Hell's Bottom, Colorado

by Laura Pritchett

Winner of the Milkweek National Fiction Prize, in this collection of linked short stories, Laura Pritchett balances gritty material with genuine warmth and understanding of character. Hell’s Bottom is more than a ranch. Home to Renny, one of those women who prefers “a little Hell swirled with their Heaven,” and her husband, Ben, who’s “gotten used to smoothing over Renny’s excesses,” the ranch has been the site of births and deaths of both cattle and children, as well as moments of amazing harmony and clear vision. A day of haying turns violent in “A New Name Each Day,” while in “Rattlesnake Fire,” Ben and his estranged sister must decide whether to put aside their differences to save families trapped by a forest fire. In Pritchett’s masterful hands, the western landscape becomes a zone of familial crisis and, sometimes, transcendence.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Book Club, Contemporary

148 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Laura Pritchett's seventh novel THREE KEYS is now available. Booklist has this to say: “A dedicated environmentalist and acclaimed nature writer, Pritchett’s keen observations of the world…are wondrous and lyrical, grounding her heroine’s journey in beauty and grace.”

Kirkus has this to say: “Engaging…thought-provoking and insightful. A satisfying examination of one woman’s journey of self-discovery.”


Pritchett is also the author of PLAYING WITH {WILD}FIRE (Torrey House, 2024), THE BLUE HOUR (Counterpoint, 2017), RED LIGHTNING (Counterpoint, 2015) STARS GO BLUE (Counterpoint, 2014), SKY BRIDGE (Milkweed Editions, 2009), and HELL'S BOTTOM, COLORADO (Milkweed Editions, 2001).

Known for championing the complex and contemporary West, giving voice to the working class, and re-writing the “Western,” her books have garnered the PEN USA Award, the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, the WILLA, the High Plains Book Award, several Colorado Book Awards, and others.

She’s also the author of one play, two nonfiction books, and editor of three environmental-based anthologies.

She developed and directs the MFA in Nature Writing at Western Colorado University, one of the few in the nation with a focus on environmental and place-based writing.

She earned her Ph.D. from Purdue University.

Her work has appeared in The New York Times, O Magazine, Salon, High Country News, The Millions, Publisher’s Weekly, The Sun, Brain, Child, and many others.

She is also known for her environmental stewardship, particularly in regard to land preservation and river health. You can find out more at her website www.laurapritchett.com or www.makingfriendswithdeath.com

Reviews

[Berengaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

short review for busy readers: Pritchett’s first book. A collection of interrelated short tales centred on a ranch called Hell’s Bottom in Colorado. Vividly, gut-wrenchingly told. You feel you're actually out with the ranchers. Stories are mostly snippets of normal life with a philosophical final thought or twist. NOT a traditional western!

in detail:
Pritchett is a highly talented, albeit niche, author who deserves far more attention than she’s received. Her books are insanely well-written and show daily, dramatic life in Colorado in vivid, tangible stories you won't quickly forget.

However! And this is a BIG however: at least 3 of the stories in this collection can be found in their entirety in the novel Stars Go Blue and other, later of her novels contain more developed or even novel versions of the small ‘windows’ found here. It's easy to feel gypped when a writer recycles their material like that.

These early stories clearly have acted as the seed starter pack for her later oeuvre and she's still dipping into the barrel.

Laura Pritchett I’d recommend to anyone. This particular Pritchett, only to completionists.

[Mrtruscott · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve ever driven across country and seen a stretch of fence and a gravel driveway, with a house guarded by a windbreak of trees, a truck out front, maybe a satellite dish...and wondered, as you blast by on the highway, what it is like to live there....Pritchett’s spare prose will tell you one version. These aren’t stories of big farm breakfasts, etc... In fact, vegetarians might pass.

Pritchett obviously knows ranch life and Colorado and writes like a dream. A character talks of “whole wanting,” versus being the half wanting type who settles for less. A great line about life after a funeral - “how hurtful it is that some of us are just absent, missing everything the future holds.”

These are stories linked by characters, events, and place — a fast read, but so vivid.

A re-read thanks to Goodreads (Darlene!) reminding me of this author. I have loved Pritchett since I accidentally discovered her and plan to read her entire backlist.

[DeAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Colorado ranching stars to this tale filled with short stories

This is a new author to me and I'll be hearing her speak this weekend. Laura Pritchtett's writing reminds me of the fantastic writing of another Colorado writer, Kent Haurf. She tackles some of the same ranching lifestyle and her characters are memorable. Most are strong and honorable, but a few are less than desirable.

I enjoyed the individual stories, but had a bit of hard time keeping all of the characters straight. Great title for the book and the ranch the stories are centered on.

This book was a quick read and I'd recommend it if you are a fan of Kent Haruf and western fiction.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really gorgeous writing. Every single story was vivid and engaging. Loved these characters and how their personalities were traceable and visible even in the stories where they played in the background. Evoked rural northern Colorado beautifully, but I wouldn't for a second label this regional or local, it's just a damn good book.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this book last night, read a chapter or two and went to sleep. I picked it up again this morning and read until suddenly, it was over. I felt robbed. I wanted more. I can't believe how short it is. The writing! The setting! There is so much packed into this spare little book. It's really a collection of short stories about members of the same ranching family. There is love, pain, violence, life, death, everything life has to offer. It's one I will read again and again for sure.

[mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific book. I’ll go ahead and call it perfect. Consider the six elements of a story: Plot; Characterization; Setting; Point Of View; Theme, and Title. Hell’s Bottom, Colorado scores the highest marks for all six, and that is extremely rare. Briefly (as I don’t want to spoil your reading delight and pleasure – though there is no mistaking – this is not a cheerful book. It is, as all good literature is—disturbing.): This is a realistic look at ranch life in Colorado at the forward turn of the 20th Century. It is a collection of stories (events) that happen to a family wrestling a living from the land and cattle on the edge of the front range of the Rocky Mountains. It is informative and honest – stark, brutal, gritty, cruel and violent, written from the POV of the various female family members – a grandmother, her daughters, and their children, all tied to the ranch, not always by choice but by birth and circumstance. Pritchett’s style is uncomplicated and poetic – dovetailing neatly with the land and people she writes. And yet … all the characters are sympathetic. Even the “bad” actors have some admirable qualities – just the way things are in the real world. In addition, Laura’s descriptions of the land, the animals, and the weather put you, the reader, THERE. You can see it, feel it, taste it. Simply fantastic writing! Yes, there is irony in the title, too. Hell’s Bottom, Colorado is heaven for the reading aficionado. This is my second time reading the book. I first read it six years ago and picked it off my shelf to re-read because ... I don't know.

[Cecilia Lafrance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Local author. Strong writing. Confusing arrangement and use of first person in each character without clarity of relationships. Short and needed development for a strong plot, but had great local color of ranch life in Colorado.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

WONDERFUL book and characters . . . my only complaint is that I wanted much much more! The characters were so authentic and great. For anyone who loved Plainsong, definitely read this one too!

[Hallie Faden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a good representation of modern ranching. If you grew up in or work in this life, it will be very nostalgic for you.

[Jodell · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a place where Mother Nature's got it all together She knows just when to let wild flowers bloom Somehow she always seems to know exactly what she's doin' And the Lord saw fit to furnish elbow room Have you ever been down to Colorado? I spend a lot of time there in my mind
And if God doesn't live in Colorado I'll bet that's where He spends most of His time
I'd love to be there watching, early in the morning The sun comes up and crowns the mountain king If by chance you dare to be there high upon the mountain I swear that you can hear the angels sing
Have you ever been down to Colorado? I spend a lot of time there in my mind
And if God doesn't live in Colorado I'll bet that's where He spends most of His time
Merle Haggard

[Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few (mostly sad) short stories about an extended family involved in ranching in Colorado. It’s a setting and life I’ve become more intimate with recently and it made the stories feel so much more real in a way I haven’t experienced too many times in fiction. The parade of stock trailers coming or going from the mountains during a wild fire I especially felt. However, I didn’t find myself caring too much about the actual drama of the stories. A lot of the characters felt a little flat too or I just didn’t like them, besides Leanne and Del. I really liked those two and the chapters Jailbird Gone Songbird and The Record Keeper (both narrated by Leanne) were my favorites.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of stories from the point of view of different women from the same ranching family in Colorado. Topics usually come around to birth and motherhood in a very animal-like sense, but also touch upon family, violence, and the broader ranch life. I really liked the style of writing in this, and I'm glad the title grabbed me enough to want to take a chance and bring it home to read. I wish it went on longer because I felt like I was just getting to know the family.

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short stories of western folk in Colorado's Front Range, the knots fate throws in their lives, and the varied ways they choose to handle them. I loved these tales, told by folk so like my own friends and family. I am adding Laura Pritchett to my favorite authors list. She has a voice I appreciate very much.
REVIEWED on April 16, 2025, at Goodreads, AmazonSmile, Barnes&Noble, BookBub, and Kobo.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laura Pritchett's writing is beautiful, it's wistful and has a natural flow to it that made reading this feel like listening to real people tell me stories about their lives. Some of these stories are horrifying, like Dry Roots, and some are bitter sweet like Summer Flood but all 10 of them are utterly beautiful. The easiest 4 star I've ever given, I only wish it was longer.

[Marjorie Elwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a real air of tension throughout this book about a Colorado farming family's travails. Most of the stories didn't resonate with me, but one or two were memorable, mostly because of the incipient danger.

[Michele Rios Petrelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the formatting of multiple POVs in this one and the fact it's written by another fantastic Coloradoan woman writer. The west, the country life beautifully and effortlessly executed in this short debut. Oh the ending was perfect

[Whitney Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put this down. I read it in the course of a night. Ranching is hard enough in the high deserts of Colorado but the detailed characters developed by Pritchett make you want to save them all from it. Heart wrenching page turner.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Straight ahead writing about ranching in northern Colorado, though mostly just brief sketches in this first novel.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely collection of stories. I happened upon this book while at the Tattered Cover, and snagged it to read in the mountains. What a gem.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. The prequel, in short stories, to the luminous "Stars Go Blue." A backstory worth knowing. Love her writing.

[Kara ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Rural Literature class.
Interesting but short collection of stories from the Cross family on their ranch in Colorado, very easy to read and digest.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Quick read

[Lorraine McCleary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fictional short stories of a cattle ranching family in eastern Colorado. Clear tales told by various members involving the messiness of life.

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short stories involving same set of related characters.

[Kathie Kuehl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of interesting short stories set in the Colorado Rockies telling about ranchers and their families as they eke out a living raising cattle. The descriptions of the scenery are beautifully written. It is obvious that the author feels at home in these mountains and embraces the demanding lifestyle. Rsnching is hard work. It can be dangerous and success is never guaranteed. Weather and nature are unpredictable. The lives of those who live and ranch in these mountains are difficult and hard; however, in spite of these difficulties, most ranchers are linked to the land and the lifestyle forever. I recommend this book for someone who is new to western historical fiction.

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quiet, subtle, unsentimental set of interrelated short stories about a Colorado family that bears comparison with Kent Haruf's Plainsong and Evensong. Not quite as compelling as Haruf, but that's sort of like saying a southern writer isn't quite as powerful as Faulkner. Like Haruf, Pritchett has a profound appreciation for the silence that frames life on the plains and in the ranching areas of the mountains. She writes equally well about each of the three generations she traces. If I were teaching a course on Colorado literature, this would definitely be on the list.

[Molly Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. We all have those memories that stick with us for a lifetime, regardless of how significant they may be, that we can recount in vivid detail. This book is not as much a book of short stories as it is a compilation of those memories; perfect little snippets of time housed in 142 pages. Pritchett uses this literary device perfectly; I feel as though I can know the Cross family better in this short work than I'd be able to in a 500 page novel.

[John Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a prequel to Laura Pritchett's STARS GO BLUE. While that book had a very discernible plot, this book is more of a series of slice-of-life ranching stories with some of the same characters as the later book. I read STARS GO BLUE first and because of that was somewhat disappointed that this book did not help me understand all the characters in the second book better. If I had read it as a collection of stories and not known of the other book, I might have liked it better.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

multiple stories about life in Hell’s Bottom. All very entertaining, some not so sweet, but realistic. Zipped through this one, which was easy because of the short stories and short length of entire book; 148 pgs. (I read the Kindle Edition while on the VIA Canada Rail vacation); read Jun. 2014/#40

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each chapter is told from a different character's perspective with the story jumping around quite a bit between characters/chapters making it difficult to follow the story. It read more like short stories than a novel.

However, Pritchett's writing is very beautiful and she really has a way with telling a story.

I liked the 2nd book, Stars Go Blue, much better than this one.