Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - Plain Language

Plain Language
Plain Language
Author: Barbara Wright
Virginia Mendenhall, a Quaker from North Carolina, is thirty-three years old when she travels to the arid plains of eastern Colorado in the mid-1930s to marry Alfred Bowen, ten years her senior. They have met only twice and have come to love each other through letters. Now, on an isolated ranch in the Dust Bowl, they must adjust to the harsh ran...  more »
The Market's bargain prices are even better for Paperbackswap club members!
Retail Price: $21.99
Buy New (Paperback): $15.89 (save 27%) or
Become a PBS member and pay $11.99+1 PBS book credit Help icon(save 45%)
ISBN-13: 9780743230209
ISBN-10: 0743230205
Publication Date: 2003
Pages: 352
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 16

3.9 stars, based on 16 ratings
Publisher: Touchstone
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Plain Language on + 13 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
A lovely story about a Quaker woman who moves to the plains of Eastern Colorado during the Depression/Dustbowl years to marry a rancher she barely knows. Old secrets, unrealistic expectations, hard times on the ranch, clashing beliefs, stubbornness, underlying love and determination made this a very good book. I enjoyed it very much.

A good look into the beliefs of Quakers, and the struggles they face trying to tap into their Inner Light.
theshrone avatar reviewed Plain Language on + 37 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
A well-written story of how two people overcome environmental hardships, and overcome themselves to find happiness in their marriage.
reviewed Plain Language on
Helpful Score: 1
This is an excellent book. It is especially interesting if you are familiar with the Quaker religion and practices at all.
reviewed Plain Language on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A lovely book about life on the prairies during the dust bowl years and the Great Depression. It focuses on one couple, and a few other members of theirfamilies, and gives a moving picture of day to day life.
Leigh avatar reviewed Plain Language on + 378 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I found this one pretty pleasant and very much enjoyed the ending, which was probably the most germane of any book I've ever read; it fit perfectly with every internal journey each of the characters made during the course of the book. The last line uttered by Alfred just gave me chills and made me nod. Yes, I thought, this is as it should be.

For being so "dusty" a book, the setting didn't bother me and I was able to focus on the story of Virginia, the Quaker woman, coming to terms with her self-made situation in life and new marriage to a man she barely knew. I also learned about Alfred, the man struggling to become a rancher and prove himself worthy of his father's love, standing the whole time in his dead brother's shadow.

It's obvious this writer has written before - she's good at it. The story is solid, the themes timeless, the characters complex, and the conclusions appropriate. I only wanted it to be a bit more charismatic but I'm unsure how the author could have done that.
Read All 6 Book Reviews of "Plain Language"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

harmony85 avatar reviewed Plain Language on + 982 more book reviews
This was an interesting book. A Quaker woman marries a man who is trying to start a cattle ranch during the Great Depression/Dust Bowl years. Both have issues in their past lives that somewhat hinder the marriage. Then Virginia's mentally handicapped brother comes to live with them and help on the ranch.

This book is fiction but was based on a real woman's life as told to the author. Simply written and thouroughally enjoyable; realistic, a quick read. The way it ended, hopefully a sequel...?


Genres: