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Sweep Out the Ashes
2020 Spur Award Finalist from Western Writers of America
Diana Karnov came to Versailles to uncover secrets. Teaching college history in remote northern Montana offers the opportunity to put distance between herself and her overbearing great-aunts and to uncover information about her parents, especially the father she can’t even remember.
At first overwhelmed by the brutal winter, Diana throws herself into exploring mysteries her aunts refuse to explain. Eventually, she befriends several locals, including a student, Cheryl Le Tellier, and her brother, Jake. As Diana’s relationship with Jake deepens, he discusses his Métis heritage and culture, exposing the enormous gaps in her historical knowledge. Astounded, Diana begins to understand that American narratives, what she learns about her father, and the capacity for women to work and learn is not as set and certain as she was taught. Mary Clearman Blew deftly balances these 1970s pressure points with multifaceted characters and a layered romance to deliver an instant Western classic.
Diana Karnov came to Versailles to uncover secrets. Teaching college history in remote northern Montana offers the opportunity to put distance between herself and her overbearing great-aunts and to uncover information about her parents, especially the father she can’t even remember.
At first overwhelmed by the brutal winter, Diana throws herself into exploring mysteries her aunts refuse to explain. Eventually, she befriends several locals, including a student, Cheryl Le Tellier, and her brother, Jake. As Diana’s relationship with Jake deepens, he discusses his Métis heritage and culture, exposing the enormous gaps in her historical knowledge. Astounded, Diana begins to understand that American narratives, what she learns about her father, and the capacity for women to work and learn is not as set and certain as she was taught. Mary Clearman Blew deftly balances these 1970s pressure points with multifaceted characters and a layered romance to deliver an instant Western classic.
- GenresFiction
276 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2019
36 people want to read
About the author
Mary Clearman Blew
26 books22 followersMary Clearman Blew is the author of the acclaimed essay collection All but the Waltz and the memoir Balsamroot. She is the editor of When Montana and I Were Young: A Memoir of a Frontier Childhood, available in a Bison Books edition. Her most recent novel, Jackalope Dreams, is also available in a Bison Books edition. She is a professor of English at the University of Idaho and has twice won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, once in fiction and once in nonfiction. She is also the winner of a Western Heritage Award and the Western Literature Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 11, 2019
I found the historical facts interesting but other than that it was, meh? i can't search for a better word. I wasn't so much interested in Diana nor the other characters around. But the facts made somewhat up for it, i guess.
January 24, 2022
After I finished reading this, I waited a week to stew on my thoughts and try to come up with something I liked so that it didn't just look like I was ripping this book apart. Spoiler alert, that didn't happen.
This book was "MEH" at best. The historical aspect was boring and uninteresting. The characters didn't draw me in or enhance the story in any way. The storyline (or lack thereof) seemed forced and meandering. There were chapters I had to read more than once because I would get to the end and have no idea what happened because I got so bored I spaced out. I probably would have stopped reading this at the 20-25% mark if I didn't feel so guilty for having it in my kindle for so long and leaving it unread.
Maybe this book just wasn't for me. Maybe there are people out there who will read this book and absolutely LOVE it.
This book was "MEH" at best. The historical aspect was boring and uninteresting. The characters didn't draw me in or enhance the story in any way. The storyline (or lack thereof) seemed forced and meandering. There were chapters I had to read more than once because I would get to the end and have no idea what happened because I got so bored I spaced out. I probably would have stopped reading this at the 20-25% mark if I didn't feel so guilty for having it in my kindle for so long and leaving it unread.
Maybe this book just wasn't for me. Maybe there are people out there who will read this book and absolutely LOVE it.
December 31, 2019
It was such a pleasure to read this book. It reminded me of some titles I read in my teenage days, but it is more appropriate for someone my age. The style of the novel is relaxed, even slow, but still very interesting and
and it manages to keep the reader's attention and curiosity to the very end. Maybe it helped that the main character is a history professor like myself, so I could easily find myself in that story. :)
and it manages to keep the reader's attention and curiosity to the very end. Maybe it helped that the main character is a history professor like myself, so I could easily find myself in that story. :)
April 21, 2019
4 stars
This story is an old one, but charming nonetheless.
A twenty-eight year old woman named Diana who was raised by two very strict maiden aunts takes a job in Versailles, Montana. Firstly to get away from the suffocating influence of her aunts,but she can't hide from herself the fact that she also wants to find her father. Her aunts describe him as a “drunken vagrant.”
Versailles is a small town of about 10,000 people located in the northern part of Montana. She will be teaching history at the local university.
Diana is very hard to get to know. She barely knows her own mind and is reluctant to trust people. But she is remarkably stubborn and when she says she will do something, she will do it. At the university she meets several people, some friendly, some hostile. There are those who feel that even in 1975 women do not belong teaching at a university.
The winters in Versailles are deadly and Diana must adjust to the “culture” shock as she comes from Seattle. She takes flying lessons and wants to learn how to ride a horse. And, of course, there is a special man in the story.
This is a coming of age story of a twenty-eight year old who has hardly lived at all. It is a very good book that is very well written and plotted. It is written in a linear fashion; one event following another in clear prose. It is an easy-to-read novel and the pages just fly by. The reader is hardly aware of time passing. I felt I could relate to Diana a little for I, too, grew up in Seattle and transplanted to Nebraska (with it's winters). The book is pretty predictable, but that doesn't detract too much from the story line. Sometimes it's nice to know in advance how a book is going to turn out – half the fun is enjoying the writing and getting to the end. This is my first Mary Clearman Blew book and I immediately went to Amazon to look for others of her novels. I truly enjoyed this departure from my usual action filled crime books.
I want to thank NetGalley and University of Nebraska Press/Bison Books for forwarding to me a copy of this book for me to read, enjoy and review.
This story is an old one, but charming nonetheless.
A twenty-eight year old woman named Diana who was raised by two very strict maiden aunts takes a job in Versailles, Montana. Firstly to get away from the suffocating influence of her aunts,but she can't hide from herself the fact that she also wants to find her father. Her aunts describe him as a “drunken vagrant.”
Versailles is a small town of about 10,000 people located in the northern part of Montana. She will be teaching history at the local university.
Diana is very hard to get to know. She barely knows her own mind and is reluctant to trust people. But she is remarkably stubborn and when she says she will do something, she will do it. At the university she meets several people, some friendly, some hostile. There are those who feel that even in 1975 women do not belong teaching at a university.
The winters in Versailles are deadly and Diana must adjust to the “culture” shock as she comes from Seattle. She takes flying lessons and wants to learn how to ride a horse. And, of course, there is a special man in the story.
This is a coming of age story of a twenty-eight year old who has hardly lived at all. It is a very good book that is very well written and plotted. It is written in a linear fashion; one event following another in clear prose. It is an easy-to-read novel and the pages just fly by. The reader is hardly aware of time passing. I felt I could relate to Diana a little for I, too, grew up in Seattle and transplanted to Nebraska (with it's winters). The book is pretty predictable, but that doesn't detract too much from the story line. Sometimes it's nice to know in advance how a book is going to turn out – half the fun is enjoying the writing and getting to the end. This is my first Mary Clearman Blew book and I immediately went to Amazon to look for others of her novels. I truly enjoyed this departure from my usual action filled crime books.
I want to thank NetGalley and University of Nebraska Press/Bison Books for forwarding to me a copy of this book for me to read, enjoy and review.
September 7, 2019
Diana took up an appointment at a University in Versailles to find out the truth about her father. Set in Northern Montana the landscape is icy and bleak at times and fellow colleagues in the university are antagonistic, misogynists mainly, racist and basically unpleasant.
Diana has to learn how to balance her teaching career, give of her best to her students, handle her superiors who seem determined to either get her into bed and failing that get her sacked and also find her father. Finding her father was very fast track. The man was in plain sight, he knew her the moment he saw her and things seemed good. Handling a relationship with someone who was of mixed race, and in a town where strong feelings about race existed was a harder task.
Like now in America, the 1970s seem not very different where strong feelings survive re mixing between two races.
Informative read.
Diana has to learn how to balance her teaching career, give of her best to her students, handle her superiors who seem determined to either get her into bed and failing that get her sacked and also find her father. Finding her father was very fast track. The man was in plain sight, he knew her the moment he saw her and things seemed good. Handling a relationship with someone who was of mixed race, and in a town where strong feelings about race existed was a harder task.
Like now in America, the 1970s seem not very different where strong feelings survive re mixing between two races.
Informative read.
June 3, 2019
ARC copy: Blew's novel is a strong look at racism that continues to alive in well in the Western states. She gives you, the reader, a look at multiple types of racism: color of the skin, culture, and gender. Blew also brought in a romance that takes you into the history and discrimination of bi-racial couples. This novel was well written and interesting. I do have to admit I was expecting something more in depth with the Russian aunts, Tatiana and Maria. Recommend to readers of historical fiction or woman's fiction.
November 4, 2019
I really enjoyed this one. I think Blew cleverly captured what it was like in the 70's to be a female professor in a male dominated field while simultaneously trying to figure out who you are. She balanced Diana's desire to find herself with her desire to be an academic. I felt she did the time period justice with her characters interactions and even though there is a romantic story line throughout the novel it was not overpowering and made sense with the characters evolution. Thanks to NetGalley for providing and ARC for review.
August 26, 2019
A good book well written characters and storyline. Has alot of history in this book telling the way of life and the problems with racism in the early 1900's and 1970's Made for an interesting read. has some romance but more in the line of a history book. still good to read
January 7, 2020
Set in Montana, 1975, this book just wasn't for me. Some readers will enjoy it. I didn't care about the characters, the setting, or the story. DNF, stopped at 25%.
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.
All opinions are my own.
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.
All opinions are my own.
October 20, 2024
for being my first adult novel, this wasn’t bad. there were a lot of aspects that i didn’t necessarily understand the purpose of, but this was a lovely little tale. i also don’t understand the heavy emphasis of “mystery” when that aspect wasn’t super present. overall, pretty ok.
3 stars
3 stars
October 27, 2020
My favorite Mary Clearman Blew book so far--and I have loved them all. A must read!!!!
June 14, 2020
Given that this took me the morning to read, I definitely enjoyed the story. But nevertheless, Blew didn't tackle these common women's tropes any differently. For fans of historical fiction or social narratives.
Set in the infancy of the E.R.A.,circa 1975 Versailles "Ver-sails", Montana, Diana Karnov is a sheltered and daring history professor that has arrived for an ulterior reason, to "find herself" and "her heritage" (Which basically means finding her dad and having sex, if you haven't already concluded that). Although the plot comes across a bit predictable, I found myself engrossed in a relatable historical fiction about the Metis culture, inter-racial discrimination, relatable feminism, gender dynamics, and more poignant social remarks. I never felt the author preach a topic, but rather, present two sides to the same coin. I especially enjoyed the fact that the author unabashedly used politically incorrect ideas because social atmosphere of the 1970s was politically incorrect. Characters obviously had some misguided interactions based on her social upbringing, but it wasn't 'evil,' it was the culture of 1975. The dialogue sometimes came across as unfeeling, and although I want to criticize Blew's writing style, I decided to knock off points based solely on how many times this sentence was uttered: "Professor Lady, I won't attempt your virtue."
As for the title, country singer Gram Parsons' wrote a song in the early 1970s called "We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In the Morning" about the wild desire of two that don't belong together, alluding to the novel's inter-racial couple discrimination. But, I could also see the title being more of a new beginning, given Diana's character development and multiple other sociological portrayals.
Set in the infancy of the E.R.A.,circa 1975 Versailles "Ver-sails", Montana, Diana Karnov is a sheltered and daring history professor that has arrived for an ulterior reason, to "find herself" and "her heritage" (Which basically means finding her dad and having sex, if you haven't already concluded that). Although the plot comes across a bit predictable, I found myself engrossed in a relatable historical fiction about the Metis culture, inter-racial discrimination, relatable feminism, gender dynamics, and more poignant social remarks. I never felt the author preach a topic, but rather, present two sides to the same coin. I especially enjoyed the fact that the author unabashedly used politically incorrect ideas because social atmosphere of the 1970s was politically incorrect. Characters obviously had some misguided interactions based on her social upbringing, but it wasn't 'evil,' it was the culture of 1975. The dialogue sometimes came across as unfeeling, and although I want to criticize Blew's writing style, I decided to knock off points based solely on how many times this sentence was uttered: "Professor Lady, I won't attempt your virtue."
As for the title, country singer Gram Parsons' wrote a song in the early 1970s called "We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In the Morning" about the wild desire of two that don't belong together, alluding to the novel's inter-racial couple discrimination. But, I could also see the title being more of a new beginning, given Diana's character development and multiple other sociological portrayals.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews