Bleeding Kansas - Hardcover

Paretsky, Sara

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399154051 ISBN 13: 9780399154058

Publisher: Putnam Adult, 2008

Synopsis

Set in the Kaw River Valley where Paretsky grew up, Bleeding Kansas is the story of the Schapens and the Grelliers, two farm families whose histories have been entwined since the 1850s, when their ancestors settled the valley as antislavery emigrants.

Today, the Schapen family, terrified by the lawlessness of the 1970s-when Lawrence was the most violent college town in the nation-has turned to that old- time religion for security. The Schapens keep a close eye on all their neighbors, most especially the Grelliers. They maintain careful track of everyone's misdeeds, printing the most egregious on their family website. When Gina Haring, a Wiccan, moves into an empty farmhouse and starts practicing pagan rites, the family members are so outraged that they begin an active harassment campaign against the Wiccans.

The Schapens worry, too, about who stands better with the Lord: their family or the Grelliers. When a Schapen cow gives birth to what may be a "Perfect Red Heifer"-needed if the temple is ever rebuilt in Jerusalem-the Schapens feel convinced that God is indeed smiling on them.

Despite parental cautions, the Grelliers' teenagers are enraged by the Schapens. All their short lives, they and the young Schapens have fought. One particularly angry confrontation causes Chip Grellier to be expelled from school and consequentlyto join the army. Chip's death in Iraq is the catalyzing event for momentous changes in the lives of not only both the Schapens and the Grelliers but of all the families in the valley. The powerful, climactic scene at Gina Haring's Samhain bonfire will forever haunt the reader.

About this title

About the Author

Sara Paretsky is the author of sixteen books, including her renowned V. I. Warshawski novels. Her many awards include the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for lifetime achievement from the British Crime Writers' Association. She lives in Chicago.

Reviews

Fans of V. I. Warshawski, the gritty Chicago private eye, may be surprised to find her absent from Sara Paretsky’s latest work. Paretsky grew up in the Kaw River Valley, and her affection for its countryside, people, and history shines throughout this novel. The regional and historical roots of Paretsky’s characteristic social consciousness are clearly on display in what the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel calls "a novel of ideas." Despite some complaints of flat characters, cartoonish villains, and a confusing, sometimes implausible, plot, many critics felt that Paretsky’s vibrant storytelling outweighed the novel’s shortcomings. Warshawski fans, take heart: Paretsky reports that the resilient detective is currently in Italy, recovering from a beating she took in Fire Sale (2005), but that she will return in 2009.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

Starred Review. Bestseller Paretsky, who has tackled weighty issues in her V.I. Warshawski detective series (e.g., the Holocaust in Total Recall), weaves a gripping contemporary novel around three farm families—the Grelliers, Fremantles and Schapens—that can trace their Kaw Valley, Kans., roots back to the 1850s, a time of violent clashes between antislavery and proslavery forces in Bleeding Kansas. Their shared history is no buffer against the storm of changes that begin with the arrival of Gina Haring, a lesbian Wiccan. Chip Grellier, after being expelled from high school, enlists in the army and is killed in Iraq with devastating effects on his family. The Schapens' fundamentalist doctrines come to the fore when they discover a perfect red heifer in their dairy herd that may be a path to riches as well as to the second coming. Meanwhile, Gina stirs prejudices and passions to a fever pitch. Paretsky taps a different vein and strikes gold in this timely tale of fear and conflict in heartland America. Author tour.(Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399154051
• ISBN 13: 9780399154058
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448