Augusta Locke: A Novel

by William Haywood Henderson

A six-generation tale told from the perspective of matriarch Gussie Locke explores how abandonment played a pivotal role in her life, from her decision to run away from home and her struggles as a single mother to her own daughter's flight and her grandchildren's efforts to find answers, in a story set against the panoramic backdrop of the American West in the twentieth century. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Fiction

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Cara Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Augusta Locke may be the strongest, most compelling female character I've yet discovered in literature. The reader meets her as a plain girl, born to beautiful parents, who feels the sting of her difference. She's an outsider in her own family. What's more, she's not traditionally feminine, but a bold creature filled with the wanderlust of her father, qualities that make her an oddity for her time. This book follows Gussie's life as she frees herself of the constraints of those who won't accept her on her own terms, and seeks out champions to support her quest to make her way in the harsh outdoor life of the West.

[Warning: A Few Tiny Spoilers Ahead.)

She does what people expect only men to do. As a teen, she initiates a one-night stand with an attractive young man. Yet it's a moment filled with tenderness. The boy goes off to war, and Gussie decides not to go home to her graceful mother and her new stepfather - who expects decorum. Instead, she puts on the boy's clothes, leaves him her dress, and finds herself mistaken for a young man. She joins a road crew, the first of several male-dominated professions in which she holds her own. Gussie conceived a daughter during her one night of love, and she raises the girl alone. Anne is yet another beauty who leaves Gussie feeling out of place in her own life. Yet Gussie loves Anne fiercely and, knowing her own wanderlust, fears the day her child will leave.

Throughout the book, Gussie throws herself with passion against a hard but beautiful world, and gains wisdom along the way. There's a loneliness to this character and her inability to settle down, which for me is reminiscent of Loyal Blood in Annie Proulx's "Postcards." Yet Gussie's self-confidence, sense of adventure, and determination to accomplish whatever she sets her mind to all resonate with me as the qualities I've always most wished to attain. I relate strongly to this wandering soul. In the end, I found her a woman of great beauty by the most lasting definitions.

[Madeline Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m probably bias but this is such a gorgeous book full of pure poetry. The complexity of characters, the prose, the world building—it’s a beautiful read. Helps that Bill is my mentor—very grateful to learn from a writer like him.

[Charlie Lowrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill was my Novel Bootcamp instructor so I picked up a copy of his book at Lighthouse Writers in Denver. This is a slow burn novel, so it won’t be for everyone, but the prose and imagery were astounding and often dreamlike. Nice job, Bill!

[Myersakrawiec · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had been on my TBR list for several years, but I kept wanting to read it because it was about a tough woman and her life on the frontier (a typical favorite for me). I should have left it on the TBR List! After obtaining this book from interlibrary loan, I had trouble getting into it. There was a lot of description and not a lot of plot. Sometimes I wished the author would just say it! All the action was alluded to and there was very little conversation amongst characters, only thoughts. I also could not relate to Augusta, she didn't seem to have a lot of feelings about anything or anyone. Finally after 48 pages, I felt I had given it enough of a chance and decided to end the allusion!

[Jim Grimsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the pure pleasure of reading prose this book is at the top tier; the writing is strung through with paragraphs that are glorious, evocative of landscape, making me feel as if I am walking through a country that I actually know only barely. It would be tempting to say that the landscape overwhelms the book, but my own brief experience of Wyoming was much like that. The geography dominates everything. The countryside insists on itself in every possible way, and you live in a feeling of space that is incomparable; all this Henderson depicts in minute splendor. The novel succeeds in spite of its story but does not quite abandon story in the way that some books manage to do when they focus on language. I have changed my rating several times while typing this. I suppose it is hard to understand a character who can simply walk away from her mother, yet remain prone to reveries about her, and never make the least effort to find her again. There is the irony of the fact that Augusta's own daughter leaves her in the same fashion. The characters are so very articulate in their spare way. The dialog in general feels composed and organized in a way that does not evoke their voices, though there are some beautiful and understated scenes throughout. The story has a monotone quality. It makes very risky choices about coincidence. The story drifts away at the ending; I've read so much about Gussy and still don't know who she is; she feels like a part of the landscape, scoured by all that wind and weather. These may well all be positives, in fact. It's a book I will have to think about for a while. But I wish the drama were a bit stronger.

[Jo Young Switzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book, Augusta Locke, paints a rich picture of the American West, particularly Wyoming before many white settlers explored it. We hear the story through the eyes of a strong and gritty woman -- Augusta "Gussie" Locke. "Gussie" lives courageously yet naturally at the edge of civilization. She clears roads, spends wintery months scores of miles away from any towns, and lives without safety nets of civilization. Gussie is tough, strong, resilient, adaptable. Her friends are men who live in isolated huts in the mountains, eating beef jerky and scraping together what they can for food. The author, William Haywood Henderson, describes Gussie the way an Impressionist artist paints -- true to the subject, colorfully, imaginatively, and with the mysterious blurry effect that tells the truth about Wyoming and its "characters" before interstates and restaurants. This is a book to savor. It is a book that draws me to the rural west where I might hope to find echoes of Gussie's world in the wind. I recommend it most highly.

[LizC · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost quit reading this book a couple of times, but then it would get a little interesting and I just kept going. Decided I had to finish it. Some of the long descriptions of things seem to go on and on. I found myself skimming a bit of it, knowing that it didn’t really apply to the story and was just a random description of something. I don’t think the main character, Gussie , was that likable, or even that believable. I hate to criticize someone’s writing because I know that they put a lot of their soul into it. But i try to be honest in my experience of reading.

[Jennifer Koskinen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It caught me off guard as I came to the end of this gorgeous novel - that feeling in my chest. The swelling of emotion in melancholy anticipation of saying goodbye to a character I’ve come to love.

I just finished and am still processing so much but already know: this story, these rugged landscapes, Gussie and the motley crew of characters that come and go throughout her story will be with me for a long time to come.

Feeling a lot of love for this one.

[Randi Samuelson-Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with a strong female protagonist. I actually read this book while I was in Dublin, and felt the lure of the American West so strongly. What I also like about this book is the fact that Augusta seems very REAL and not stereotypical in the slightest. Books portraying historical women with their own ambitions and morals is very welcome indeed.

[Carnegie E · Rating 5 out of 5]

The prose in this book is stark and beautiful. The landscape, flora and fauna of the West is as much a character in this work as the titled character Gussie, and Henderson's words drip richly on the page.

[Pcox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting how the author kept me engaged because I was waiting for a plot change that never came.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In Wyoming, in Rawlins, she had watched the funeral of a boy killed in the Great War. There had been nothing to see but the box, the flag, and the mourners. She'd though of how he'd died, and how long he might have lain unnoticed, and how his face might have been turned from the sky, so that his cheek and the tip of his nose touched the earth. As he lay there, if he'd lived for even a few seconds, his entire world would have been the blades of grass, and the spider with its dance of legs and silk, and the down and pollen drifted from above, and the textures of moisture and dryness, and the roots, and the creatures no more than specks of red feeding on the loam, the sheaths of stem and bud, the spore and petal, the grove of fungus on the sandy scraps of boulder. It was all to beautiful to comprehend."


Soooo... yeah. That last sentence about sums it all up, with the previous lines as proof.

[AuthorsOnTourLive! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set primarily in Wyoming, Henderson's new novel chronicles a woman's troubled and short-lived relationships with both her mother and her daughter. Redolent with myth, humor, strange landscapes and stark reality, Augusta Locke is an indelible portrait of a woman who, through great spirit and toughness of character, blazes her own trail. Of his previous novel, The Rest of the Earth, Annie Proulx remarked that "Henderson writes some of the most evocative and transcendently beautiful prose in contemporary American literature."

We met William Haywood Henderson when he visited the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver. You can listen to him talk about Augusta Locke: A Novel here: http://www.authorsontourlive.com/?p=67

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one up because it sounded like a Wallace Stegner book, and I loved his Angle of Repose. August Locke is similar in many ways (tale of a woman in the Wild West), but not as compelling. I wanted to like Gussie (Augusta) more than I did. Instead, I found myself capitvated by the descriptions of Colorado and Wyoming. If you've ever been to Greeley or Estes Park or anywhere in Wyoming, you'll enjoy the time travel here.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extraordinarily vivid description of places and nature - Wyoming, Colorado and Minnesota, as well as an exceedingly self reliant, imaginative woman protagonist. Augusta's life is remarkable and unique among characters I've met, her observations acute and poignant. Henderson's writing is powerful, his love of natural history evident and his understanding of humanity wonderful. A great read!

[Tina Deschamps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henderson writes with breathtakingly gorgeous prose, creating a character that is achingly resilient in the face of a hostile and beautiful world. Augusta Locke is a strange, interesting and unforgettable character. This book is definitely worth the read for anyone who loves lyrical prose and has a heart for the rugged beauty of the West.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thisbook reminded me of "The Shipping News": elegant prose descriptive of a remote, harsh, but beautiful place, quirky characters, and a simple story of love and loss. Gussie Locke is a helluva woman who lived her life in the wilds of early 20th century Wyoming - I loved her story!

[Jolene · Rating 1 out of 5]

Took me a long time to get into it, mildly entertaining in the middle, then a lot of skimming towards the end. Undeveloped characters and everything else is far too descriptive for my liking. It's going into the donation bin :(

[Melinda010100 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book because it took place in Wyoming and many of the places in the story were spots that I have known and loved.

[Erin Lovell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slowly making my way through this and am enjoying the character development. The depiction of the Wyoming landscape is breathtaking!

[Denise · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a boring novel about the dusty landscape with a couple of undeveloped characters lurking in it. The plot was pointless and depressing. It was a chore to finish reading this one!

[Deanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Haywood Henderson writes with grace. With each book of his I read, the landscape sits down beside me, and while glancing over my shoulder she gently turns the page.

[Susie]

Book club book. Jan Zemple's choice. Her brother wrote the book so he was able to come to our book club to talk about it. Very Cool.

[Monica Royal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Augusta Locke by William Haywood Henderson clearly illustrates themes of love, loss and the isolation in the lonely ranches of Wyoming. Throughout the novel, the audience will experience Augusta’s extraordinary challenges as she establishes life for herself in Wyoming with a newborn baby. The central themes of love and loss, home and family, and redemption and reconciliation are all displayed between her old and new life. Emotionally separated from both of her parents, mostly her father, she faces challenges regarding the abandonment she faced during her childhood and how not to translate that theme into her own child's life. William Haywood Henderson creates an outstanding, powerful and intellectual female character that dominates the novel. Personally, I don’t think this book is for everyone. I noticed that it was hard to stay focused and continue reading because of the lack of attention grabbing scenes. However, I think this book is remarkable in the sense of how William Haywood Henderson travels from the past to the present. The dialogue and descriptive language displayed throughout the text creates the perfect scene of not only isolation for Augusta, but also how she is dealing with nature and her surroundings as she settles in the ranges in Wyoming. Finally, the novel by William Haywood Henderson was one of my favorites I read this year, especially based off of the other books we read that focus on the theme of isolation.

6/10