The days have started to slip away quickly as the last of summer fades. I for one am excited for fall- what’s better than flannel and the smell of dead leaves? My to-be-read list is jam-packed with titles and I have been loving the literary life I’ve surrounded myself in. Last week I listened to Bittersweet, a western epic set in the late 1800s. This was the longest audio book I’ve listened to so far, spanning over 16 hours. I was engrossed the entire time, and when it ended my chest was filled with that bittersweet feeling you only get from really good, truthful stories.
Spanning over a decade, this book follows the lives of two women: Imogene and Sarah. Imogene, considered an old spinster at the ripe age of 31 is the new school teacher in the town where Sarah lives. Sarah is 15 and starts off as Imogene’s pupil until she graduates about a year later. Their relationship grows into friendship but as the years progress and circumstances wade from grim to bleak, so the relationship shifts, slowly, into something more, and then love. This isn’t a romance novel though. It’s a character exploration. We watch as life changes and the two women face difficulties based largely on their sex. The story mostly centers on Sarah’s character who changes the most throughout the novel. Imogene is more of a steady hand (or fist when the circumstance calls for it) throughout the process. The change is slow and happens in the background of all of these other events, but you see how each one makes an impact. The novel mirrors real life in this way. It’s rare that people change quickly and even then it’s not usually significant or long lasting. I enjoyed watching Sarah, though it was painful at times, I felt that just made the growth in the end that much more substantial.
The descriptions in this novel were captivating and spared no detail- even the mouse poop in the sink. The west was portrayed as dirty as I imagined it being. There was also beauty. After spending a week in the desert for the first time this summer I can account for the wonders of dry, emptiness. Setting was described in such rich detail I could practically feel the grain along the window pane in each location they moved to.
This book isn’t for the faint of heart, but if you enjoy gritty stories and watching your characters struggle into a poignant, yet uplifting, ending that will shake your core – pick up Bittersweet.
Follow Navada Barr on Twitter: @nevadabarr and Facebook: @NevadaBarrFans