TUMBLEWEED

Author: Jane Candia Coleman ISBN: 084396104X 6/2008 HISTORICAL Publisher: DORCHESTER
Time Period: 1800's Old West

TRUE GRIT Allie Earp always said the West was no place for sissies. And that held especially true for a woman married to one of the wild Earp brothers. She had no fear of cussing a blue streak if someone crossed her, patching up a bullet wound, or defending her home against rustlers. Every day was a new adventure—from the rough streets of Deadwood to the infamous OK Corral in Tombstone. But through it all one thing remained constant: her deep and abiding love for one of the most formidable lawmen of the West.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

If fact-based novels and stories that read like they're being told from a rocker beside a fireplace appeal to you, TUMBLEWEED is a great choice.
 
Based on the diaries of Allie Earp, the wife of Wyatt Earp's brother Virgil, this tale focuses on Allie's life. It tells of how she's orphaned at a young age and, along with her siblings, is farmed out to various families after their mother's death. Allie stayed in a brothel, doing laundry and learning to stay alive in a world that wasn't kind to women. Eventually she meets Virge and her life as an Earp begins shortly thereafter.
 
The insider's view to a family only known from historical references is highly entertaining. Here, the reasons for the Earp's infamous time in Deadwood and the famous OK Corral incident are explained in detail, with a human slant that is most often lacking in other accounts. When one Earp brother is shot in the back and dies, I didn't see him as an outlaw but as part of a family who grieved at his passing. This author brings all the Earps, and those around them, so clearly to life that it is easy to forget their outlaw status and just see them as an ordinary family. Well, almost ordinary!
 
Well written and with great attention to detail, TUMBLEWEED by Jane Candia Coleman is an Old West aficionado's dream. It is a quick read, and highly enjoyable. Well done!

Kay James