Her first novel in nearly thirty years, Cinda Gault’s This Godforsaken Place meets all of the requirements of a good Western – the Jesse James gang, Pinkerton detectives, Bill Cody’s Wild West Show, the Red River Rebellion, and a jailbreak. Gault, who teaches English at University of Guelph-Humber, skillfully pulls these elements together to create a compelling literary novel that engages the reader.
The “Godforsaken Place” in question is Wabigoon, Ontario – a small mining town that has coaxed an English schoolteacher and his daughter to come to their community to teach in their new school. Life is hard but all goes well until her father falls ill, and the burden of schoolteacher moves to Abigail’s shoulders. Feeling increasingly trapped in a life she doesn’t want, Abigail buys a rifle on a whim and begins to practice out at her “range” in the bush. When a wounded and dying old sharp shooter shows up, he turns out to be Shep January, a hunted member of the American Jesse James gang, with a Pinkerton detective hot on his heels. When the Pinkerton catches up, Abigail shoots him in self-defence, unintentionally committing murder. January offers a solution to her new dilemma: he’ll teach her how to shoot if she takes his guns and a saddlebag of stolen cash to a man named Shea Wyatt, who he claims will also be able to help her sort out the death of the Pinkerton. Although reluctant at first, Abigail is drawn by the promise of adventure and a chance for a new kind of life. When the death of her father severs her ties in the community, she sets off across the countryside in search of Bill Cody’s Wild West Show.
A touch implausible at times, the focus of this novel is the evolution of Abigail’s character through an intensely close first person narrative. It is through this delightfully creative and intellectual mind that we get a glimpse into her world. While the novel is set in 1885, Abigail is not your average nineteenth century woman, defying and negotiating her society’s gender norms at every step and learning to use them to her advantage. On a trip into the city, Abigail makes sure to purchase and wear a dress that would befit a young lady of her station, in order to make her story of inheritance more probable. Later, she purchases an outfit more suited to a sharpshooter and manual labourer to encourage the Wild West Show to hire her to work in the stables. These gender and class constructions demonstrate a main character who is both highly self-aware and conscious of the expectations of her society.
Abigail is incredibly well read, keeping track of and forming opinions about the Red River Rebellion hundreds of miles away – all the while using language that had me reaching for a dictionary. Abigail’s character sympathizes with the Métis and frequently makes astute observations about the Rebellion – for example, comparing it to the American fight for independence in that “In America, the royal father had to change his taxing ways or lose his son; in Canada, Riel issued ultimatums to his oppressive mother, the queen: either leave him alone or make him a partner in the family business.”
Abigail’s shrewd mind is not only politically aware, but also playfully imaginative. Rich descriptions deftly fleshed out with extended metaphor are the norm in this novel – such as in a description of trees on a winter morning:
One morning I crawled out of my brush tent to a world glittering in snow. January would never think of this scene as the result of a cosmic fairy godmother’s bag of tiny diamonds given to a daughter charged with decorating the land of Christmas trees below…Every so often a fully dressed tree stood apart from the crowd with the sunshine on her lace fragmented into a million sparkling droplets.
All in all, Abigail’s character should appeal to readers, embodying a strong woman who looks outside what is expected of her in search of her own happiness and her own way of being in the world.
A dense text, this book was an enjoyable read that encouraged the reader to root for the main character. The concept is familiar, reimagining the Western in the tradition of Canadian writers like Patrick deWitt (The Sisters Brothers) and Guy Vanderhaeghe (The Englishman’s Boy) who update a touchstone genre and make it their own. Famous names from the American Wild West pepper the story, providing touchstones for the reader and thoughtful depictions of these iconic characters. Admittedly, there were a few things that just didn’t quite work for me. A few too many lucky coincidences were used to move the plot along without much justification or natural progression. Abigail’s later love interest (I won’t spoil it by telling you who!) is one such of these details that almost seemed tacked on – there just isn’t enough development before they claim to be madly in love.
While not exactly a page turner, if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief and just go with it, this book is a pleasure to read. Unusual in both voice and plot devices, this novel makes a great “something different” to add to your bookshelf.
‘This Godforsaken Place’ by Cinda Gault
Book Reviews
Her first novel in nearly thirty years, Cinda Gault’s This Godforsaken Place meets all of the requirements of a good Western – the Jesse James gang, Pinkerton detectives, Bill Cody’s Wild West Show, the Red River Rebellion, and a jailbreak. Gault, who teaches English at University of Guelph-Humber, skillfully pulls these elements together to create a compelling literary novel that engages the reader.
The “Godforsaken Place” in question is Wabigoon, Ontario – a small mining town that has coaxed an English schoolteacher and his daughter to come to their community to teach in their new school. Life is hard but all goes well until her father falls ill, and the burden of schoolteacher moves to Abigail’s shoulders. Feeling increasingly trapped in a life she doesn’t want, Abigail buys a rifle on a whim and begins to practice out at her “range” in the bush. When a wounded and dying old sharp shooter shows up, he turns out to be Shep January, a hunted member of the American Jesse James gang, with a Pinkerton detective hot on his heels. When the Pinkerton catches up, Abigail shoots him in self-defence, unintentionally committing murder. January offers a solution to her new dilemma: he’ll teach her how to shoot if she takes his guns and a saddlebag of stolen cash to a man named Shea Wyatt, who he claims will also be able to help her sort out the death of the Pinkerton. Although reluctant at first, Abigail is drawn by the promise of adventure and a chance for a new kind of life. When the death of her father severs her ties in the community, she sets off across the countryside in search of Bill Cody’s Wild West Show.
A touch implausible at times, the focus of this novel is the evolution of Abigail’s character through an intensely close first person narrative. It is through this delightfully creative and intellectual mind that we get a glimpse into her world. While the novel is set in 1885, Abigail is not your average nineteenth century woman, defying and negotiating her society’s gender norms at every step and learning to use them to her advantage. On a trip into the city, Abigail makes sure to purchase and wear a dress that would befit a young lady of her station, in order to make her story of inheritance more probable. Later, she purchases an outfit more suited to a sharpshooter and manual labourer to encourage the Wild West Show to hire her to work in the stables. These gender and class constructions demonstrate a main character who is both highly self-aware and conscious of the expectations of her society.
Abigail is incredibly well read, keeping track of and forming opinions about the Red River Rebellion hundreds of miles away – all the while using language that had me reaching for a dictionary. Abigail’s character sympathizes with the Métis and frequently makes astute observations about the Rebellion – for example, comparing it to the American fight for independence in that “In America, the royal father had to change his taxing ways or lose his son; in Canada, Riel issued ultimatums to his oppressive mother, the queen: either leave him alone or make him a partner in the family business.”
Abigail’s shrewd mind is not only politically aware, but also playfully imaginative. Rich descriptions deftly fleshed out with extended metaphor are the norm in this novel – such as in a description of trees on a winter morning:
One morning I crawled out of my brush tent to a world glittering in snow. January would never think of this scene as the result of a cosmic fairy godmother’s bag of tiny diamonds given to a daughter charged with decorating the land of Christmas trees below…Every so often a fully dressed tree stood apart from the crowd with the sunshine on her lace fragmented into a million sparkling droplets.
All in all, Abigail’s character should appeal to readers, embodying a strong woman who looks outside what is expected of her in search of her own happiness and her own way of being in the world.
A dense text, this book was an enjoyable read that encouraged the reader to root for the main character. The concept is familiar, reimagining the Western in the tradition of Canadian writers like Patrick deWitt (The Sisters Brothers) and Guy Vanderhaeghe (The Englishman’s Boy) who update a touchstone genre and make it their own. Famous names from the American Wild West pepper the story, providing touchstones for the reader and thoughtful depictions of these iconic characters. Admittedly, there were a few things that just didn’t quite work for me. A few too many lucky coincidences were used to move the plot along without much justification or natural progression. Abigail’s later love interest (I won’t spoil it by telling you who!) is one such of these details that almost seemed tacked on – there just isn’t enough development before they claim to be madly in love.
While not exactly a page turner, if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief and just go with it, this book is a pleasure to read. Unusual in both voice and plot devices, this novel makes a great “something different” to add to your bookshelf.
Brindle & Glass | 224 pages | $17.95 | paper | ISBN# 978-1927366417