Play Book Tag discussion

Savage Country by Robert Olmstead - 3.5* - My Review

Set in Kansas in 1873-1874, Elizabeth Coughlin’s husband has just died. His brother Michael arrives in time for the funeral. To avoid losing everything to her husband’s creditors, Elizabeth and Michael hire a group of men and set out on a buffalo hunt in Texas, which had been previously planned by her husband to pay off debts. They plan to hunt in winter to lessen the danger from Comanche raids, but there are many other dangers, such as fires, flash floods, rattlesnakes, rabid animals, and betrayals.

This is a brutal book with its violent content and graphic descriptions of mass killings of both people and animals. It is based on the historical events of the rampant slaughter that (almost) wiped out the buffalo in the US. The storyline is well-crafted and the characters, especially Elizabeth and Michael, are deeply developed. Life at that time was extremely tough and people needed survival skills. It made me very glad not to have lived back then.

3.5

PBT September BWF Extra S - fits letter not tag (though it is a sad story)