Book Review: Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (1912)
Synopsis: After being left a vast inheritance by her father, Jane Withersteen has become a bit of an outcast in her Mormon community by refusing to marry Tull, a Morman elder seeking to make her his second wife and claim her property as his own, and by befriending and even becoming romantically involved with the Gentiles the rest of her community despises. When Elder Tull and other Mormons try to force her submission by stealing her cattle and forcing her riders to abandon her, Jane hires Lassiter, a notorious gunman who has arrived to get revenge for the now deceased Milly Erne.
Review: My local library has a large selection of westerns, mostly in their large print section, and while I usually don't bother checking any of them out, I decided to finally give the genre a try with Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage.
Ultimately, I concluded the genre probably isn't for me. However, the book did prove to be a decent read.
I've said this in the past, but I do like books/movies with strong female characters and Jane fits that description. What I found most intriguing about her was how she wasn't afraid to defy the Mormon elders but still embraced many of the Mormon religious beliefs, especially when it came to violence. The way she stood up to Lassiter and Bern Venters, men she clearly cared about, and worked to convince them to avoid using their guns in revenge was unexpected and brave, making it easy to respect her.
Another thing I liked about the book were the number of mysteries. The book doesn't immediately explain what Milly Erne was to Lassiter or why he cared so much for her. Jane, meanwhile, knows the man who is responsible for Milly's death but refuses to say. The secondary story involving Bern and Bess offered an equally interesting mystery about who she was, why she was riding with rustlers and why she would rather stay with the man who shot her than go back to them.
Adding to the book is the seemingly impossible odds Jane faces, even with Lassiter's help. At minimum, it felt as though Jane would eventually need to make some sort of sacrifice, whether it was giving up on her moral beliefs or choosing to give up her freedom and marry Tull just to end things peacefully. It was unclear which it would be until toward the end.
Final Opinion: As it turns out, I prefer westerns in movie form over book form. However, this is a book that I think is still worth taking the time to read just because the characters, especially Jane, are so well-written and the story can go so many different ways.
My Grade: A
_______________________________________________________________________
Here are some other book reviews:
Book Review: The Revolt of the Star Men by Raymond Z. Gallun (1932)
Book Review: Embers of the Hands by Eleanor Barraclough (2024)
Book Review: A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie (1950)
Comments
Post a Comment