The Curlew's Cry

By Mildred Walker

Book Overview

The Curlew's Cry is the story of three decades in the life of Pamela Lacey and a Montana town. Descended from pioneers and the daughter of a rancher, Pamela lives according to her own script, and nothing seems to happen as expected. The world beats on--World War I, the influenza epidemic of 1917, the Great Depression--and local fortune rise and fall with the price of beef. For Pamela the fight that counts is defined by a sense of independence and pervasive loneliness, by the twists and turns of love and friendship.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803297572
• ISBN13: 9780803297579
• Release Date: April 1994
• Publisher: Bison Books
• Length: 382 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Learning what contentment is all about

Set mainly in Montana between 1905-41, Pam Lacey, a headstrong ranch girl, sets her sights on "bigger things" and mistakenly marries a rich boy from the East. It's a case of the grass not always being greener on the other side, and, swallowing her pride, she leaves her husband and returns home to Montana. She takes over her father's ranch and, to make money, turns it into a dude ranch (a new fangled idea at the time, and one which infuriates the old ranch hands). She ends up living a pretty lonely existence, especially in the winters when the "dudes" are all gone, but she also learns to be content. Although some of the novel is fairly predictable, Walker writes lovingly of the challenges of Montana ranch life (especially for a single woman) and the deep satisfactions that come with it.

Will Keep you up all night

Walker transports you to turn-of-the century ranching life, and the rise of the Western aristocracy. Deals with issues of town vs. country and Eastern establishment and Western individualism. Its a feminist look at social structure and conflict in Western America. A must read for wilderness lovers and lovers of US history!