Lucky Red
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- USD 5.99
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- USD 5.99
Descripción editorial
The USA Today bestseller!
'A good old-fashioned freight train of an adventure story' Sara Novic
A feminist coming-of-age tale from a debut author - playful, feminist historical fiction for readers of Sarah Waters, Charles Portis and Anna North
In the summer of 1877, Bridget is orphaned when her unreliable father succumbs to a snakebite as they're crossing the Kansas prairie. Arriving in Dodge City as a penniless orphan, she's quickly recruited for work at the Buffalo Queen brothel and befriends her bookish mentor Constance, securing her home and employment as the favourite of Sheriff's Deputy Jim Bonnie. As winter creeps in from the plains, female gunfighter Spartan Lee rides into town, and Bridget falls in love with her the moment their paths cross. Their affair threatens the balance of power at the Queen, but is interrupted when an old flame returns to the brothel, setting off a series of double-crosses that result in the destruction of the Buffalo Queen and a searing heartbreak for Bridget. Their lives in ruins, Bridget, Constance and Lila resolve to take revenge on those who wronged them - but will they succeed in their mission? In a misogynistic world of outlaws and gunfights, nothing is certain . . .
A sharply realised, caustically witty and often moving revisionist depiction of frontier life that explores through its feminist heroine queer love, female friendships and the idea of a 'found' family in a page-turning romp of a female revenge thriller.
'This is storytelling that grinds its characters in its grip, then throws them into the air to take wondrous flight. I loved it to bits.' Shelley Parker-Chan
'Lucky Red made for such cinematic reading that I forgot it was a book!' Frances Cha
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cravens debuts with an exceptional historical tale of sex work and queer desire on the American frontier. Bridget Shaughnessy, 16, lands alone in Dodge City, Kans., in 1877. She's recently orphaned, her alcoholic and shiftless father having died from a rattlesnake bite on their way from Arkansas. Her innocent look and flaming red hair catch the attention of Lila and Kate, madams of a refined brothel called the Buffalo Queen. With no other prospects, Bridget becomes a "sporting woman" and befriends bookish and sarcastic colleague Constance. The return of Sallie, a self-assured former employee of Lila's, sparks confusing desires in Bridget, but after Bridget impulsively intervenes to protect Sallie from a violent customer, Sallie is forced out. Heartbroken, Bridget numbly continues her work and strings along Jim Bonnie, a sheriff's deputy who keeps the Buffalo Queen safe from moralizers and rougher patrons. After Bridget meets Spartan Lee, a gender-bending outlaw chaser, she discovers a new romance, one strong enough for her to rebuff Jim's marriage proposal. Spartan, meanwhile, is working a con that sweeps up Bridget and the rest of the house. Cravens peppers the thrilling plot with delicious language (Bridget's clients are "a series of hats and mustaches"; Jim's marriage offer feels "wedged in chest, like a piece of furniture that can't be got through a doorway"), and her sensitive portrayal of Bridget's uncertainty over her sexuality resonates. This is a knockout.
