Bleeding Kansas

Best known for her V.I. Warshawski detective novels set in Chicago, Sara Paretsky recently took a left turn out of her driveway and headed south on an old gravel road until she discovered the Grellier farm in Kansas where she spent time becoming friends with the Grelliers and their neighbors. The novel, Bleeding Kansas, was the result. And nowhere is Warshawski to be found. With this novel, Paretsky has stretched her writing legs and discovered a whole new world. Many writers, artists and musicians long to break out of the mold that created their success and create something new, exciting and different. This is probably one of the reasons Sara Paretsky wrote this novel. And she succeeded. On one level it is a cross between Judith Guest's Ordinary People and Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres with some of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet thrown in for good measure. Unlike the Warshawski novels which are told in the first person through the voice of the detective, this story is told in the third person from the point of view of multiple characters -- mostly the Grelliers. The reason I love the Warshawski novels is that I love V.I. Warshawski. Unfortuately, there is no one character in Bleeding Kansas that I can love unconditionally. I enjoyed being in the company of Susan Grellier, the mother and farmer's wife, until her son is killed in Irag and she goes off the deep end and almost disappears from the story. She is replaced by her daughter and her husband who have problems coping with their strong mother and wife becoming weak and pitiful. I recommend this novel to all fans of Paretsky and hope that it garnishes her a whole new group of fans as well.

I've been a little puzzled by the mixed reviews this book has received. I do, however, accept that the book's themes are not understated and that subtle characterisation is not a trait one associates either with this book or with its creator more generally. This is not Jane Austen, and one reads Paretsky for action, drama, tight writing and skilful plotting, as well as for the injection of a socio-political context which (OK, when she doesn't go overboard and lecture us, especially on women's issues) is frequently central to the text. I found the book riveting: I read it in about three days (not all the time!) and that may have been both cause and effect of my enjoyment of it. The central character, Lara (a.k.a. Lulu for those reviewers who were mystifyingly confused by the characters) is a young adolescent girl whose characterisation, though not especially original, is nonetheless powerful and, at its best, moving, and which constituted for me the dominant theme of the book - coping with change, grief and development while her family and society crumble around her. The book reminded me slightly (though I wouldn't want to push the analogy too far) of Donna Tartt's The Little Friend, another book that might, perhaps, confuse the unwary or inattentive: probably if you liked that you'll like this (and vice versa, of course). So basically it's a a coming-of-age, personal working-out melodrama, with Iraq, witchcraft, Judaism and Christian fundamentalism woven into the themes. Love and loyalty, Paretsky seems to be saying, will endure, and to the extent that (and not an inch further) they infuse the Christianity, Judaism, witchcraft etc., these belief systems serve as metaphorical expressions of a greater good. Once such systems depart from the pathway of love, however,they become mad, evil and fundamentally self- as well as other-destructive Not the most original theme in the world, and I doubt whether Paretsky will (or expects to) be a Nobel candidate; but I enjoyed and admired the book, which simultaneously constitutes a departure from, and a continuation of, the Warshawski novels for which she is best known.

I just don't understand how some reviewers claimed to be unable to follow the cast of characters. I read this book on a vacation as did my 13 year old daughter, we both thought it was amazing and had no trouble remembering who was who. This is a fabulous story of two farm families with a long history. The only disappointment for me was in the final pages. I really wanted the "bad guy" to get it more in the end. All in all it was a tremendous story and I would highly recommend it.

The author leaves windy Chicago and her heroine, to take the reader to rural Kansas where Sara had spent most of her childhood youth. It is a spell-bound novel where two ancient farm families fight a bitter feud concering histories from the past which includes the lawlessness of the 70s and a powerful church which manipulates most of the congregation. I think you will haunted for a while by several horrible scenes in the book. Ursula Jaramillo

Setting aside V. I. Warshawski to allow her to recuperate from her travails in the last episode, Sara Paretsky has written a novel of monumental proportions. It is set in the Kaw (Kansas) River Valley, where the author grew up, and traces the lives of several founding families who settled there in the pre-Civil War days when the pro- and anti-slavery forces vied against each other. The novel takes place in current times, with references to the past, and looks at the social politics and farm life of the area, including religion, pro- and anti-Iraq War, persecution, the hard lives of farmers and other themes. It is a far cry from Dorothy's Kansas which, at least, had a rainbow. The characters are well-drawn, the story engrossing. The novel raises a variety of questions on a broad array of themes, including fundamentalism and scientific evolution, but more importantly, hope. The book should be read and is highly recommended