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robinsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Took a bit to get totally interested in the story but the writing is gorgeous and loved the central Oregon setting.
bookscatsyarn's review against another edition
5.0
I kind of want to run around yelling EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS! It really is magnificent.
jennyshank's review against another edition
4.0
Frontier Justice: A review of Little Century
REVIEW - From the July 22, 2013 issue of High Country News
http://www.hcn.org/issues/45.12/frontier-justice-a-review-of-little-century
When Esther Chambers moves to central Oregon from Chicago in 1896, she finds herself caught in a range war between cattle ranchers and sheepherders. Anna Keesey's elegant debut novel, Little Century, resurrects the complex West of those early days, in prose that captures the rhythms and diction of a hundred years ago.
Esther's mother died a few months earlier and her only surviving relative is a distant cousin, Ferris Pickett, known as Pick, who owns the Two Forks ranch outside of Century, Ore. Pick persuades the 18-year-old to swear she is 21 in order to file a claim on a plot of land that includes a playa lake called Half-a-Mind. Water is scarce in this arid country, and Pick wants to graze his cattle at Half-a-Mind, although sheep ranchers also use the free-range land nearby. "You've had a hard time," Pick tells Esther. "But this is a good country for someone alone. We're all equal out here, and everyone makes his own luck."
Esther settles down on her claim and begins to adapt to her new life. She befriends a few of the locals, including Century's shopkeeper, Joe Peasley, who loans her books and the use of his typewriter, and its schoolteacher, Jane Fremont, who also lives on a claim. Esther is initially perplexed by the tensions and alliances between the townspeople. But before long, she realizes that those who behave coldly to her often do so because she has unwittingly thwarted their hopes or ambitions.
Pick is the community's most respected member, and when he asks Esther to consent to "an understanding" that they will one day marry, she agrees. But expedience has a way of trumping morality on the frontier, and the conflict with the sheepherders escalates into wagon burnings, livestock killings and murder. Even the upright-seeming Jane and Pick have secrets. Liberated by her own claim's isolation, Esther indulges in a forbidden friendship with a young sheepherder.
"Justice is hard to come by," Esther thinks, and the plot of Little Century echoes this notion. Keesey has fashioned an authentic story out of the moral compromises Western settlers made in order to live and work with one another.
REVIEW - From the July 22, 2013 issue of High Country News
http://www.hcn.org/issues/45.12/frontier-justice-a-review-of-little-century
When Esther Chambers moves to central Oregon from Chicago in 1896, she finds herself caught in a range war between cattle ranchers and sheepherders. Anna Keesey's elegant debut novel, Little Century, resurrects the complex West of those early days, in prose that captures the rhythms and diction of a hundred years ago.
Esther's mother died a few months earlier and her only surviving relative is a distant cousin, Ferris Pickett, known as Pick, who owns the Two Forks ranch outside of Century, Ore. Pick persuades the 18-year-old to swear she is 21 in order to file a claim on a plot of land that includes a playa lake called Half-a-Mind. Water is scarce in this arid country, and Pick wants to graze his cattle at Half-a-Mind, although sheep ranchers also use the free-range land nearby. "You've had a hard time," Pick tells Esther. "But this is a good country for someone alone. We're all equal out here, and everyone makes his own luck."
Esther settles down on her claim and begins to adapt to her new life. She befriends a few of the locals, including Century's shopkeeper, Joe Peasley, who loans her books and the use of his typewriter, and its schoolteacher, Jane Fremont, who also lives on a claim. Esther is initially perplexed by the tensions and alliances between the townspeople. But before long, she realizes that those who behave coldly to her often do so because she has unwittingly thwarted their hopes or ambitions.
Pick is the community's most respected member, and when he asks Esther to consent to "an understanding" that they will one day marry, she agrees. But expedience has a way of trumping morality on the frontier, and the conflict with the sheepherders escalates into wagon burnings, livestock killings and murder. Even the upright-seeming Jane and Pick have secrets. Liberated by her own claim's isolation, Esther indulges in a forbidden friendship with a young sheepherder.
"Justice is hard to come by," Esther thinks, and the plot of Little Century echoes this notion. Keesey has fashioned an authentic story out of the moral compromises Western settlers made in order to live and work with one another.
melissarochelle's review
3.0
Me, Esther, and Pick had a rough go of it. There were moments I loved this book -- the conversation between Esther and Ben about Grant Goodwell -- and moments when I did not love it -- the random, in-depth talk of a war that played no real role in the overall story.
So I liked it, but I can't really praise it. Yes, the writing was beautiful, but I could have used less of it at times, you know? I probably should have known I wouldn't love it when the description compared it to [b:My Ántonia|17150|My Ántonia|Willa Cather|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348295344s/17150.jpg|575450] instead of say...[b:Lonesome Dove|256008|Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1)|Larry McMurtry|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1266507527s/256008.jpg|3281465]. (I really didn't like the Cather novel when I read it in high school, I should give it another chance.)
So I liked it, but I can't really praise it. Yes, the writing was beautiful, but I could have used less of it at times, you know? I probably should have known I wouldn't love it when the description compared it to [b:My Ántonia|17150|My Ántonia|Willa Cather|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348295344s/17150.jpg|575450] instead of say...[b:Lonesome Dove|256008|Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1)|Larry McMurtry|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1266507527s/256008.jpg|3281465]. (I really didn't like the Cather novel when I read it in high school, I should give it another chance.)
eliz_s's review against another edition
5.0
This novel is as close to perfect as one gets, I think. I am sad that I finished it. I wish there was more of it to read! I look forward to more books from Keesey... hopefully she's got something in the works?
krissymartini's review against another edition
4.0
This was Oregon. If I'm being honest, this was a slow burn for me. But once it got going, I was fully invested! Did not think I would like a book set in the year 1900 in Oregon this much, but I did! Murder, romance, farming - this book has it all!
atschakfoert's review against another edition
2.0
Similar to the recently released book The Orchardist but not nearly as good. The dialogue was weak and the plot was mind-numbingly slow. Skip this and pick up The Orchardist instead.
kedawen's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. The descriptions were vivid and the characters seemed alive. I may or may not have been crying at the end....
dreesreads's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this a lot, but the very last chapter pissed me off. It's not the story, exactly, but without spoiling, there is no way to explain. Minus 1 star for the lame ending.
This story is like The Octopus and My Antonia combined, but is not actually as good as either one. (Links will be added when goodreads links are working and I remember.)
This story is like The Octopus and My Antonia combined, but is not actually as good as either one. (Links will be added when goodreads links are working and I remember.)