Mamaw

On the front cover of the novel MAMAW, there is an unforgettable picture of Zerelda Samuel, mother of Jesse and Frank James. As we read this fascinating book, we appreciate that Mamaw has earned every wrinkle, and every gray hair. Like medals.Susan Dodd's novel is for anyone who enjoys historical fiction and cherishes superb writing. Her images are powerful, and her sentences memorable. Ms. Dodd uses blunt sentences when quoting Zerelda, and through this we come to know the protagonist well. Ms. Dodd also writes about fact, memory and popular legend. Combining these three perspectives makes scenes from the story unforgettably poignant. Ms. Dodd's physical descriptions of Zerelda are vivid and powerful. She describes Zerelda as an imposing woman who bravely confronts unwanted visitors at her farm, and often physically carries family members. When her husband is strung up in a tree, Zerelda cuts him down and carries him into their house. After enduring the hardships of prison, Zerelda emerges from jail carrying two of her children, while she is pregnant with a third.Zerelda James was married three times. Ms. Dodd's writing draws us into each relationship, showing us their conflicts and passions. The author also explores the unique relationship Zerelda has with her sons Frank and Jesse. It is a relationship that grows and changes over time.When reading MAMAW, the reader feels all of Zerelda's hardships and tragedies; from when her boys are inspired to political action, to when her home is firebombed by Pinkerton agents. While Jesse and Frank James will always be famous, this book is not their story. It is the story about their mother - MAMAW.

Susan Dodd is a passionate, gifted, too-neglected writer, and with "Mamaw," far and away her best novel, she created a character destined to endure, as she did a work of serious historical fiction certain to become a classic of American Western literature. A book that belongs on the shelf between Stegner's "Angle of Repose" and Ron Hansen's "The Assassination of Jesse James," "Mamaw" is in its own way more deeply felt, thoroughly imagined, and fully realized than either of those books. Here is the perfect example of an author who connected so profoundly with her subject--the mother of Frank and Jesse James--that she succeeded by some miracle of sympathetic magic in inhabiting it. An astonishing performance, an inspired gesture of literary alchemy, and one that embodies what we mean by the phrase "fictional truth." We are all left richer for what Dodd has given us, and had she gone that extra mile and embedded her subject more broadly in the context and meaning of post-Civil War America, this would easily be a five star book.

A truly inspiring story of a woman I could only dream of being. It is well worth going back 5 or 10 pages (more than several times throughout the book) and re-reading to fully comprehend what was in her mind and soul. Could there have been only one 'Mamaw'? In my opinion, yes. This book told a tale that noone could truly imagine was possible. A love so deep as to transcend time and what we 'think' is reality, yet is reality itself. One of the most moving stories I have ever read as regards a real (non-fictional) person. I was so moved by this book that I have several friends who are reading it now and can't put it down. Susan Dodd wrote a mother's anthem.