Pieces of Sky

I put off reading this book as it promised to be one I would not want to see the end of. Finally, FABULOUS, is the only way to describe this story. Sergeant Roger LeBeau, half-Commanche - half-french, is disturbed and attracted to Miss Norah O'Shea until he finds out that she is the promised bride to Abner Slade. Slade is the man that he will wreak his vengeance on given enough time. Slade is also the not-so-secret lover of Dove-in-Flight. And even though married, Slade continues his visits to bordello owner, Mercy Michaels of Greenwood Junction. Slade did not show up to pick up Norah so Sgt. LeBeau delivers her to the camp Commander Captain Gartner and his very young wife, Abigail. They strike up a lasting friendship. Little by little Norah becomes more intrigued by Sgt. LeBeau, yet still holds to her proxy vow of marriage to Slade. Lieutenant Newcomb is devastated to find out that Norah was affianced. He had hopes of Norah turning to him. I was much intigued by the realistic descriptions of the cliff dwellings and Norah's adaptions to that kind of life. When LeBeau takes Norah to meet his grandmother - ah, Norah starts to grow up -- there is so much more that you will not be able to put the book down. [If you can find it.] Oh, yes, Slade likes rough sex. [what a dog]. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED WITH A 5 STARS PLUS AND definitely a keeper.

S P O I L E R S may be in this review I gave this book an A for holding up so well, many years after first reading it. Willman is a better plotter than Roseanne Bittner, which shows in the fact that this book with it's strength of historical and topical details,, could be one of Bittners, there is a very strong sense of being in the Southwest and experiencing all the terrain, hardships and natural beauty. But, Willman manipulates the reader and the story much easier and better than Bittner, more like P.Williamson, because you never feel as though the book is drawn out.Maybe at the end because you want that HEA so bad you can taste it.And even then, you realize that there is a separation for a reason andyou go with the flow anticipating the HEA all the way. The purple prose thing you dread when you read an older book like this is really not even an issue because it is not purple, it is more suggestive. You don't cringe as you read it, but you realize that here in the year 2005, words can be used that they couldn't back in 86. The love scenes are drawn for that time period but they are never overly symbolic or purple. Instead of drawing them out by using a language that would annoy, Wilman avoids this by quickly defining the actual sex then using affection with H/H mental observations in a silent type of sharing. It works well. And the leads are both very strong people, pushed to the limits of anyone's endurance and they readily admit to both their strengths andweaknesses, as does the author. She never sugarcoats one nor the other. She also gives a clear picture of the secondary characters lik Abner Slade, the husband and one of the the villains of the piece. He is a part of a well defined love triangle, that only includes him, because of a pre-arranged nuptial. The Gartners will linger in your mind as the ideal couple who recognize their love and seize upon it early and eagerly even though they are fated to an unhappy ending. Even the whore who love/hates Abner Slade plays a squirrely but important part at the end, that most women will cherish and laugh at, especially her nasty little revenge on her dead lover. Willman is a very clever writer and holds your interest throuhout the book. I highly recommend this book to those of you who enjoyed Bittner's Chase the Sun, Outlaw Hearts or Penelope Williamson's Heart Of The West, Outsider. At 400 + pages it is a wonderful read. Willman takes you to the places you do not expect to go to in 1880s Arizona Terriotry. She takes you to the canyon dwellings that were home to many of the Southwest tribes, like the Hopi and Comanche as well as to a Fort and Mission in the middle of a sun drenched and parched desert that yeilds the harshest but beautifully satisfying home that a world can offer. She really brought this landscape alive for me. This book is a classic and will reamin on my shelf to be read again and again.

This story strongly reminded me of the CBS Special "Stolen Women, Captured Hearts." (Maybe the TV Special was based on this book itself! ) Marianne Willman is such a talented writer, I found myself so engaged with the story, I finished it in one sitting! The story is about Norah, a courageous and spirited woman who chose to leave her school teacher position in Boston to move out West and become the mail order bride of a sadistic man whom she thought was decent. Her path meets with Storm Caller, the half-Comanche, half-French Sergeant of the local Army and she falls in love with him. Despite her feelings for Storm Caller, Norah suppresses them in order to fulfill her marital vows. However, her cruel husband made her efforts of salvaging their marriage futile. As revenge against Norah's husband, Storm Caller spirits her away back to the Indian camp... the initial attraction they had for each other before she was married grows and grows... their love is so tender and beautiful and manages to flourish admist all the obstacles of conflicting cultures and obligations. This is not the typical romance novel with a sappy heroine who couldn't fend for herself and a womanizing hero who prides himself in his conquests. The heroine is intelligent and resourceful and the hero is gentle and sacrificing. This is a genuine love story where the characters develop affection for each other through a long period of time. Neither the fact that she is a white woman nor married can stand in the way of their love for each other-- truly a story where love conquers all!