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A review by kendragaylelee
Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens
4.0
Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens helped me linger in that cow(girl) state of mind originally inspired by Yellowstone–then continuously fed by a whole heap of country music and whatever spinoff the Yellowstone folks throw my way.
And while Bridget, the orphaned protagonist in Lucky Red doesn’t start with anywhere near the badassery of Beth Dutton, by the time it all winds down, she’s getting there. And that’s probably what’s endearing about Bridget: she’s an absolute trainwreck for a huge chunk of the book. But, like most of us eventually do, she finds her way.
I had the absolute pleasure of listening to Claudia Cravens talk about Lucky Red in a virtual event, where she reminded me that the “sporting women” (read: whores) in westerns don’t get to tell their own story (usually). And, honestly, in most people’s imagination, given how our society is so steeped in patriarchy, it’d likely be a story about a man riding in on his horse to save the lovely lady from the whorehouse and bring her, breasts heaving with love and gratitude, into respectable society.
That is not Bridget’s story. Could’ve been. But Bridget (and Claudia Cravens) have a better imagination than that. This is a queer, feminist western if there ever was one. With one hell of a flawed protagonist.
But at the end… well, there was a lot to love about the end.
You should absolutely read it. Preferably around a campfire, if you’ve got one.
Support Bookish (my indie bookstore in East Atlanta Village) by purchasing Lucky Red from Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/4334/9780593498248
And while Bridget, the orphaned protagonist in Lucky Red doesn’t start with anywhere near the badassery of Beth Dutton, by the time it all winds down, she’s getting there. And that’s probably what’s endearing about Bridget: she’s an absolute trainwreck for a huge chunk of the book. But, like most of us eventually do, she finds her way.
I had the absolute pleasure of listening to Claudia Cravens talk about Lucky Red in a virtual event, where she reminded me that the “sporting women” (read: whores) in westerns don’t get to tell their own story (usually). And, honestly, in most people’s imagination, given how our society is so steeped in patriarchy, it’d likely be a story about a man riding in on his horse to save the lovely lady from the whorehouse and bring her, breasts heaving with love and gratitude, into respectable society.
That is not Bridget’s story. Could’ve been. But Bridget (and Claudia Cravens) have a better imagination than that. This is a queer, feminist western if there ever was one. With one hell of a flawed protagonist.
But at the end… well, there was a lot to love about the end.
You should absolutely read it. Preferably around a campfire, if you’ve got one.
Support Bookish (my indie bookstore in East Atlanta Village) by purchasing Lucky Red from Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/4334/9780593498248