Letters to Callie
Jack Wade's Story
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
From the author of the acclaimed frontier novel The Journal of Callie Wade comes a magnificent chronicle of courage, trial, and triumph...
Montana Territory, 1864: Jack Wade had nothing to lose when he left the wagon train that carried his sister Callie westward. Heartbroken over losing their sister Rose and wanted by the law, Jack heads to the only place for wild souls like himself: the rough-and-tumble gambling town of Virginia City. What he finds there outshines any prize won at the gaming tables -- he discovers Lillie, the down-to-earth card dealer who could be the love of his life. But just as Jack makes a fresh start, a murderous enemy crosses his path -- an explosive twist of fate that forces Jack to leave Lillie and sends him on the run once again.
Out on the trail, wounded and half-starved, Jack is rescued by Raven, a beautiful Blackfoot woman, and with her tribe he finds the peace he seeks. But unseen adventures -- some tragic, some redemptive -- await Jack before he finds a place to call home....Written on the run or by the campfire light, in times of joy and grief, Jack's letters to Callie reveal his unforgettable journey as it unfolds -- and stand as a moving testament to the strength of the human spirit.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1864, this accomplished sequel to The Journal of Callie Wadeis another rewarding tale of the Old West. The novel opens five years after the dramatic ending of the first book, when Jack Ward, still haunted by the untimely death of his little sister Rose during his family's trek West, is attempting to make a new life in Virginia City, Mont. Miller renders a sensitive portrait of Jack, a family man turned gambler who struggles to make the best of his lonely existence. While the novel offers all the trappings of a conventional western romance, including saloon girls with hearts of gold and hard-drinking miners, Miller adds a dimension by conveying the situations of families torn apart by the perils of the pioneer experience and by the distances that often loomed between them in the vast western territories. Jack's letters to his sister Callie reveal his preoccupation with death; his feelings for Lillie, a beautiful card dealer at the Pair O' Dice saloon; the gradual peace he discovers through his marriage to a Blackfoot woman, Raven; and his relationships with several members of the Native American nation. Interesting details about Blackfoot tradition indicate fine research. While several plot twists are predictable, the gradual restoration of Jack's self-respect provides an emotionally satisfying drama.
