Whiskey When We're Dry by John Larison

Monday, June 17, 2019

Whiskey When We're Dry by John Larison

Sometimes a minor decision changes everything.  The year is 1885.  After the death of her father, Jessilyn dresses like a boy and changes her name to Jesse, and sets out to find her outlaw brother Noah.  Earning her living as a sharpshooter as she travels, Jesse gets the same high from shooting as she does from a jolt of whiskey.  Noah’s gang are heralded as heroes by the local people, like Robin Hood's men.  When Jesse finally catches up with her brother, she finds herself attracted to a woman gunfighter named Annette.

There are traditional Western elements like gunfights, violence, and the righting of wrongs, but without the traditional western romanticism.  In its place are strong female characters and themes of gender and identity, sexual orientation, and race, while searching for the meaning of family and home.  Will appeal to readers who enjoyed Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry or True Grit by Charles Portis.  (The first 2/3 of the book was fast-paced and gripping, but it lagged little after Jesse joins the gang.)