The Homesman

A Novel

By: Glendon Swarthout

Narrated by: Candace Thaxton

Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

In pioneer Nebraska, a woman leads where no man will go.

Soon to be a major motion picture directed by Tommy Lee Jones, The Homesman is a devastating story of early pioneers in 1850s American West. It celebrates the ones we hear nothing of: the brave women whose hearts and minds were broken by a life of bitter hardship. A "homesman" must be found to escort a handful of them back East to a sanitarium. When none of the county’s men steps up, the job falls to Mary Bee Cuddy - ex-teacher, spinster, indomitable and resourceful. Brave as she is, Mary Bee knows she cannot succeed alone. The only companion she can find is the low-life claim jumper George Briggs. Thus begins a trek east, against the tide of colonization, against hardship, Indian attacks, ice storms, and loneliness - a timeless classic told in a series of tough, fast-paced adventures.

In an unprecedented sweep, Glendon Swarthout’s novel won both the Western Writers of America’s Spur Award and the Western Heritage Wrangler Award. A new afterword by the author’s son Miles Swarthout tells of his parents Glendon and Kathryn’s discovery of and research into the lives of the oft-forgotten frontier women who make The Homesman as moving and believable as it is unforgettable.

©2014 Glendon Swarthout (P)2013 Simon & Schuster

Tribute to the sacrifices of pioneer women

Here is a novel that touches on one of the less known tragedies in the lives of courageous pioneer women. Glendon Swarthout has given us a very compelling story of the fate of a few women unable to withstand the almost unbelievable pressures and sacrifices of life after leaving all that was dear and familiar to move west with their husbands.

As the story unfolds we hear the back stories of four women who were unable to withstand the fear, the losses, the demands and incredible loneliness they suffered--often with no one to help them. In this story, the practical-minded and compassionate local minister has decided to help the women get back east, to either family or asylums. But finding someone to take the time to make the trip proves challenging. Finally the local school teacher, Mary Bee Cuddy, undertakes to make the journey. Realizing that she can't do it alone, makes a bargain with a criminal to help him stay alive in return for his assistance in getting them across the country. Those who took on this sad task were known as "homesmen."

The entire story is fascinating, though sometimes painful to listen to, but brings insight into the price paid by those who relocated to the west in the 1850's. The character development is very good--including the insensitivity of some husbands (not all) whose wives are afflicted with madness--or just giving up on living as a result of almost inhuman conditions they faced. Where I think it might be a bit romanticized is the way Cuddy and the criminal--who calls himself George Briggs--meet each other. That seemed a bit contrived, but it served to unite the most unlikely people to face an arduous journey crossing the country with four women suffering with severe mental illness.

A very poignant scene occurs when they meet a wagon train going west, and Cuddy would like to allow the women to meet and talk to the women from the other group, but is turned away, for fear their husbands would see the possible outcome of taking their wives into a life of great hardship that might leave them devastated before they even arrive.

This is a good book. I liked the narration, I liked the story. It almost seems written to have been made into a film, and I look forward to seeing it when that occurs! Highly recommend!

Could've Been Great, Ended Up Barely Good

I had been looking forward to listening to this story about four pioneer women who lost their minds out west after enduring horrifying hardships. I totally "bought into" the story, loved it, felt for the women and the men who loved them and had to send them back east, back home to heal. Mary Bee, a strong homesteader, who offers to take the mad women back east when the husband who drew lots refuses to go, is ahead of her time, knows how to shoot and defend herself, cares for her livestock, and is independent and unafraid. A woman of strong character, who loves the women she is transporting, respects them, and cares for them with dignity, and is traveling along with a man whom she has hired to help her . . . a man who is self-serving, a claim jumper, who failed to complete his service to his country, but who perhaps deep down has a shred of decency . . . all I can say is that it's a dirty rotten shame that the author decided to go off on a wild goose chase and take the story out "in the weeds" and rob the book of GREATNESS. It left me disgusted, not fulfilled. This one did not meet my criteria of providing an ending worth waiting for . . . it was a dud.

Amazing book

Raw, sad, beautiful book. Not at all what I expected and that was great. It's rare to be truly surprised anymore.

Fabulous story

I loved this. LOVED it!!!! Great story. Kept my attention the whole time. Never once did I get bored.

Can't wait to see the movie

Where does The Homesman rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is definitely in the top 10%. Great listen and a great story.

Misogynistic

Chose this because it was portrayed to have a strong female lead, instead it was outdated and offensive to women.

Wait, What? The story disintegrates 3/4 way in.

Listening to this in the beginning, I was thinking what a great story it was - honest and with a wonderful main female character. But then 3/4 the way through she does something so out of line from her character that it left me frustrated and wondering if the book was finished by another author. I wasn't expecting a rosy ending to the story or a neat finish, since life is rarely that tidy, but I expected an ending that respected the great characters that were created in the beginning of the story. It could have been one of my favorites. Very disappointed.

What's the point?

Would you try another book from Glendon Swarthout and/or Candace Thaxton?

No.

Any additional comments?

They'll have to change this book to make it good enough to watch on the big screen. Overall this book was a disappointment.

hugely disappointing

This begins as an interesting inversion of the western formula, with a strong spinster rancher carting four madwomen home to the east. She co-opts a rascally claim-jumper, after saving his life, and the crew sets off. So far, excellent. But Swarthout betrays this promise by abandoning the strong woman (after first negating his own creation by making her turn weak and silly) and switching point of view to the claim-jumper. The four madwomen, whose backstories are painstakingly detailed, are slammed into a box and never speak or act with volition again; they're no longer characters but just Woman 1, 2, 3, 4. I won't do a spoiler, but Swarthout cripples his own book by killing off a vital character in a ridiculous denial of everything the character is about, and then lets the story dwindle off for ages in a diminishing, eternal, and very disappointing denouement. This is not a book for women listeners, especially any who might identify either with a strong self-sufficient woman or a woman who's gone insane after dealing with fate, winter, and idiots.