Montana 1948: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Larry Watson
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $8.17
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Avg. Customer Rating:  111 reviews
Sales Rank: 10027
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 186
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.5
ISBN: 1571310614
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781571310613
ASIN: 1571310614
Publication Date: May 25, 2007
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Product Description
“From the summer of my twelfth year I carry a series of images more vivid and lasting than any others of my boyhood and indelible beyond all attempts the years make to erase or fade them… “ So begins David Hayden’s story of what happened in Montana in 1948. The events of that cataclysmic summer permanently alter twelve-year-old David’s understanding of his family: his father, a small-town sheriff; his remarkably strong mother; David’s uncle Frank, a war hero and respected doctor; and the Haydens’ Sioux housekeeper, Marie Little Soldier, whose revelations turn the family’s life upside down as she relates how Frank has been molesting his female Indian patients. As their story unravels around David, he learns that truth is not what one believes it to be, that power is abused, and that sometimes one has to choose between family loyalty and justice.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 106 more reviews...
great book January 8, 2008
I read it years ago but would totally recommend it. if you like this, try Mary McGarry Morris & Larry Brown.
 Small-minded persons in big sky country December 30, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A twelve-year-old boy recounts a tragedy involving an uncle and a Native American woman in this story about racism, family loyalty and the quest for justice. Wes, an attorney by schooling, is the sheriff of a small town situated near an Indian reservation. He lives under the shadow of his controlling father who favors the sheriff's brother, a war hero and doctor. Their Native American nanny and housekeeper's fearful reaction to a house call leads to an informal investigation into allegations that come to light because of it. Family relationships become increasingly strained following the woman's suspicious death as the actions and intentions of the sheriff, his wife, brother, father, recovering alcoholic neighbor deputy, and other community members conflict. How far is one willing to go to protect family, defy loved ones, obtain justice? The book is short, the writing, plain and to the point, the plot, mostly believable, but putting it in the same league as To Kill a Mockingbird is an unjustified. Although a good choice for book club discussions, otherwise average. Better: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
 Excellent Book December 17, 2007
I read this book in one sitting. His characters were fascinating and his depiction of a the small Montana community was excellent... and almost 60 years after this story takes place, some things are still the same.
A small gem! December 8, 2007
This is a beautiful and concise novel which you will want to read in one sitting. From the first sentence the narrator engages the reader in a timeless story in which family allegiances and social justice are in conflict. It is gratifying to read a book which is at the same time spare and rich. It is written with skill and economy of words. The story and characters ring true and remain with the reader. Highly recommended.
Loss of innocence . . . September 7, 2007
This short novel joins the ranks of a number of other fine books about adult dilemmas told from the point of view of a young protagonist. In this case, it is a 12-year-old boy whose father, the sheriff in a small Montana town, must make a moral choice that will either see justice done or allow the guilty party, a member of their family, to go free and unpunished. As I read this book, I was reminded of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird." Both set in a bygone era in a small town, where the law is different for whites and non-whites, each story follows a similar course of action with rising tension and conflicts that leave a man standing alone, guided only by his own sense of the right thing to do.
Watson writes with a gentle hand, as in his other stories ("Justice" and "White Crosses"), and you come to care very much for his characters. He captures a time and place and the social life of people leading ordinary lives on a windswept prairie. It's also about a kind of loss of innocence, as the young narrator learns dark secrets about good and evil in an adult world he is about to enter himself.
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