Desolation

by Elizabeth Rose

Whoever controls the water controls all, but at what cost?
Isolated deep in the New Mexico Territory, Painted Cliffs offers second chances without amenities. Homeless veterans, romantic dreamers and men on the run have all come here to build new lives. Some succeed while others fail; no one said it would be easy. As ranchers struggle against the elements, they find themselves vying against each other for limited resources. Whatever desperation drove them to this remote corner of the American West, the greatest threat to their survival may just be each other.
Desolation is a semi-episodic Western that is equal parts adventure and psychological drama. It is the first book in the Painted Cliffs Trilogy.

160 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2016

About the author

Elizabeth Rose is a writer of fiction. She is not active on any platform of social media.

Reviews

[Robert Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is nothing like a good story well told. Desolation is one. Written with a light touch, it is an intimate picture of life in the American southwest in the late 19th century. The story spans multiple families over more than twenty years and depicts the harsh realities of the fading frontier.

Except for a few scattered typos which hardly merit a mention, everything was done well: well-developed characters, well-drawn settings, effective dialogue and a strong story line. Although somewhat character driven, this is more a slice of Southwest Territory and time. Nice work Elizabeth Rose.

The only criticism this reviewer has is the author’s intent to revisit this chronicle over the next decade. This saga begs for a deeper exploration into the lives, the hardships, the tough decisions and the fragile happiness of the people of Painted Cliffs in one book. Otherwise we will be offered a few intermittent appetizers when we deserve a complete meal at one sitting. We’re in cattle country. We want steak and potatoes and a full-bodied red wine and not a wait for stuffed mushrooms and pigs in a blanket.

Rarely does a reviewer suggest that more words are needed to tell a story, but in this case it is true. Triple the word count and create ten times the book. Please.

[Hock Tjoa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The scenes in this novel read very well (as did those of a previous work, Lost in Apple Grove) despite an occasional typo and POV violation (technicalities - but they cause a reader to pause when taken by the narrator into the mind of a child or even a calf). The old timer who talks of the "Cliff People" is really a minor character but plays a useful role like bookends for the snippets of life in late 19th century New Mexico (before statehood). Three land-owning, ranching families, and their hired hands make up most of the people in the story. Disputes over water, cattle, and land use make up the cause of conflict and tension.

The author has ambitions for a large scene, however, that spans decades and many lives. This attempt is weakened by a certain fragmentary feel in the story. There is some attempt to connect the dots but the episodes appear too small to make up the saga that Desolation promises or demands. There is not the connective detail as appears in, say, Hawaii or in Lonesome Dove. The author makes acute observations, also, that sometimes pull the reader out of the story - did the people in this story think about the "metric" that informed the choice of household furnishings? Could they have known about the paleobiology of trilobites in the late 19 century? Would they have learned about the mutiny on the Bounty to find baby names or material for conversation from it?

There are perils in literary ambition, but the author deserves recognition for having tried.

[Annabelle Costa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised how much I loved this book because I don't usually enjoy Westerns. From the first page with the mystery of the dead cattle, I had trouble putting this book down. Every time I wanted to take a break, I found that I needed to know what happened next.

The language of this book was simple and suited the atmosphere of the American West. I loved how the book visited multiple families whose lives intertwined over the course of twenty years as they struggle with their difficult existence. The characters were all well drawn and it was that as much as the plot that kept me reading.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well-written historical novel!

[Anna Fantabulous · Rating 3 out of 5]

A feud between two ranch owners ends up killing one of them - though the actual culprit of all unexplained mayhem is someone else. Pierson, the hero, is caught in the middle. Births, marriages and land deals round out the rest of the three-decades-long story arc.

Has an old world charm about it, full of stocky one-dimensional characters.

I received a free pdf of the book in a goodreads group for a fair, non-reciprocal review.