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Jasper Spring
Spur Award Finalist for Best Western Contemporary Novel 2016 Nautilus Award Gold Winner for Young Adult Fiction
This first novel tells the story of Alice and Tucker, the young stewards of Jasper Spring . Tucker's family has lived on the ranch for generations, and the two look forward to filling the homestead with children of their own. After two miscarriages, their hope of a family is fading quickly and they feel farther apart than ever before. The only living thing that either one of them feels truly connected with is their border collie, Tommie, a dog with an uncanny sense of their needs.
Enter Ray -- an ill dressed 11-year-old boy sorely neglected by his single mother. Ray stumbles across the gorgeous and isolated valley while out on an aimless spin with his dilapidated bicycle. When Tommie finds Ray, the boy is transfixed by the beautiful dog, and the collie's natural instinct to herd spurs him to drive the boy into Tucker and Alice's empty arms. The couple develops affection for the forsaken boy, and he feels truly at home for the first time in his young life. As their relationship deepens, shocking twists and turns are presented by the boy's peripheral mother--with one that leads to catastrophe. The the close trio is drawn into battle to preserve the land they love. Additional outside forces loom (drought and development). Though they have the help of two horses and a heroic dog, the struggle is intense and not without loss.
Jasper Spring is a heartwarming tale of a couple that experiences trials that would test any marriage, and the boy and dog that bring them back together again. A series of dramatic events renders Alice and Tucker's characters in a nuanced and sympathetic manner, with their plight moving the most hard hearted reader.
The author's experience in training border collies inspired his description of Tommie, Tucker and Alice's loyal and beloved companion.
This first novel tells the story of Alice and Tucker, the young stewards of Jasper Spring . Tucker's family has lived on the ranch for generations, and the two look forward to filling the homestead with children of their own. After two miscarriages, their hope of a family is fading quickly and they feel farther apart than ever before. The only living thing that either one of them feels truly connected with is their border collie, Tommie, a dog with an uncanny sense of their needs.
Enter Ray -- an ill dressed 11-year-old boy sorely neglected by his single mother. Ray stumbles across the gorgeous and isolated valley while out on an aimless spin with his dilapidated bicycle. When Tommie finds Ray, the boy is transfixed by the beautiful dog, and the collie's natural instinct to herd spurs him to drive the boy into Tucker and Alice's empty arms. The couple develops affection for the forsaken boy, and he feels truly at home for the first time in his young life. As their relationship deepens, shocking twists and turns are presented by the boy's peripheral mother--with one that leads to catastrophe. The the close trio is drawn into battle to preserve the land they love. Additional outside forces loom (drought and development). Though they have the help of two horses and a heroic dog, the struggle is intense and not without loss.
Jasper Spring is a heartwarming tale of a couple that experiences trials that would test any marriage, and the boy and dog that bring them back together again. A series of dramatic events renders Alice and Tucker's characters in a nuanced and sympathetic manner, with their plight moving the most hard hearted reader.
The author's experience in training border collies inspired his description of Tommie, Tucker and Alice's loyal and beloved companion.
408 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2016
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 2, 2020
Alice and Tucker married young, both coming from places of personal tragedy but manage to find peace together as they pursue a life of managing Jasper Spring, a valley left to them through Tucker's family. Though their life is in Jasper Spring is one full of beauty, and their relationship strong and full of love, their constant struggle to conceive children eventually becomes a dark cloud in their lives. After multiple miscarriages, the two adopt a dog, Tommie, who in turn forms a relationship with a local boy name Ray. Ray lives near by in a trailer with his mother, and is found wandering near Jasper Springs when Tommie takes a liking to him. Tucker soon takes Ray under his wing and the boy begins to become a fixture in Alice and Tucker's lives. Things grow complicated though as the couple suspects that Ray's life at home may be one with abuse, and they try to deal with their attachment to a child that isn't theirs and that might leave their life at some point.
The themes in the book are interesting ones, but there's just something about the way it's written and the plot plays out that didn't work for me. Life managing a farm or land is really boring, and most of the book is reading about them doing those kind of chores, like rounding up cattle. It just made the story drag along. Also there was a lot of turn of phrases that felt ambiguous, and I'm sure it was done for imagery, but it also made reading the book feel slow and laborious because I was trying to figure out what the author meant. Nouns just kept disappearing, and I would just be sitting there not sure completely if I knew exactly what was being talked about and having to assume. It just made me irritated.
Also I just didn't understand why Alice and Tucker didn't adopt a kid, fifteen years is a long time they could have even after that as well when Ray does come into their life have looked into it, even if it weren't in the context of Ray himself. Also the resolution at the end of the book felt strange, because suddenly Alice has made her peace with it, but it felt like it came out of no where especially when she spends the whole book grieving over it. It was also such a loose end and I just felt annoyed, because the book seemed kind of pointless in the end. There was a kid, then there was a fire, then the kid left, oh wow. I'm just unsatisfied with the book and felt like I really had to force myself through it while I was reading. This one was 2.5 stars for me.
The themes in the book are interesting ones, but there's just something about the way it's written and the plot plays out that didn't work for me. Life managing a farm or land is really boring, and most of the book is reading about them doing those kind of chores, like rounding up cattle. It just made the story drag along. Also there was a lot of turn of phrases that felt ambiguous, and I'm sure it was done for imagery, but it also made reading the book feel slow and laborious because I was trying to figure out what the author meant. Nouns just kept disappearing, and I would just be sitting there not sure completely if I knew exactly what was being talked about and having to assume. It just made me irritated.
Also I just didn't understand why Alice and Tucker didn't adopt a kid, fifteen years is a long time they could have even after that as well when Ray does come into their life have looked into it, even if it weren't in the context of Ray himself. Also the resolution at the end of the book felt strange, because suddenly Alice has made her peace with it, but it felt like it came out of no where especially when she spends the whole book grieving over it. It was also such a loose end and I just felt annoyed, because the book seemed kind of pointless in the end. There was a kid, then there was a fire, then the kid left, oh wow. I'm just unsatisfied with the book and felt like I really had to force myself through it while I was reading. This one was 2.5 stars for me.
June 14, 2017
Jasper Spring
by James T. Hughes
Dog Ear Publishing
You Are Auto-Approved
Literary Fiction , Teens & YA
Pub Date 01 Nov 2016
I am reviewing Jasper Spring through Dog Ear Publishing and Netgalley:
In this book we meet Alice and Tucker, they are both burdened and blessed with the legacy of Jasper Spring, a valley full of unspoiled wonder. By the time she was a senior Tucker thought Alice was the prettiest girl in school. After two miscarriages Alice and Tucker's relationship is more fractured. One of the babies would have been a daughter. For three months after the loss of the baby Alice would not let Tucker touch her.
Ray is an eleven year old boy, neglected from a nearby town who is drawn by the luscious meadows and stream below Jasper Spring. Ray would come on weekends once school started.
A life threatening drought overtakes the land and Alice, Tucker, Ray and Sammie soon find themselves having to battle for their very lives.
I give Jasper Spring four out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
July 7, 2017
Alice and Tucker are unable to have their own children so when a local, neglected boy, Ray, happens by their farm, he quickly finds a way into their lives and their hearts. Ray and Tommie, their dog, are a constant presence around the farm as Tucker and Alice help him grow up and they learn to navigate his real mother, April, the elk, the impending road that needs to be built, and a severe drought that threatens everything they have come to love.
I really enjoyed the premise and the storyline of this novel, it just read much too slow for me. The author has a very classical style to his prose which is not to my personal liking.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC of this novel in return for my honest review.
I really enjoyed the premise and the storyline of this novel, it just read much too slow for me. The author has a very classical style to his prose which is not to my personal liking.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC of this novel in return for my honest review.
November 26, 2017
Tale of a couple with a big sprawling ranch who are unable to have children, but happen upon a neighborhood child in need of parenting.
July 8, 2021
I loved it, old-time farm life, a great dog, a couple in love and a neglected neighbor kid all come together and the future looks so bright. Not quite the ending I expected but that is the way of life.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews