Pale Morning Done

by Jeff Hull

Marshall is learning to love the land. He’s in the process of transforming his father’s ranch into prime spring creek fishing, literally molding the land as he attempts to fashion himself.
He’s a guide, along with his two closest friends, Molly and Alton. All three are trying to step out of a youthful fascination with the freewheeling, fish-guiding life, and into a sustainable life on the land and water of Montana. Pale Morning Done is a coming-of place novel, in which Marshall must decide between the woman who wants him and the woman who loves him; between the future desired by his father and the future created by himself; between the truth that will bind and the omission that will free. It is about the tides that toss friends, sometimes against each other, and ultimately unites them against enemies. It is about the delicate balance of our lives that violence can abruptly topple.

Beautifully written, this first novel scours the landscape of emotion as it revels in the physical landscape of Montana. Pale Morning Done is sure to place Jeff Hull in the company of other great chroniclers of the new West, including Norman McLean, William Kittredge, and Tom McGuane.

352 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2005

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, Jeff Hull succumbs to a flaw writers, if they want to be good, must avoid, and that is simply that the author has total control over their characters and it's too easy to cross the line between a character's reaction and the author's intention. Hull tries to create a timeless story in a very real place, Missoula, Montana. However, by failing to date the period in which this book takes place, he leaves the reader confused about how his characters are supposed to interact with one another. The way people deal with problems changes daily, and the "old ways" don't always cut it in today's society. Hull tries to cover private land rights, the demise of family ranching, whirling disease, and a friends-but-lovers triangle, all wrapped in a book about fishing. This book simply becomes another unbelievable work of fiction that tries to situate itself among very real issues.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story about a man who builds a spring creek on his father's ranching property in Montana. Part love story, part fly-fishing, all Montana. Beautifully written. I liked it more than I thought I would.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeff Hull is an extraordinary writer. This work is very readable, and illustrates well the beauty of his home state of Montana. His characters are well developed and complex.

This is a story of a young man struggling with fundamental questions about who he is, and where he fits in this world. Hull's protagonist, Marshall, has been raised in a very comfortable life, supplied by his successful and somewhat cantancerous father. He is challenged to do something profitable with a large ranch that his father purchased, and is thinking of selling. Marshall chooses to develop a spring creek as a pay-for-fishing stream. Along the way, he balances relationships with two women, a friend, a neighbor and a former employer.

And that is the problem with the book. Hull attempts to balance love, and relationships with neighbors, clients and a former employer with fly fishing for trout in Montana, and environmental issues including water rights in a state that takes such rights so seriously that it actually has a court exclusively devoted to that issue. It's too much to deliver in one book.

[Neetriht · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lyrical paean to fishing, to Montana, to acceptance. And yet by turns funny and poignant and a guide to novice fishers like myself. And down-to-earth the whole time. This book had better be with me when I am cast out onto my desert island.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful story with a great sense of place. I anxiously await any of Jeff's new work. The tales of the fly fishing guides ring very true - and are quite funny.

[David Simmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

entertaining book, the characters are well defined, great read for anyone interested in fly fishing or the Montana lifestyle.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it - It was actually a love story embedded in a book about a guys obsession with building a private trout stream.