Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Winner of the PEN USA Award for Fiction. "An admirable, steely-eyed collection of stories and vignettes featuring a family of ranchers."--Publishers Weekly
On Hell's Bottom Ranch, a section of land below the Front Range, there are women like Renny who prefer a "little Hell swirled with their Heaven" and men like Ben, her husband, who's "gotten used to smoothing over Renny's excesses." There is a daughter who maybe plays it too safe and a daughter plagued by only "half-wanting" what life has to offer. The ranch has been the site of births and deaths of both cattle and children, as well as moments of amazing harmony and clear vision.
"Set in the unpredictable West, these stories remind us that we cannot escape the messiness and obsessions of ordinary life."--Patricia Henley, author of Hummingbird House
"Displays the talent of a brilliant, new writer."--The Rocky Mountain News
"With the rugged beauty of the Rocky Mountains as backdrop, Pritchett's spare yet richly evocative stories portray the stark reality of life on a Colorado cattle ranch, where three generations of one family tend the land and animals, devoting and losing themselves to an existence few would understand or choose to follow . . . Regardless of whether the songs she hears are sung by a meadowlark or a jailbird, Pritchett excels at juxtaposing the sensuous with the severe, the rapturous with the repugnant."--Booklist
"The stories jump back and forth in time, but their message is clear: this family's ties are as quixotic, fierce, and enduring as the land that binds them together."--School Library Journal
Synopsis
Winner of the Milkweek National Fiction Prize, in this collection of linked short stories, Laura Pritchett balances gritty material with genuine warmth and understanding of character. Hells Bottom is more than a ranch. Home to Renny, one of those women who prefers a little Hell swirled with their Heaven,” and her husband, Ben, whos gotten used to smoothing over Rennys excesses,” the ranch has been the site of births and deaths of both cattle and children, as well as moments of amazing harmony and clear vision. A day of haying turns violent in A New Name Each Day,” while in Rattlesnake Fire,” Ben and his estranged sister must decide whether to put aside their differences to save families trapped by a forest fire. In Pritchetts masterful hands, the western landscape becomes a zone of familial crisis and, sometimes, transcendence.
Table of Contents
Hell's bottom -- A fine white dust -- Summer flood -- An easy birth -- Jailbird gone songbird -- Dry roots -- Grayblue day -- Rattlesnake fire -- A new name each day -- The record keeper.
Exclusive Essay
Read an exclusive essay by Laura Pritchett