A review by markhodderauthor
The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton

5.0

A wonderful, slow-paced western set in the 1950s, when the old ways are a fading memory yet continue to inform the attitudes of tough, set-in-their-ways characters. Racial prejudice (between Anglos and Mexicans) features strongly throughout but is handled sensitively and with insight. Action is low key, this is all about the people and how they cope with a gradual but relentless crisis, and it works really well, feeling absolutely authentic and being thoroughly absorbing. In fact, this is as immersive as James A. Michener’s CENTENNIAL, my all-time favourite western, and I loved it almost as much. Brilliantly written, it is a novel that I didn’t want to end.