Far From Uncertain: One Woman's Life of Crime and Other Righteous Deeds

by Teddy Jones

A young woman on the run. A life built in the shadows. A story that refuses to be forgotten.At fifteen, Frankie ran from an abusive home with nothing but her wits and a gambler’s promise of escape. What she found was a world of speakeasies, bootlegging, and survival on the edge of the law. Now, decades later, her story is ready to be told—one of grit, defiance, and a woman who refused to be broken.

312 pages, Paperback

Expected publication March 24, 2026

Reviews

[George Getschow]

"Far From Uncertain" made me certain of one thing: I’ll never read another novel by Teddy Jones past my typical lights-out time: around midnight. The author’s all-engrossing saga of an indominable 15-year-old girl who overcomes sibling violence, poverty, criminality and all manner of cruelty and finds the courage to forgive her “tormentors” and start over, kept me reading until the sun broke out of the morning haze surrounding Dallas. Beyond the spellbinding story, the fast-paced narrative architecture Jones employed to tell it—toggling chapters between the unbridled Lone Star of the 20s and modern-day Texas—kept me in some weird hypnotic state, entirely untethered from my surroundings.

So, if you can manage to miss a night of sleep, order "Far From Uncertain." Sure, you’ll curse yourself in the morning for staying up with the stars. But in your heart of hearts, you’ll also realize that your life was enriched by this masterful work of fiction that, in so many ways, will seem as real as the flyspeck town of Uncertain on the shores of Caddo Lake.

--George Getschow, Editor, "Pastures of the Empty Page: Fellow Writers on the Life and Legacy of Larry McMurtry," and executive director of The Larry McMurtry Literary Center, Archer City, TX

[Kristine Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read an ARC of FAR FROM UNCERTAIN (publishing March 2026 from Stoney Creek Publishing), and oooh, does this story stick with you. It was so good I read it twice and was just as engrossed the second time as the first. Author Teddy Jones hooks, then slowly reels in her readers much the way main character Margaret does with a journalist to whom she's chosen to tell her long buried stories.

FAR FROM UNCERTAIN is among the top books I've read this year. Unforgettable.

Full review coming soon to Hall Ways Blog.