoeless also helped keep them at home. What the women found instead of a nice big ranch and fun neighbors was loneliness, fear and isolation; seldom did they find a woman friend, because homesteads were built far from each other. Well, they could and did have babies, as I had said, and they had to stand along side their men and plow the land and watch their crops die. And then they also found starvation, death and insanity.
A pregnant woman’s husband plans to leave for a night or two, and she tells him that she is about to deliver her baby. He states that he must go, and that the baby was not his fault because “A man had his needs, and the Almighty had provided women for those needs.” “Well!” I would have said, “I am tired of having babies. Pretend I am not here. I assure you, there are other ways that God may have also intended.”
The woman delivered her own child, while her six children hid in their bedroom as told. Then she walked barefoot into the snow to the outhouse and tossed her newborn into its putrid sewage below, headfirst. She had lost her mind or in some odd way, perhaps she found it.
Another woman, whose husband had also left her alone, had to face four wolves that had come howling at her door and had managed to get inside, breaking a window and dropping down from the roof. She kills them but she, too, loses her mind. Men in this book never lose their minds; they are strong men, although often liars.
The scene with the wolves was my first inkling that this book may become even more incredible than it had just now become. Wolves fear humans and seldom attack unless they have rabies. They just do not hunt humans as in this story. This is the consensus of Rick Lambaugh who has studied wolves and has written books about them. It is also the consensus of others. What were wolves like before they feared man? I only know that they had become tame around cavemen because the cavemen would throw out their left over meat bones, which the wolves would devour. They also ate the caveman’s scat, keeping the campsite clean. But I would also imagine that they would have begun to fear men later on, as soon as they set eyes on each other, and the wolf was looking down the barrel of a rifle.
But since I was somewhat entertained, I continued reading. Briggs and a strong woman named Mary Cuddy were the Homesmen, taking four insane women back east to a town where their families could come and pick them up to take them home with them. History never said what had really happened with women like this. Perhaps, they were thrown into jail, or murdered or allowed to walk away and die. While many men could deal with the desolation of the west, they could not deal with a mad woman.
Then just over half way through the book, Mary Cuddy, who could almost outdo a man in anything, began to display incredulous behavior by whining because she had fallen in love with Briggs, who was not a good catch. He would have been like catching a stinkin’ catfish that you would have wished to throw back into the river. Her whining behavior just about caused me to put the book down before even I went insane. It was just so out of character. Even her helplessness around the camp site got to me. Perhaps love can make some strong woman act goofy. I don’t know. Still, I continued with the book. Then when I saw that the story was falling apart in my hands, I took up skimming the book, which is how I saved my sanity.
Anyway, I almost didn’t’\t care what happened to any of them. I can only say that Briggs did a jig at the end of the book. He danced in the star and moonlight and howled at the moon.
“Occasionally a lone tree seemed to have planted itself on the plain and grown to full majesty. How it was there was a riddle without an answer, unless by bird dropping.”
Some men out on the plains were like that tree.
“I stood outside the sod house looking around at the prairie. Who could ever live in this desolate place? I stepped down into the dark kitch*en, a home with only one door and too few windows. Its walls had been plastered with old newsprint that had become yellowed and torn with age, its floor, dirt. Mr. and Mrs. Ed Brown had built this homestead in 1909. What was it like for them? I would have gone mad out here as some women, and even men, had. What was there to do other than sit in the kitchen’s darkness during the long winters listening to the wind blow over the prairies and the coyotes howl?
–Jessaka, Badlands National Park 2014.
Both photos are of Mr. and Mrs. Brown’s home.
The women came out west with their men. Or sometimes men had first built their homesteads and went looking for women back east. Sometimes they had lied to them about the conditions of their homesteads. I have a great ranch, and we have wonderful neighbors, a great doctor, and all the food you can eat. They got some women pregnant so they couldn’t run away when they pulled up to his so-called ranch. Being shoeless also helped keep them at home. What the women found instead of a nice big ranch and fun neighbors was loneliness, fear and isolation; seldom did they find a woman friend, because homesteads were built far from each other. Well, they could and did have babies, as I had said, and they had to stand along side their men and plow the land and watch their crops die. And then they also found starvation, death and insanity.
A pregnant woman’s husband plans to leave for a night or two, and she tells him that she is about to deliver her baby. He states that he must go, and that the baby was not his fault because “A man had his needs, and the Almighty had provided women for those needs.” “Well!” I would have said, “I am tired of having babies. Pretend I am not here. I assure you, there are other ways that God may have also intended.”
The woman delivered her own child, while her six children hid in their bedroom as told. Then she walked barefoot into the snow to the outhouse and tossed her newborn into its putrid sewage below, headfirst. She had lost her mind or in some odd way, perhaps she found it.
Another woman, whose husband had also left her alone, had to face four wolves that had come howling at her door and had managed to get inside, breaking a window and dropping down from the roof. She kills them but she, too, loses her mind. Men in this book never lose their minds; they are strong men, although often liars.
The scene with the wolves was my first inkling that this book may become even more incredible than it had just now become. Wolves fear humans and seldom attack unless they have rabies. They just do not hunt humans as in this story. This is the consensus of Rick Lambaugh who has studied wolves and has written books about them. It is also the consensus of others. What were wolves like before they feared man? I only know that they had become tame around cavemen because the cavemen would throw out their left over meat bones, which the wolves would devour. They also ate the caveman’s scat, keeping the campsite clean. But I would also imagine that they would have begun to fear men later on, as soon as they set eyes on each other, and the wolf was looking down the barrel of a rifle.
But since I was somewhat entertained, I continued reading. Briggs and a strong woman named Mary Cuddy were the Homesmen, taking four insane women back east to a town where their families could come and pick them up to take them home with them. History never said what had really happened with women like this. Perhaps, they were thrown into jail, or murdered or allowed to walk away and die. While many men could deal with the desolation of the west, they could not deal with a mad woman.
Then just over half way through the book, Mary Cuddy, who could almost outdo a man in anything, began to display incredulous behavior by whining because she had fallen in love with Briggs, who was not a good catch. He would have been like catching a stinkin’ catfish that you would have wished to throw back into the river. Her whining behavior just about caused me to put the book down before even I went insane. It was just so out of character. Even her helplessness around the camp site got to me. Perhaps love can make some strong woman act goofy. I don’t know. Still, I continued with the book. Then when I saw that the story was falling apart in my hands, I took up skimming the book, which is how I saved my sanity.
Anyway, I almost didn’t’\t care what happened to any of them. I can only say that Briggs did a jig at the end of the book. He danced in the star and moonlight and howled at the moon.
“Occasionally a lone tree seemed to have planted itself on the plain and grown to full majesty. How it was there was a riddle without an answer, unless by bird dropping.”
Some men out on the plains were like that tree.
May 6, 2023
I watched this film when first released and really enjoyed it; but, isn't the book always better than film? In this case - absolutely. This is a beautifully written adventure I didn't want to end.
December 13, 2021
I find that I really love books in the Western genre that deal with the hardships and challenges of settling, especially those aspects that have been pretty much ignored in favor of shootouts and Indian uprisings. In The Homesman, Glendon Swarthout presents a situation straight from the history books, but about which I had never given a single thought. What happens when the situation literally drives a person mad?
Four women have succumbed to mental collapse, for various very understandable reasons, in a Nebraska settlement where there is no access to a sanatorium and no relatives to assist with their care. Someone must take these women East to Iowa, where a volunteer church group has promised to take them back to their homes and relatives. In the absence of any man willing, Mary Bee Cuddy, an unusual and brave spinster, takes on the job.
I was glued to every word of this amazing book. A film, of which I was totally unaware, was made in 2014. It starred Tommy Lee Jones (a personal favorite) and throughout the reading I could imagine him, as if the role of Briggs had been written for him. Perhaps it was. I have subsequently discovered that Swarthout was a prolific writer and many of his books were made into popular films, including The Shootist starring John Wayne.
I’m glad I stumbled across this one. Now to find the movie.
Four women have succumbed to mental collapse, for various very understandable reasons, in a Nebraska settlement where there is no access to a sanatorium and no relatives to assist with their care. Someone must take these women East to Iowa, where a volunteer church group has promised to take them back to their homes and relatives. In the absence of any man willing, Mary Bee Cuddy, an unusual and brave spinster, takes on the job.
I was glued to every word of this amazing book. A film, of which I was totally unaware, was made in 2014. It starred Tommy Lee Jones (a personal favorite) and throughout the reading I could imagine him, as if the role of Briggs had been written for him. Perhaps it was. I have subsequently discovered that Swarthout was a prolific writer and many of his books were made into popular films, including The Shootist starring John Wayne.
I’m glad I stumbled across this one. Now to find the movie.
October 5, 2015
I loves me a strong female protagonist, so when I saw Hilary Swank's strong performance as Mary Bee Cuddy in the movie The Homesman I knew I had to read the source material for the movie. The movie was a little disappointing in that Mary's workmate, Briggs, is played by Tommy Lee Jones, so you have a man in his late sixties playing a man who is just a touch on the wrong side of forty. Even so, it was obvious that this story came from the pen of a master and I wasted no time getting a copy of the book from our local library.
Mary Bee Cuddy is a woman possessed of that strength and fortitude required to thrive in a solitary existence on a prairie farmstead. She is competent and resolute, and provides for herself in a most competent manner. She thrives where others collapse. She is in a situation where she would like to have a man, but doesn't really need a man.
Other women in the vicinity have had a bad winter and, lacking Mary's strength, have succumbed to the comforting embrace of insanity. Mary volunteers to escort these women back east to relatives in an early mule-drawn version of a paddywagon, along the way picking up the competent but reticent Briggs who serves as a quarrelsome assistant. The story elaborates on this journey, detailing the hardships encountered along the way and the final disposition of their charges.
I would class this as a western noir novel, not your standard oater by any means. The story is quite good, very original, but I would have liked to have seen a little more work on the main characters in order to understand how they came by their particular character traits. There is some action, all of it believable but not really engrossing. The story is character-driven, sad, and historically accurate as near as I can tell. I'll remember this one for a long time.
Mary Bee Cuddy is a woman possessed of that strength and fortitude required to thrive in a solitary existence on a prairie farmstead. She is competent and resolute, and provides for herself in a most competent manner. She thrives where others collapse. She is in a situation where she would like to have a man, but doesn't really need a man.
Other women in the vicinity have had a bad winter and, lacking Mary's strength, have succumbed to the comforting embrace of insanity. Mary volunteers to escort these women back east to relatives in an early mule-drawn version of a paddywagon, along the way picking up the competent but reticent Briggs who serves as a quarrelsome assistant. The story elaborates on this journey, detailing the hardships encountered along the way and the final disposition of their charges.
I would class this as a western noir novel, not your standard oater by any means. The story is quite good, very original, but I would have liked to have seen a little more work on the main characters in order to understand how they came by their particular character traits. There is some action, all of it believable but not really engrossing. The story is character-driven, sad, and historically accurate as near as I can tell. I'll remember this one for a long time.
February 25, 2024
"She wondered sometime—in which state were they better off, sane or insane?"
⚠︎ WARNING: This is NOT a happy story…
Historical Western, 1850s
Survival, hardships, rejection, brutality, loneliness…..
{Homesman – a person chosen to take on the responsibility of taking immigrants back home, typically a man.}
Mary Bee Cuddy finds herself on a perilous journey unfit for a solo woman, in the role of a Homesman. She is to take 4 women who have lost their minds back east to get back to their families. Mary Bee is the unsung hero of this story; she is the epitome of bravery. But can she really do this alone?
And as if fate strikes, she encounters the low-life George Briggs, a claim jumper who is on the verge of being hanged for his crimes and desperately saves him, so he may assist her with this challenging task. It is there the true journey begins…in the wilderness…on the trail. What could possibly go wrong?
If you recall how brutal mental health conditions were in the 1900s, can you even imagine what it was like in the rural west during the 1800s? Well, families would be responsible for quietly taking on the burdens of caring for mentally ill loved ones themselves. Similar to the devastating symptoms of catatonia and severe depression, settlers of the frontier often succumbed to what they called prairie madness secondary to tough and hopeless living conditions. Suicide was often a major consequence and very prevalent amongst women. Enduring childbirth, incurable illnesses, starvation, isolation, trauma, and harsh weather were just a few of the factors they faced. The male mentality was also a huge factor!
Honestly, the men in this book really triggered me! I felt such an overwhelming sense of empathy toward the women and could easily see how they ended up losing their minds. I simply would too in their predicament. After working for many years as a psychiatric nurse, I always told my patients not to be ashamed of becoming ill, that it’s actually a very thin line for any of us to end up on the opposite side of the tracks. Given the right arrangement of stressors and hardships, it is inevitable.
Back to the women…
The demand for repetitive menial tasks such as cooking, cleaning, caring for children, lying with their husbands, and bearing children was not even a choice. It was expected. If a woman could no longer perform these tasks, it was her fault because it was her duty. The men here even made it seem like the women had some control over losing their minds, like it was done on purpose! They tried to blame them and make them feel guilty.
Just an example, of the male mentality: one of the women is enduring another major stressor…being pregnant again….another mouth to feed when her husband: “(he) put a hand on her belly and said a baby was not his fault. A man had his needs, he said, and the Almighty had provided woman for those needs.” AHH!! Last time I checked, men have other ways of meeting “their needs.” How miserable life must have been. Oh, how our ancestors suffered.
George Briggs
I wish I could say a kind word about him. I wish I felt he had gained some kind of redemption throughout the story, but I just don’t. There seemed to be a few hopeful moments, but I will let you decide what you think if you read it! To me, he is just another son of a b*tch from beginning to end.
Note: Yesterday, I also watched the 2014 film adaptation starring Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank. It was very true to the book and captured the essence of the story. Amazing!
2024 Monster Mash Challenge
|Ghost Face Category|
◇ Read a book that has some kind of transportation in the story. ✔️
《Frame wagon on the trail, horses》
⚠︎ WARNING: This is NOT a happy story…
Historical Western, 1850s
Survival, hardships, rejection, brutality, loneliness…..
{Homesman – a person chosen to take on the responsibility of taking immigrants back home, typically a man.}
Mary Bee Cuddy finds herself on a perilous journey unfit for a solo woman, in the role of a Homesman. She is to take 4 women who have lost their minds back east to get back to their families. Mary Bee is the unsung hero of this story; she is the epitome of bravery. But can she really do this alone?
And as if fate strikes, she encounters the low-life George Briggs, a claim jumper who is on the verge of being hanged for his crimes and desperately saves him, so he may assist her with this challenging task. It is there the true journey begins…in the wilderness…on the trail. What could possibly go wrong?
If you recall how brutal mental health conditions were in the 1900s, can you even imagine what it was like in the rural west during the 1800s? Well, families would be responsible for quietly taking on the burdens of caring for mentally ill loved ones themselves. Similar to the devastating symptoms of catatonia and severe depression, settlers of the frontier often succumbed to what they called prairie madness secondary to tough and hopeless living conditions. Suicide was often a major consequence and very prevalent amongst women. Enduring childbirth, incurable illnesses, starvation, isolation, trauma, and harsh weather were just a few of the factors they faced. The male mentality was also a huge factor!
Honestly, the men in this book really triggered me! I felt such an overwhelming sense of empathy toward the women and could easily see how they ended up losing their minds. I simply would too in their predicament. After working for many years as a psychiatric nurse, I always told my patients not to be ashamed of becoming ill, that it’s actually a very thin line for any of us to end up on the opposite side of the tracks. Given the right arrangement of stressors and hardships, it is inevitable.
Back to the women…
The demand for repetitive menial tasks such as cooking, cleaning, caring for children, lying with their husbands, and bearing children was not even a choice. It was expected. If a woman could no longer perform these tasks, it was her fault because it was her duty. The men here even made it seem like the women had some control over losing their minds, like it was done on purpose! They tried to blame them and make them feel guilty.
Just an example, of the male mentality: one of the women is enduring another major stressor…being pregnant again….another mouth to feed when her husband: “(he) put a hand on her belly and said a baby was not his fault. A man had his needs, he said, and the Almighty had provided woman for those needs.” AHH!! Last time I checked, men have other ways of meeting “their needs.” How miserable life must have been. Oh, how our ancestors suffered.
George Briggs
I wish I could say a kind word about him. I wish I felt he had gained some kind of redemption throughout the story, but I just don’t. There seemed to be a few hopeful moments, but I will let you decide what you think if you read it! To me, he is just another son of a b*tch from beginning to end.
Note: Yesterday, I also watched the 2014 film adaptation starring Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank. It was very true to the book and captured the essence of the story. Amazing!
2024 Monster Mash Challenge
|Ghost Face Category|
◇ Read a book that has some kind of transportation in the story. ✔️
《Frame wagon on the trail, horses》
November 11, 2022
My only way to review this without giving anything away is to say that it punched me in the gut several times, one I almost didn't recover from. Go into it with no expectations, come out on the other side knowing that Swarthout is a Hell of a writer.
I bought this at a book sale and it sat on my shelf until I was packing boxes to move and decided to let this one go. Then my friend Laura nagged me (and several others) to read it. Of course then I couldn't find a copy at my library. Other reviewers convinced me that I was missing out. So finally I resorted to Interlibrary Loan. Figured I would need to renew it since I was reading other books too. Wrong about that as well....flew through it in 2 days!
The only reason this doesn't get 5 stars is I think it suffers from comparison to The Good Old Boys, which I read just before picking The Homesman up. I may change my rating though. I have a feeling I'll be thinking about this one for a while.
So, thanks Laura
I bought this at a book sale and it sat on my shelf until I was packing boxes to move and decided to let this one go. Then my friend Laura nagged me (and several others) to read it. Of course then I couldn't find a copy at my library. Other reviewers convinced me that I was missing out. So finally I resorted to Interlibrary Loan. Figured I would need to renew it since I was reading other books too. Wrong about that as well....flew through it in 2 days!
The only reason this doesn't get 5 stars is I think it suffers from comparison to The Good Old Boys, which I read just before picking The Homesman up. I may change my rating though. I have a feeling I'll be thinking about this one for a while.
So, thanks Laura
October 26, 2022
When I read the blurb I thought, that’s a great plot idea. I had no idea just how good this book was going to be. The stories of the women that lost their minds, the two protagonists, the trip, and the finale were all in perfect sync. Every part of the story flowed perfectly to the end. And Mary Bee…..what a character. This one isn’t surface level, it makes you think. Hope and tragedy on full display.
Update: It’s nearing the end of the year and this book may be my favorite of 22. It’s certainly the one I keep bringing up.
Update: It’s nearing the end of the year and this book may be my favorite of 22. It’s certainly the one I keep bringing up.
December 7, 2014
4.5 stars
The Homesman, Glendon Swarthout's award winning novel called the Best Western Novel of the year back in 1988, is a deeply moving tale, a riveting thriller and an American West adventure in the style reminiscent of Larry McMurtry. Swarthout is a gifted storyteller with a keen eye for detail, drawing an authentic narrative of the treacherous Great Plains; the harsh conditions and desolation pioneers encountered in the unforgiving frontier of the 1850's, that led to many cases of suicides and madness in that time of early settlement. The Preemption Act allowed settlers to stake claims on land by living on it, improving it, then to file and pay $1.25 an acre appraised value. Until the filing was done, technically, they were "'squatters' with appurtenant 'squatter's rights', and possession was nine points of the law. But.. where there were squatters, there were bound to be claim- jumpers."
Swarthout portrays the plight of the frontier women with startling realism that gives their tragic stories a solid ring of truth. The four women driven mad by isolation, overwhelming daily hardships and fear become worrisome burdens on their husbands who find themselves incapable of caring for their irretrievably insane wives. (Sorry, pioneer husbands don't come out smelling like roses here). The only solution for them: to elect a Homesman to escort their wives back East to their kinfolk, or to an asylum.
An Odd Couple-
Mary Bee Cuddy: an ex-teacher, self-sufficient, strong-minded, resourceful; a loner who doesn't seem to be affected by isolated life; skilled with a rifle, big at heart. The onus falls on her to return the women to their families; she's eager to do so but with some trepidation. She realizes she can't manage this alone, "her own foolish heart rushing in where angels fear to tread."
George Briggs: a self-described man of 'low character', chronic battler of catarrh, "hawking and spitting and cursing," unapologetic claim-jumper, ex-Indian fighter, untrustworthy, "conniving but no murderer" (by Mary Bee's estimation). She saved him from a lynching for the offense of claim jumping a neighbor's land, expecting him in turn to help her with her enormous undertaking.
They are certainly an ill-matched team, and at times, it's all Mary Bee can do to watch her back and keep Briggs under control.
Mary Bee put hands on hips. "Oh, no. Bullets and tobacco, maybe, but no whiskey. Not a drop."
"Why not?"
" Think about it."
He was actually annoyed. He stuck his head through the window and knocked off his hat. "Why not?"
" I can't have you getting drunk around four defenseless women."
"If I don't get drunk around these women, I'll lose my own mind."
The backtrack journey eastward is a descent further into madness; it's where Swarthout shines as a storyteller of the wild west and the dangers crossing it.
They were to traverse almost the entire Territory, and Briggs set a course due east. Mary Bee preferred to follow the river valleys, which ran southeasterly, in hopes of encountering people who would aid them on their way, the more people the better. He contradicted her. The fewer the better.
"Why?"
"Because we're hauling an odd lot of freight."
"Freight!"
"You call it what you want. It's freight to me," he said. "Stop to think. We can meet three kinds of people out here. Who?"
"Well, wagon trains, I suppose."
"And you suppose those men'll want their wives to see what becomes of women in these parts?"
Mary Bee sat silent.
"What other kinds?"
"I don't know."
"Freighters. Men. Haven't had a woman lately. Who else?"
Mary Bee scowled.
"I'll tell you. Indians. After they lay me low they'll have a high time with the five of you."
Briggs just steals the scenes constantly.
The Homesman has been recently adapted to film and due to be released later this year; if it is as good as this novel, I'll expect many movie awards. I'm very excited!
For more on Glendon Swarthout, here is the official website:
http://www.glendonswarthout.com
For more on Prairie Madness in American West, here are two links:
http://bockychoy.wordpress.com/2010/0...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_...
The Homesman, Glendon Swarthout's award winning novel called the Best Western Novel of the year back in 1988, is a deeply moving tale, a riveting thriller and an American West adventure in the style reminiscent of Larry McMurtry. Swarthout is a gifted storyteller with a keen eye for detail, drawing an authentic narrative of the treacherous Great Plains; the harsh conditions and desolation pioneers encountered in the unforgiving frontier of the 1850's, that led to many cases of suicides and madness in that time of early settlement. The Preemption Act allowed settlers to stake claims on land by living on it, improving it, then to file and pay $1.25 an acre appraised value. Until the filing was done, technically, they were "'squatters' with appurtenant 'squatter's rights', and possession was nine points of the law. But.. where there were squatters, there were bound to be claim- jumpers."
Swarthout portrays the plight of the frontier women with startling realism that gives their tragic stories a solid ring of truth. The four women driven mad by isolation, overwhelming daily hardships and fear become worrisome burdens on their husbands who find themselves incapable of caring for their irretrievably insane wives. (Sorry, pioneer husbands don't come out smelling like roses here). The only solution for them: to elect a Homesman to escort their wives back East to their kinfolk, or to an asylum.
An Odd Couple-
Mary Bee Cuddy: an ex-teacher, self-sufficient, strong-minded, resourceful; a loner who doesn't seem to be affected by isolated life; skilled with a rifle, big at heart. The onus falls on her to return the women to their families; she's eager to do so but with some trepidation. She realizes she can't manage this alone, "her own foolish heart rushing in where angels fear to tread."
George Briggs: a self-described man of 'low character', chronic battler of catarrh, "hawking and spitting and cursing," unapologetic claim-jumper, ex-Indian fighter, untrustworthy, "conniving but no murderer" (by Mary Bee's estimation). She saved him from a lynching for the offense of claim jumping a neighbor's land, expecting him in turn to help her with her enormous undertaking.
They are certainly an ill-matched team, and at times, it's all Mary Bee can do to watch her back and keep Briggs under control.
Mary Bee put hands on hips. "Oh, no. Bullets and tobacco, maybe, but no whiskey. Not a drop."
"Why not?"
" Think about it."
He was actually annoyed. He stuck his head through the window and knocked off his hat. "Why not?"
" I can't have you getting drunk around four defenseless women."
"If I don't get drunk around these women, I'll lose my own mind."
The backtrack journey eastward is a descent further into madness; it's where Swarthout shines as a storyteller of the wild west and the dangers crossing it.
They were to traverse almost the entire Territory, and Briggs set a course due east. Mary Bee preferred to follow the river valleys, which ran southeasterly, in hopes of encountering people who would aid them on their way, the more people the better. He contradicted her. The fewer the better.
"Why?"
"Because we're hauling an odd lot of freight."
"Freight!"
"You call it what you want. It's freight to me," he said. "Stop to think. We can meet three kinds of people out here. Who?"
"Well, wagon trains, I suppose."
"And you suppose those men'll want their wives to see what becomes of women in these parts?"
Mary Bee sat silent.
"What other kinds?"
"I don't know."
"Freighters. Men. Haven't had a woman lately. Who else?"
Mary Bee scowled.
"I'll tell you. Indians. After they lay me low they'll have a high time with the five of you."
Briggs just steals the scenes constantly.
The Homesman has been recently adapted to film and due to be released later this year; if it is as good as this novel, I'll expect many movie awards. I'm very excited!
For more on Glendon Swarthout, here is the official website:
http://www.glendonswarthout.com
For more on Prairie Madness in American West, here are two links:
http://bockychoy.wordpress.com/2010/0...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_...
May 8, 2015
Having read the book I can say that the film mostly sticks to it faithfully - however, as I really, really didn't enjoy the film and read the book to see if I was missing something vital, that meant I didn't enjoy it much.
This is being touted as a 'feminist' western, which confounds me utterly. There are no positive depictions of women in this book. For all that a portrayal of the madness of women on the frontier could have been a feminist story, the way in which this is written makes it seem that women, when faced with the same hardships as men, revert to one of two states - childlike innocence or harpy like violence. Apparently the author researched this book in depth, but I don't see how as the history books that I've read for my own novel show that women not only bore a lot on the frontier, but many managed to do so competently and well.
This book does not show women who are coping with their hard lives, it shows only insane women, and women who were left at home with their parlors and their sowing machines and their jobs cooking in hotels, who stay sane.
Apparently only drunk whoremongers, theives and gamblers can survive without becoming criminally or fatally insane. What is the message behind that? That women 'being too pure for these activities' have no choice but go mad?
I feel as if the fate of Cuddy was the turning point of this. Had she lived, had she thrived, then I'd be calling it a feminist novel, as it is, claims that this is a new kind of western and a feminist novel rub me up the wrong way. The only difference between this and the old style westerns is that this features women who aren't whores. That doesn't make them positive or accurate portrayals.
This book also glosses over the various other races present on the plains at that time, for example the Chinese men and women working on the railroad and being trafficked into prostitution. Native Americans appear only once, from a distance, and are quickly paid off with a horse to prevent them slaughtering the whites. Not necessarily inaccurate but not terribly rounded either.
I have no doubt that women went crazy on the fronteir, but of the 5 main women in the book, all of them are crazy, and crazy because of 'women's issues' like their children dying, unwanted pregnancy, being barren and losing their mother and not having anyone to marry them. Only one woman goes mad because of something that could have happened to a man - she is beset by wolves - but the suggestion is that this only drives her insane because 1.) there isn't a man there to protect her and 2.) though she fights off the wolves her mind just can't take the strain of the attack.
Women being driven mad by women's issues isn't exactly the feminist novel I signed on for. Lots of things were hard on the frontier, but the things that were hard for women were not solely their province. Only Cuddy, whose maddness is seemingly attributed to her loneliness (her lack of MALE company) comes close to being accurate. But she never tries to ease her loneliness with female company, finding a widow or an orphan to live with. Which seems bizarre, given how many of those two groups there were, and how lonely she supposedly is. It just reads as 'here's this woman who is successful and prosperous as a farmer without a man to tell her what to do, but she kills herself anyway because no man will have such a 'bossy' women.'
This is an average western, and doesn't really deserve all the hype it's getting. Lonesome Dove is far far better, and even though it doesn't have many female characters (I think it has 3) each is a multidimensional believable and well researched character.
This is being touted as a 'feminist' western, which confounds me utterly. There are no positive depictions of women in this book. For all that a portrayal of the madness of women on the frontier could have been a feminist story, the way in which this is written makes it seem that women, when faced with the same hardships as men, revert to one of two states - childlike innocence or harpy like violence. Apparently the author researched this book in depth, but I don't see how as the history books that I've read for my own novel show that women not only bore a lot on the frontier, but many managed to do so competently and well.
This book does not show women who are coping with their hard lives, it shows only insane women, and women who were left at home with their parlors and their sowing machines and their jobs cooking in hotels, who stay sane.
Apparently only drunk whoremongers, theives and gamblers can survive without becoming criminally or fatally insane. What is the message behind that? That women 'being too pure for these activities' have no choice but go mad?
I feel as if the fate of Cuddy was the turning point of this. Had she lived, had she thrived, then I'd be calling it a feminist novel, as it is, claims that this is a new kind of western and a feminist novel rub me up the wrong way. The only difference between this and the old style westerns is that this features women who aren't whores. That doesn't make them positive or accurate portrayals.
This book also glosses over the various other races present on the plains at that time, for example the Chinese men and women working on the railroad and being trafficked into prostitution. Native Americans appear only once, from a distance, and are quickly paid off with a horse to prevent them slaughtering the whites. Not necessarily inaccurate but not terribly rounded either.
I have no doubt that women went crazy on the fronteir, but of the 5 main women in the book, all of them are crazy, and crazy because of 'women's issues' like their children dying, unwanted pregnancy, being barren and losing their mother and not having anyone to marry them. Only one woman goes mad because of something that could have happened to a man - she is beset by wolves - but the suggestion is that this only drives her insane because 1.) there isn't a man there to protect her and 2.) though she fights off the wolves her mind just can't take the strain of the attack.
Women being driven mad by women's issues isn't exactly the feminist novel I signed on for. Lots of things were hard on the frontier, but the things that were hard for women were not solely their province. Only Cuddy, whose maddness is seemingly attributed to her loneliness (her lack of MALE company) comes close to being accurate. But she never tries to ease her loneliness with female company, finding a widow or an orphan to live with. Which seems bizarre, given how many of those two groups there were, and how lonely she supposedly is. It just reads as 'here's this woman who is successful and prosperous as a farmer without a man to tell her what to do, but she kills herself anyway because no man will have such a 'bossy' women.'
This is an average western, and doesn't really deserve all the hype it's getting. Lonesome Dove is far far better, and even though it doesn't have many female characters (I think it has 3) each is a multidimensional believable and well researched character.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2014
This is my very first review on Goodreads, I usually don't write them but this book rubbed me so much the wrong way I couldn't help but write one.
The book is very engaging and readable, thus the 2 stars. However, it is touted as an examination of pioneer life from the usually unheard voices of women (which is exactly why I was intrigued to read it in the first place) yet the author's portrayal of these woman seems to undo the very flattery he (supposedly) meant to give them. This book was clearly written by a man, despite his claim to be sensitive to female perspectives. It left a very bad taste in my mouth.
The book is very engaging and readable, thus the 2 stars. However, it is touted as an examination of pioneer life from the usually unheard voices of women (which is exactly why I was intrigued to read it in the first place) yet the author's portrayal of these woman seems to undo the very flattery he (supposedly) meant to give them. This book was clearly written by a man, despite his claim to be sensitive to female perspectives. It left a very bad taste in my mouth.
March 6, 2015
What an odd and ultimately disappointing read this was. I was all set out to give The Homesman a good four star review for being a rather good romp until I reached the last third of the book. Until then I had really enjoyed Glendon Swarthout’s unusual Western. The language was perhaps perfunctory but it had some great characters and a compelling plot. Then it stopped being compelling. The Homesman went off on a strange tangent and I found myself not really caring how it was going to end. It was a huge shame considering how promisingly it started out.
Set in the American West in the 1850s, The Homesman follows former teacher and pillar of the community Mary Bee Cuddy when she becomes her town’s homesman, taking on the difficult job of bringing four local women back east to their families. These four women, Theoline Belknapp, Arabella Sours, Gro Svendsen and Heda Petzke have suffered total mental breakdowns after watching their children die or suffering mistreatment at the hands of their husbands. Throughout the novel we learn more about their plights through flashbacks. Unsure if she can manage on her own, Mary Bee recruits George Briggs, an outcast who owes her a debt, to assist her. Together they embark on the dangerous journey east, travelling through ice storms and hostile territory.
The problem with The Homesman is essentially its switch in focus in the last third of the book. The majority of the book is a very interesting (if somewhat simplistic) look at the experiences of the forgotten frontier women. For much of the novel Swarthout gives voice to a group that is so often ignored. Mary Bee Cuddy and the women she is chaperoning start to become living breathing characters as their histories are explored, and they even have a few moments of badassery. There is some really great storytelling going on, and I found myself getting really invested in Swarthout’s characters.
Then, something disappointing happens and The Homesman swiftly becomes the George Briggs show. Out of nowhere Briggs quickly becomes an undisputed hero. Although fairly much undistinguished physically until this point, he now performs feats of superhuman strength pretty much on demand. The women actually follow him as though he’s some sort of messiah. There is also a more or less pointless side quest in which he singlehandedly destroys a hotel (Not really sure why it was included, it has nothing to do with bringing the women east).
For some reason, Swarthout seems to think that the reader should care more about Briggs than anyone else, and I’m not sure why. He’s really just a stock character, the outlaw with his own moral code, antihero who will become a hero. It’s a story told again and again in Westerns. Compare that to Mary Bee, a hard-ass ex-teacher who supports the whole community, and I know which story I would rather hear. Indeed, Swarthout seems to think that we’re so invested in Briggs that we won’t even care what happens to the poor women that have been through hell and back. Their stories just fade into the background as we watch Briggs fart, drink, and bar brawl his way through the last fifty or so pages.
So although The Homesman looks as though it has something new to say about brave pioneering woman, it sadly doesn’t. After a promising start and some pretty decent exploration of what it was like for these women, the status quo is re-established and all the good work that Swarthout has put in is nearly undone. The biggest twist in this story is that *gasp* the “homesman” turns out to be a MAN all along!
Set in the American West in the 1850s, The Homesman follows former teacher and pillar of the community Mary Bee Cuddy when she becomes her town’s homesman, taking on the difficult job of bringing four local women back east to their families. These four women, Theoline Belknapp, Arabella Sours, Gro Svendsen and Heda Petzke have suffered total mental breakdowns after watching their children die or suffering mistreatment at the hands of their husbands. Throughout the novel we learn more about their plights through flashbacks. Unsure if she can manage on her own, Mary Bee recruits George Briggs, an outcast who owes her a debt, to assist her. Together they embark on the dangerous journey east, travelling through ice storms and hostile territory.
The problem with The Homesman is essentially its switch in focus in the last third of the book. The majority of the book is a very interesting (if somewhat simplistic) look at the experiences of the forgotten frontier women. For much of the novel Swarthout gives voice to a group that is so often ignored. Mary Bee Cuddy and the women she is chaperoning start to become living breathing characters as their histories are explored, and they even have a few moments of badassery. There is some really great storytelling going on, and I found myself getting really invested in Swarthout’s characters.
Then, something disappointing happens and The Homesman swiftly becomes the George Briggs show. Out of nowhere Briggs quickly becomes an undisputed hero. Although fairly much undistinguished physically until this point, he now performs feats of superhuman strength pretty much on demand. The women actually follow him as though he’s some sort of messiah. There is also a more or less pointless side quest in which he singlehandedly destroys a hotel (Not really sure why it was included, it has nothing to do with bringing the women east).
For some reason, Swarthout seems to think that the reader should care more about Briggs than anyone else, and I’m not sure why. He’s really just a stock character, the outlaw with his own moral code, antihero who will become a hero. It’s a story told again and again in Westerns. Compare that to Mary Bee, a hard-ass ex-teacher who supports the whole community, and I know which story I would rather hear. Indeed, Swarthout seems to think that we’re so invested in Briggs that we won’t even care what happens to the poor women that have been through hell and back. Their stories just fade into the background as we watch Briggs fart, drink, and bar brawl his way through the last fifty or so pages.
So although The Homesman looks as though it has something new to say about brave pioneering woman, it sadly doesn’t. After a promising start and some pretty decent exploration of what it was like for these women, the status quo is re-established and all the good work that Swarthout has put in is nearly undone. The biggest twist in this story is that *gasp* the “homesman” turns out to be a MAN all along!
March 19, 2022
3.50 Stars (Rnd ⬆️) — Well written Westerns are always tales I find enjoyable thanks to the setting, the vernacular and the clandestine nature of each unique town and tale.
The Homesman is far from the typical Western Tale. A road trip for the ages at the Fromtier. An unmarried, plain & bossy woman is tasked with navigating many weeks journey through the hills of Nebraska, with three woman whom have lost their Witts — well and truly — as the cargo. Mary Bee is a tough uncompromising woman, and a crafty one, hence she saves a man’s life whom was to be hanged, as she sees that he is the perfect sidekick for her journey. Crazy, petulant and a low-life opportunist, the two make a mighty pairing and their journey is filled with incredibly rich, gritty and storied roadblocks which the pair must overcome if they are to succeed & survive — both the elements, dangers and each other!
Paced on the slow side, I found this extremely enjoyable. The characters are only lightly fleshed-put, allowing the journey and discovery of the personalities themselves to shine throughout the perils this group must face on the road.
The Homesman is far from the typical Western Tale. A road trip for the ages at the Fromtier. An unmarried, plain & bossy woman is tasked with navigating many weeks journey through the hills of Nebraska, with three woman whom have lost their Witts — well and truly — as the cargo. Mary Bee is a tough uncompromising woman, and a crafty one, hence she saves a man’s life whom was to be hanged, as she sees that he is the perfect sidekick for her journey. Crazy, petulant and a low-life opportunist, the two make a mighty pairing and their journey is filled with incredibly rich, gritty and storied roadblocks which the pair must overcome if they are to succeed & survive — both the elements, dangers and each other!
Paced on the slow side, I found this extremely enjoyable. The characters are only lightly fleshed-put, allowing the journey and discovery of the personalities themselves to shine throughout the perils this group must face on the road.
December 9, 2014
This is my first outing with Glendon Swarthout, so I had no idea what I would be encountering. I did read a few of the reviews of The Homesman before I read the novel, though, and I was aware that Swarthout does something later in the book that really angered some readers. As such, I read it with a wary eye.
The well-told story is of a journey from homesteader Nebraska to Iowa during the 1850's. The purpose of the trip is to return to civilization four women who have been broken by the frontier life. The shepherds of these lost souls are a hard-beaten frontier survivor named Mary Bee Cuddy and an even harder-beaten frontiersman by the name of George Briggs. The stories of the four women are individually laid out by Swarthout and each is more poignantly told and tragically realized than the last. It is a story adeptly, if simply, told and I did find it compelling enough to keep my interest. My complaints about the writing itself would probably fall on the lack of lyricism and allegory that rendered it somewhat less than wholly satisfying to me.
The considerably more important point of this book for me, however, is the glaring question it raised at (my Kindle tells me) around the 70% mark. And that question is this: What does the author owe me, the reader? Because at that point in this otherwise nicely told tale, the author pulled the rug out from under me. I'd never encountered anything remotely like it in my reading experience and I had to wonder if the convention he'd just breached was so certainly settled that I'd previously failed to even recognize its existence, let alone its importance. I was inclined to just put the book down forever (or, perhaps more honestly, to throw it through the nearest window). I did continue to read, though, because I just had to know if I'd been really and truly betrayed or if my despair would be ultimately rewarded with some soaring allegorical resolution.
In order to keep the review on this side of the no-spoilers wall, I won't go any further into what Swarthout did that was so egregious or as to whether he redeemed himself (Hint: I did purchase They Came to Cordura immediately upon finishing this book) but I will say that an author, in my judgment, is allowed to completely flout convention as long as he doesn't betray my trust. That trust is based on the assumption that I'll go the entire distance on this journey with the writer and, in return, the writer will lead me somewhere worthwhile - a fairly simple arrangement. Now, as to whether Swarthout has honored that agreement in The Homesman, all I can tell you is that you'll be faced with this question if you read it and, for that reason alone, I have to suggest that anyone who loves literary fiction should do so. The book comes late in his career and, I can assure you, he knows what he's doing here.
The well-told story is of a journey from homesteader Nebraska to Iowa during the 1850's. The purpose of the trip is to return to civilization four women who have been broken by the frontier life. The shepherds of these lost souls are a hard-beaten frontier survivor named Mary Bee Cuddy and an even harder-beaten frontiersman by the name of George Briggs. The stories of the four women are individually laid out by Swarthout and each is more poignantly told and tragically realized than the last. It is a story adeptly, if simply, told and I did find it compelling enough to keep my interest. My complaints about the writing itself would probably fall on the lack of lyricism and allegory that rendered it somewhat less than wholly satisfying to me.
The considerably more important point of this book for me, however, is the glaring question it raised at (my Kindle tells me) around the 70% mark. And that question is this: What does the author owe me, the reader? Because at that point in this otherwise nicely told tale, the author pulled the rug out from under me. I'd never encountered anything remotely like it in my reading experience and I had to wonder if the convention he'd just breached was so certainly settled that I'd previously failed to even recognize its existence, let alone its importance. I was inclined to just put the book down forever (or, perhaps more honestly, to throw it through the nearest window). I did continue to read, though, because I just had to know if I'd been really and truly betrayed or if my despair would be ultimately rewarded with some soaring allegorical resolution.
In order to keep the review on this side of the no-spoilers wall, I won't go any further into what Swarthout did that was so egregious or as to whether he redeemed himself (Hint: I did purchase They Came to Cordura immediately upon finishing this book) but I will say that an author, in my judgment, is allowed to completely flout convention as long as he doesn't betray my trust. That trust is based on the assumption that I'll go the entire distance on this journey with the writer and, in return, the writer will lead me somewhere worthwhile - a fairly simple arrangement. Now, as to whether Swarthout has honored that agreement in The Homesman, all I can tell you is that you'll be faced with this question if you read it and, for that reason alone, I have to suggest that anyone who loves literary fiction should do so. The book comes late in his career and, I can assure you, he knows what he's doing here.
July 31, 2014
This is a different type of western tale. The story deals with the problems of mental illness in the western frontier of the 1870’s. Mental illness and severe depression was a major problem on the prairies in the 1800s much of it was blamed on the isolation suffered by the women for long periods of time.
In this story the author tells the tale of women living in sod huts during a severe winter with brutish husbands who treat them like beasts of burden, with children who die wholesale from diphtheria and other infectious diseases and going through childbirth alone. Swarthout tells of Mary Bee Cuddy a 30ish spinster, tough as nails, who has a nice homestead near Loup, in the Nebraska Territory. Cuddy will take four insane women to a town at the Iowa-Nebraska border where a minister’s wife will see they go back to their families or to an asylum. Mary B takes along “Cull” to help her on the trip, after she saved him from a lynching.
Homespun was first printed in 1988 and rereleased in 2014. Swarthout characters are heart-wrenchingly believable because they are drawn from true-life pioneer experiences. The author‘s prose flows smoothly, but with a dangerous undercurrent. I understand this book was made into a movie, first in 1988 starring Paul Newman and again in 2014. The current movie stars Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank. The woman who takes the ill women is played by Meryl Streep. Four other Swarthout books have been made into movies by John Wayne. Swarthout writes across a number of genres but it is his western that were made into movies. Swarthout died in 1992. I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible. Candace Thaxton did an excellent job narrating the book.
In this story the author tells the tale of women living in sod huts during a severe winter with brutish husbands who treat them like beasts of burden, with children who die wholesale from diphtheria and other infectious diseases and going through childbirth alone. Swarthout tells of Mary Bee Cuddy a 30ish spinster, tough as nails, who has a nice homestead near Loup, in the Nebraska Territory. Cuddy will take four insane women to a town at the Iowa-Nebraska border where a minister’s wife will see they go back to their families or to an asylum. Mary B takes along “Cull” to help her on the trip, after she saved him from a lynching.
Homespun was first printed in 1988 and rereleased in 2014. Swarthout characters are heart-wrenchingly believable because they are drawn from true-life pioneer experiences. The author‘s prose flows smoothly, but with a dangerous undercurrent. I understand this book was made into a movie, first in 1988 starring Paul Newman and again in 2014. The current movie stars Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank. The woman who takes the ill women is played by Meryl Streep. Four other Swarthout books have been made into movies by John Wayne. Swarthout writes across a number of genres but it is his western that were made into movies. Swarthout died in 1992. I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible. Candace Thaxton did an excellent job narrating the book.
July 19, 2018
A very well written story about the hard life faced by the pioneers on the frontier. After an especially tough winter and physically and emotionally debilitating circumstances, four wives lose their minds. In the absence of any local insane asylums, it's agreed that the women would be taken by wagon to a town in Iowa, where a local church group would ensure they were reunited with their kin in their hometowns. A strong, single woman living on the frontier agrees to be the homesman and escort the wives to Iowa. She knows she will need help with the journey, and this comes in the form of a ne'er do well claim jumper. The story not only details the history of each of the four wives and their circumstances, but also the psyche and relationship between the homesman and her helper, with some unexpected twists. I didn't have any expectations about this book, and ended up liking it much more than I thought I would.
September 17, 2022
So good on so many levels from the wolf attack, hardships of the woman to the ultimate irony that our "hero" is paid with money from a bank that goes bust while he brings the women to Iowa. Highly recommended!
July 18, 2014
Great story until the last 50 pages or so. I just felt so bereft at the end, and then like the end didn't make any sense. I just felt like there was part of the story missing.
July 21, 2023
This book examines a facet of life in the American Old West that I had not considered before. What happened to settlers who suffered from mental breakdowns? The author of this book had done research and discovered the women were often taken “back East” to their families or to asylums by a person called a “homesman.” (The men did not fare as well.) Normally, a “homesman” was a man, but in this story, set in the 1850s, a woman, Mary Bee Cuddy, volunteers when the men are reluctant to take on the assignment. She realizes she cannot handle four mentally unstable women on her own, so she saves the life of a brigand who was about to be hanged. The two journey East and they face many dangers from internal and external forces. The storyline covers the traumas, tragedies, and isolation that led to each woman’s mental breakdown, and then relates the journey.
The author does not spare the details of the harsh conditions and events. This is definitely not a glorification of the American West. The two main characters go through many trials and their goals are not aligned from the beginning. For me, the first half is the strongest, as I felt that the characters commit acts that do not correspond to their established personalities toward the end. It is a sad story that will appeal to those interested in life in the American West in the mid-nineteenth century.
The author does not spare the details of the harsh conditions and events. This is definitely not a glorification of the American West. The two main characters go through many trials and their goals are not aligned from the beginning. For me, the first half is the strongest, as I felt that the characters commit acts that do not correspond to their established personalities toward the end. It is a sad story that will appeal to those interested in life in the American West in the mid-nineteenth century.
February 9, 2024
Awww man, I did this one all the wrong way.
I watched the movie before I read the book - I didn’t even know it was a book until I saw “based on the book by”! Oh well, who doesn’t love Tommy Lee Jones.
Anyway, I loved the book and the movie. My opinion may be different if I had read the book first but the movie was perfectly cast and followed decently. Great book!
I watched the movie before I read the book - I didn’t even know it was a book until I saw “based on the book by”! Oh well, who doesn’t love Tommy Lee Jones.
Anyway, I loved the book and the movie. My opinion may be different if I had read the book first but the movie was perfectly cast and followed decently. Great book!
March 6, 2014
The story was intriguing enough that I read the book quickly, impatient to know what would happen next, the outcome of the characters, to reach the conclusion. It had great potential - the story of early pioneers and, particularly, the effect of that challenging and harsh life on women. Each of the characters was well introduced, indeed, the crisp writing provided strong imagery to connect with the times, place and people. Indeed, even after putting the book down, I care about the characters who will stay on with me for a good long while.
However, this reader has certain standards that this book did not achieve. Not all of the characters had the necessary integrity to make this a believable story. Another way of putting it is that this was a good story but didn't seem realistic in most ways. A good tale. Don't want to spoil the book for anyone, so will just say that, unfortunately, one of the two major protagonists acted in ways very inconsistent with the author's development of the character. The author tries to explain this away with prose, but it just doesn't ring true.
About midway through the book, it seemed that all the voices in the book spoke with about the same cadence. Then the scenes began to unfold that appeared to be just that, scenes in a movie. My thoughts...well, this is an author who is writing an audition for a screenplay, not a book. All of the elements that rang untrue would stand up much better in a movie, with charismatic actors playing the roles, to assist us in our suspense of disbelief. Perhaps the most distracting device the author used a few times was giving the the protagonists the time to review the history of how they got where they got. Again, without providing a spoiler, think of movies which provide visual flashbacks to remember the touching moments people spent together over time -- always designed to provoke tears. It seems a manipulative device in movies, and in this book it seemed like stage direction to this reader. Most readers don't need the novelist to regurgitate the past events to make sure we were paying attention.
After reading the book, and looking it up online, I find that it is "soon to be a major motion picture directed by Tommy Lee Jones." Sounds great. I'll likely give the movie 5 stars. Great literature, not really. Good read, interesting story, yes. Would I recommend it? Sure. But, might as well wait for the movie. Think it might be even better.
However, this reader has certain standards that this book did not achieve. Not all of the characters had the necessary integrity to make this a believable story. Another way of putting it is that this was a good story but didn't seem realistic in most ways. A good tale. Don't want to spoil the book for anyone, so will just say that, unfortunately, one of the two major protagonists acted in ways very inconsistent with the author's development of the character. The author tries to explain this away with prose, but it just doesn't ring true.
About midway through the book, it seemed that all the voices in the book spoke with about the same cadence. Then the scenes began to unfold that appeared to be just that, scenes in a movie. My thoughts...well, this is an author who is writing an audition for a screenplay, not a book. All of the elements that rang untrue would stand up much better in a movie, with charismatic actors playing the roles, to assist us in our suspense of disbelief. Perhaps the most distracting device the author used a few times was giving the the protagonists the time to review the history of how they got where they got. Again, without providing a spoiler, think of movies which provide visual flashbacks to remember the touching moments people spent together over time -- always designed to provoke tears. It seems a manipulative device in movies, and in this book it seemed like stage direction to this reader. Most readers don't need the novelist to regurgitate the past events to make sure we were paying attention.
After reading the book, and looking it up online, I find that it is "soon to be a major motion picture directed by Tommy Lee Jones." Sounds great. I'll likely give the movie 5 stars. Great literature, not really. Good read, interesting story, yes. Would I recommend it? Sure. But, might as well wait for the movie. Think it might be even better.
September 20, 2021
I hadn't known about this 1988 novel, but happened across the newly reprinted paperback, presumably reissued in anticipation of an upcoming film version directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones. Reading it, I was immediately reminded of why, as a teenager, I had been so moved by another of Glendon Swarthout's efforts, "Bless the Beasts & Children." In the sparest of prose, Swarthout conveys worlds of loss, misunderstood motivations, and unacknowledged emotions. He is a master of "show, don't tell," and the effect hits like dynamite.
This novel worked for me in a variety of ways. Descended myself from a direct line of strong, solid, Sarpy County, Nebraska pioneer women, the subject matter interested me immediately. As with the best of Larry McMurtry's period westerns, the off-kilter juxtaposition of heartbreaking events with dry, homespun humor kept me turning pages compulsively. Thematically, I was moved by the plight of characters that find themselves struggling against currents they can't overcome, whether they be geographical, historical, or societal. Misfits and outcasts occur in every age and location, and their stories, in the right hands, can convey human sorrows and triumphs like nothing else. What are the real trade-offs when the trappings of civilization are exchanged for the freedom of a frontier, if that freedom can only be had through hardscrabble toil and tribulation? And what effect does such a life have on gender roles and expectations? What happens to the human psyche when we are deprived of our most basic need for communion with others of our kind? Finally, this novel left me pondering why it should be that tragedy and loss can bring out the worst in some, but the best in others. Treat yourself to this rediscovered gem.
This novel worked for me in a variety of ways. Descended myself from a direct line of strong, solid, Sarpy County, Nebraska pioneer women, the subject matter interested me immediately. As with the best of Larry McMurtry's period westerns, the off-kilter juxtaposition of heartbreaking events with dry, homespun humor kept me turning pages compulsively. Thematically, I was moved by the plight of characters that find themselves struggling against currents they can't overcome, whether they be geographical, historical, or societal. Misfits and outcasts occur in every age and location, and their stories, in the right hands, can convey human sorrows and triumphs like nothing else. What are the real trade-offs when the trappings of civilization are exchanged for the freedom of a frontier, if that freedom can only be had through hardscrabble toil and tribulation? And what effect does such a life have on gender roles and expectations? What happens to the human psyche when we are deprived of our most basic need for communion with others of our kind? Finally, this novel left me pondering why it should be that tragedy and loss can bring out the worst in some, but the best in others. Treat yourself to this rediscovered gem.
Read
November 17, 2011This is not exactly a review, rather, a strange connection for me.
Some years ago one of the producers on the film UNFORGIVEN read my western, liked it a lot, and said to me, "You know, as I was reading this, I thought, this is the writer who needs to adapt THE HOMESMAN for Paul Newman."
I read HOMESMAN and loved a lot of it--except for (no spoiler here, I'm restraining myself) how the female protagonist dealt with her loss near the end. And I knew, yes, I could write the hell out of this script, but not if Paul (he was Paul in my mind by this point) wanted THAT to happen!
And I wrote Mr Newman (well, it was official correspondence) and told him what I'd been told, and that I'd love to offer myself up for the task of adapting this book for him.
Yes.
I really did that.
And--it gets worse. I did that knowing--KNOWING--that the script he'd been shopping around trying to get made for this project was supposedly causing all sorts of problems because everybody "knew" that despite whatever name was on the script, Paul had written it himself. And nobody wanted to say, "Paul, this script is bad." So it didn't get made, it kept getting passed around, and...
I wrote and offered my services as a screenwriter.
*takes a bow*
Yes, that is chutzpah.
Of course nothing came of it.
Until many months later, I came home from somewhere to find a message on my answering machine. A voice that said, "Call for Patricia from Mr Newman." And when I didn't answer, there were murmurs and then a voice continued, "Mr Newman wanted to thank you for your interest in The Homesman, but he isn't looking for a writer at this time. If his plans change, he will let you know."
I almost fell flat on the floor. ON the FLOOR, people.
First of all, it sounded distinctly as if--had I been home--I might have actually spoken to MR NEWMAN my own sassy self!
At any event, his asst had called to pass verbally, and so nicely and--
Well, I eventually started breathing again.
And that was the end of it.
So, I'd had a few people tell me that my book reminded them of Unforgiven (though my book was published first), and then The Homesman, and then...
Today when I was looking for comparisons for my western, so I could say, if you like THIS you might like my western romance, somebody came back and said, "Unforgiven was written by a guy who was influenced by Gwendon Swarthout, who write The Shootist and The Homesman."
Books which I suggest very few of my target audience will have ever read.
And yet it seems that if Gwendon Swarthout had ever written a western with love and sex... somebody might have said to him, "You know what, this reminds me a lot of that Patricia Burroughs...."
Some years ago one of the producers on the film UNFORGIVEN read my western, liked it a lot, and said to me, "You know, as I was reading this, I thought, this is the writer who needs to adapt THE HOMESMAN for Paul Newman."
I read HOMESMAN and loved a lot of it--except for (no spoiler here, I'm restraining myself) how the female protagonist dealt with her loss near the end. And I knew, yes, I could write the hell out of this script, but not if Paul (he was Paul in my mind by this point) wanted THAT to happen!
And I wrote Mr Newman (well, it was official correspondence) and told him what I'd been told, and that I'd love to offer myself up for the task of adapting this book for him.
Yes.
I really did that.
And--it gets worse. I did that knowing--KNOWING--that the script he'd been shopping around trying to get made for this project was supposedly causing all sorts of problems because everybody "knew" that despite whatever name was on the script, Paul had written it himself. And nobody wanted to say, "Paul, this script is bad." So it didn't get made, it kept getting passed around, and...
I wrote and offered my services as a screenwriter.
*takes a bow*
Yes, that is chutzpah.
Of course nothing came of it.
Until many months later, I came home from somewhere to find a message on my answering machine. A voice that said, "Call for Patricia from Mr Newman." And when I didn't answer, there were murmurs and then a voice continued, "Mr Newman wanted to thank you for your interest in The Homesman, but he isn't looking for a writer at this time. If his plans change, he will let you know."
I almost fell flat on the floor. ON the FLOOR, people.
First of all, it sounded distinctly as if--had I been home--I might have actually spoken to MR NEWMAN my own sassy self!
At any event, his asst had called to pass verbally, and so nicely and--
Well, I eventually started breathing again.
And that was the end of it.
So, I'd had a few people tell me that my book reminded them of Unforgiven (though my book was published first), and then The Homesman, and then...
Today when I was looking for comparisons for my western, so I could say, if you like THIS you might like my western romance, somebody came back and said, "Unforgiven was written by a guy who was influenced by Gwendon Swarthout, who write The Shootist and The Homesman."
Books which I suggest very few of my target audience will have ever read.
And yet it seems that if Gwendon Swarthout had ever written a western with love and sex... somebody might have said to him, "You know what, this reminds me a lot of that Patricia Burroughs...."
February 17, 2015
5 stars because I read it over 36 hours, couldn't put it down, and now I can't stop thinking about it. Quite possibly the most depressing and frustrating story I've read in a long time, and some of the basic principles - as well as the resolution of the story - make me angry and sad. If I was in a book group, I'd strongly suggest this as a read.
July 4, 2015
I hadn't heard of the book before the movie, but when I saw the trailer for the movie I was very excited to see it. It looked like a wonderful movie that I would enjoy and for the most part it was. However, with the major shift 3/4 through the plot I had some questions about the movie and wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. I knew the only way to get answers was to read the book.
The differences between the book and movie are few and subtle but could change the entire meaning depending on how you look at it. For the most part the movie was pretty faithful to the main plot of the book. With the book we learned more about the women, and what drove them to madness. We also learn a little more about Mary B. Cutty and the darkness that lives in her soul from time to time.
I feel that someone else should have played Briggs. I feel like Briggs in the movie was more sympathetic simply because we can clearly see it is Tommy Lee Jones. The Briggs in the book was appalling and repellent, withholding and insensitive, entirely about his own survival and self-interests, and everything Mary B. Cutty accuses him to be. I don't believe that he ever changes either.
What this book does well is talk about the harsh frontier life and every aspect of it. If it has another purpose or point is left for the reader to decide. If it is a story of Briggs and redemption, it is unsatisfying since he is ultimately little changed. What could have been a story of a strong woman trying to do the right thing against all odds, braving a harsh landscape and a world dominated by men, was cut short and invalidated by the sudden shift in the story.
We do learn that Briggs did feel bad. He did ultimately admire Mary B. Cutty and wish things could have been different for her, or at least speculated about it. And for awhile there she did seem to have a positive influence on him with some random acts of generosity he exhibits towards the end, but this influence seems fleeting and very realistic in the manner of real life, where real change requires more than that.
I think Glendon Swarthout is a fine writer. The writing was well done, the story was interesting, nothing was spelled out for us, and the hardships were real and unsettling. The book shift in the book felt like less of a gimmick than it did in the movie, and the overall story seems to work better as a novel. While I may have just been presented with more questions, it is in the spirit of most good books, where it leaves things up to the reader to decide.
I'm glad I read the book and took the journey across the prairie with them, and I kind of like that I've had mixed feelings about the whole thing.
The differences between the book and movie are few and subtle but could change the entire meaning depending on how you look at it. For the most part the movie was pretty faithful to the main plot of the book. With the book we learned more about the women, and what drove them to madness. We also learn a little more about Mary B. Cutty and the darkness that lives in her soul from time to time.
I feel that someone else should have played Briggs. I feel like Briggs in the movie was more sympathetic simply because we can clearly see it is Tommy Lee Jones. The Briggs in the book was appalling and repellent, withholding and insensitive, entirely about his own survival and self-interests, and everything Mary B. Cutty accuses him to be. I don't believe that he ever changes either.
What this book does well is talk about the harsh frontier life and every aspect of it. If it has another purpose or point is left for the reader to decide. If it is a story of Briggs and redemption, it is unsatisfying since he is ultimately little changed. What could have been a story of a strong woman trying to do the right thing against all odds, braving a harsh landscape and a world dominated by men, was cut short and invalidated by the sudden shift in the story.
We do learn that Briggs did feel bad. He did ultimately admire Mary B. Cutty and wish things could have been different for her, or at least speculated about it. And for awhile there she did seem to have a positive influence on him with some random acts of generosity he exhibits towards the end, but this influence seems fleeting and very realistic in the manner of real life, where real change requires more than that.
I think Glendon Swarthout is a fine writer. The writing was well done, the story was interesting, nothing was spelled out for us, and the hardships were real and unsettling. The book shift in the book felt like less of a gimmick than it did in the movie, and the overall story seems to work better as a novel. While I may have just been presented with more questions, it is in the spirit of most good books, where it leaves things up to the reader to decide.
I'm glad I read the book and took the journey across the prairie with them, and I kind of like that I've had mixed feelings about the whole thing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2014
I had never heard of this book before but needed something to read for a flight so grabbed this at the airport. It was written several years ago, but the movie is coming out soon, hence its presence on the airport bookshelves. I had recently read another book about a homesteader (Hattie Big Sky) which I enjoyed so I thought this would be interesting to me. This story is about a homesteading woman (an ex-school teacher and "spinster") who volunteers to take 4 women who have each had a mental breakdown after a harsh winter back east to be cared for by family. She recruits a gruff and shady claim jumper to help her in the task. The stories of the women and this journey end up being very powerful. The story definitely makes you think about how hard life could be in rural America in the 1800s for the thousands of homesteaders trying to grab their pieces of the American Dream. This is definitely a dark tale and not for those who only enjoy sunny, happy stories. That said, I found this to be a great read and I will look forward to the film that Tommy Lee Jones directed.
September 10, 2018
*Spoiler Alert*
Here is the sexist passage that entirely ruined if for me, despite being a page-turner:
Here is the sexist passage that entirely ruined if for me, despite being a page-turner:
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