The Outlander
Ratings8
Average rating3
15
Ratings8
Average rating3
In 1903 a mysterious young woman flees alone across the West, one heart-pounding step ahead of the law. At nineteen, Mary Boulton has just become a widow—and her husband's killer. As bloodhounds track her frantic race toward the mountains, she is tormented by mad visions and by the knowledge that her two ruthless brothers-in-law are in pursuit, determined to avenge their younger brother's death. Responding to little more than the primitive fight for life, the widow retreats ever deeper into the wilderness—and into the wilds of her own mind—encountering an unforgettable cast of eccentrics along the way.With the stunning prose and captivating mood of great works like Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain or early Cormac McCarthy, Gil Adamson's intoxicating debut novel weds a brilliant literary style to the gripping tale of one woman's desperate escape.
Reviews with the most likes.
Slow going at the start. It's a 19th century pastoral, set in Canada circa 1903, with a plodding focus on detail. Told in the third person, our protagonist is an essentially nameless woman escaping from the brothers of the husband she's just killed. Despite this, I begin to wonder why I should care. She doesn't seem capable of carrying the plot on her own.
It's not until she comes into focus in relation to those she meets does the story start to pick up. The second half almost warrants a fourth star. I enjoyed the growing cast of characters including the mountain hermit, the pugilist preacher, the monstrous Italian moonshiner and the dwarf shopkeeper. The nameless “widow” slowly comes into focus as Mary Boulton - present during the worst landslide of North American history when 90 millions tons of limestone slid down Turtle Mountain in 100 seconds killing nearly 100 people. I wish I could give it a 3 and a half.
Featured Series
2 primary booksThe Boultons is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2007 with contributions by Gil Adamson.
