Riders of the Purple Sage - Softcover

Grey, Zane

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1540526402 ISBN 13: 9781540526403

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016

Synopsis

Riders of the Purple Sage is a Western novel by Zane Grey, first published in 1912. Considered to have played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre, the novel has been called "the most popular western novel of all time." Riders of the Purple Sage tells the story of Jane Withersteen and her battle to overcome persecution by members of her polygamous Mormon fundamentalist church. A leader of the church, Elder Tull, wants to marry her. Withersteen gets help from a number of friends, including Bern Venters and Lassiter, a famous gunman and killer of Mormons. Throughout most of the novel she struggles with her "blindness" to the evil nature of her church and its leaders, and tries to keep Venters and Lassiter from killing the adversaries who are slowly ruining her. When she adopts a child, Fay, she abandons her beliefs and discovers her true love. A second plot strand tells of Venters and his escape to the wilderness with a girl named Bess, "the rustler's girl," whom he has accidentally shot. Venters falls in love with the girl while caring for her. Together they escape to the East, while Lassiter, Fay, and Jane, pursued by both Mormons and rustlers, escape into a paradise-like valley and topple a giant rock to forever close off the only way in or out.

About this title

About the Author:

Born Pearl Zane Gray in Zanesville, OH, Zane Grey is noted for his careful research and accurate portrayal of the American West. Though Grey trained as a dentist, he turned to writing as a career in 1904, when his first book was published. Grey went on to write more than 50 novels, most of them tales of adventure with a Western setting, including The Last of the Plainsmen (1908), Riders of the Purple Sage (1912), The Thundering Herd (1925), Code of the West (1934), and West of the Pecos (1937). His nonfiction works include Tales of Fishing (1925). Many of Grey s novels continue to be extremely popular, and several have been adapted into motion pictures.

Review:

"[A] well-handled melodramatic story of hairsbreadth escapes." --Booklist

"Poignant in its emotional qualities." --The New York Times

"A powerful work, exceedingly well written." --The Brooklyn Eagle

"Episodes of bravery, scoundrelism, chivalry, horsemanship, and ready shooting...make up the body of his story." --The New York World

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1540526402
• ISBN 13: 9781540526403
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176