Book info

• Title Whiskey When We're Dry
• Author John Larison
• Year 2018
• Genre Historical

In the spring of 1885, seventeen-year-old Jessilyn Harney finds herself orphaned and alone on her family's homestead. Desperate to fend off starvation and predatory neighbours, she cuts her hair, binds her chest, saddles her beloved mare, and sets off across the mountains to find her gun-slinging fugitive brother Noah and bring him home. A talented sharpshooter herself, Jess's quest lands her in the employ of the territory's violent, capricious governor, whose militia is also hunting Noah - dead or alive. Wrestling with her brother's outlaw identity, and haunted by questions of her own, Jess must outmanoeuvre those who underestimate her, ultimately rising to become a hero in her own right. Told in Jess's wholly original and unforgettable voice, the story brims with page-turning Western action, but its approach is modern and nuanced, touching on powerful issues from gender and sexuality to family and identity.

Thoughts

This was an incredible read, so well written. Even though it’s an unfathomable period of time to me, you’re really drawn into this life of a runaway girl pretending to be a boy in order to survive. It’s good and interesting, and the characters are all brilliant, but I have to admit I found the first half better than the second - once she did team up with her errant brother, it felt like things were only ever going to go downhill. Still excellently written and, although a depressing ending, not entirely without hope.

Rating: 5 / 5