A Fine Fictional Debut!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                              This tale of three generations of American Indian women--Granny, Lula, Justine, and Reny--in the Oklahoma panhandle, and Texas, where Justine and Reny move to for a time, is so beautifully written and moving in its depiction of both characters and landscape, that I forget, until halfway through, that Kelli Jo Ford was falling on the old tried technique of the novel as a series of short stories interconnected.  This is one of the riskiest things for a writer to pull off, but I am happy to report Miss Ford does have the skill, and pulls it off superbly.

                                                 She even works a sort of female "Brokeback Mountain" into the proceedings, telling the tragic story of two women, Marni and Stevie, who come to Texas to live, because Stevie liked the wide open spaces.  Anyone who cried over 'Brokeback,' will shed tears over Marni and Stevie.

                                                    Ford's prose style has a lyrical style that puts me in mind of Sherman Alexie.  I hope more is heard from her, as this was one of the more satisfying pieces of fiction I have read recently.

                                                       The American Indian experience can always use a new voice, and Ford offers one.  Less vitriolic than "There, There," it offers beauty and hope amidst the heartbreak.

                                                         Read this one, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!