The story opens advising the reader that there is a loophole in the law of Gulliver County, Kansas. According to the sheriff, before hanging a condemned prisoner, a female resident may marry one of you sons of bitches, then your worthless life is spared and your sentence considered satisfied. (Sort of lets you know what the county fathers thought of marriage!)
The law was in place because so few men remained in the area; huge numbers had died during the Civil War and the military took many more men to fight Indians on the frontier.
The scene when Rosie chooses her husband is priceless. She wears dirty mens clothes, drinks whisky by the case, puffs cigars and cusses profusely. She also smells awful! When Rosie chooses an ex-military officer, he seems almost willing to hang rather than marry Rosie.
He agrees to stay on her run-down farm and help her plant and harvest ONE crop of wheat. Even hung-over, Bowie learns that Rosie can do hard mens work generally better than most men sober.
At the same time, Bowies wife in Washington, DC, falls on hard times. She cant get a death certificate for Bowie so she can probate his will and inherit his wealth. She is a classic Southern belle leaning on men for all decisions, unable to do more than decide on the evenings menu for the cook, etc.
The rest of the story shows the growth of each woman. Each woman is more complex than we see at the beginning; as the story unfolds, we learn more secrets. Even Bowie has secrets. Very soon, we realize that Bowie is a bigamist; but everything is not as it seems.
Beautifully written; I couldnt put this book down. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
The law was in place because so few men remained in the area; huge numbers had died during the Civil War and the military took many more men to fight Indians on the frontier.
The scene when Rosie chooses her husband is priceless. She wears dirty mens clothes, drinks whisky by the case, puffs cigars and cusses profusely. She also smells awful! When Rosie chooses an ex-military officer, he seems almost willing to hang rather than marry Rosie.
He agrees to stay on her run-down farm and help her plant and harvest ONE crop of wheat. Even hung-over, Bowie learns that Rosie can do hard mens work generally better than most men sober.
At the same time, Bowies wife in Washington, DC, falls on hard times. She cant get a death certificate for Bowie so she can probate his will and inherit his wealth. She is a classic Southern belle leaning on men for all decisions, unable to do more than decide on the evenings menu for the cook, etc.
The rest of the story shows the growth of each woman. Each woman is more complex than we see at the beginning; as the story unfolds, we learn more secrets. Even Bowie has secrets. Very soon, we realize that Bowie is a bigamist; but everything is not as it seems.
Beautifully written; I couldnt put this book down. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
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