Deliverance Valley

By Gladys Smith

ISBN 1-931-291-27-6

Log Cabin Books

Hamilton, Montana

2003, trade paper, 256 pages

            Retired schoolteacher and amateur archeologist Gladys Smith won the Willa Cather Literary award with her first novel River of No Return.  Deliverance Valley is also a story of a hard but beautiful land and the trials of the human heart.

            On his deathbed Gabe confesses to his sister Jessie that he has gambled away his ranch.

His horses will have to be sold to pay his debts.  He also confesses that his beautiful fourteen-year-old daughter Kitty is really the Jessies child.  Jessie is stunned to learn that the girl she thought of as her niece is her daughter--the infant daughter her husband told her was born dead as Jessie lay near death at the child's birth.  Her husband lied, and her brother had kept the truth from her for fourteen years.

            Jessie is heartbroken as she helplessly watches her brother die.  She is also full of anger that she was lied to for so many years. Kitty is heartbroken that not only is her father is dying and leaving her alone, but she may also lose her beloved horses.  Afraid and rebellious, the young girl steals away into the wilderness with the entire herd.  Jessie must find Kitty and the horses somewhere in the wilds of Montana. Is it possible she will also find love?

            This story is well paced, authentic and full of life.  It's a great read for adults and accessible for young teens. Gladys Smith's may well win another award for Deliverance Valley.

A.H.Holt, editor

WesternFictionReview

June 2004