The Wilder Sisters

I don't understand the people who have said they thought this book was slow. I savored every word and didn't want the book to end. Mapson's prose sparkles, and her observations about life, love, and family are witty and funny and oh so true. I also loved the world of the Wilder sisters. The New Mexico setting was wonderfully drawn, and even though I know nothing about horses, I felt a part of that world and understood the feelings of the people in it. This is a wonderful book, the kind I would heartily recommend to my own sisters and daughters. I can't wait to read Ms. Mapson's other books.

Mapson's sure hand reveals a story as wild and beautiful as the New Mexico range. She introduces us to the Wilder family, sprung from that land with toungues as sharp as cactus spines and hearts as tough and enduring as the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. I loved this novel, and eagerly followed the trials of Rose and Lily, the down to earth daughters of patriarchs Mami and Pop Wilder. This is a marvelous story about love, sibling rivalry and the price one pays for happiness. Ultimately it is about the wanderer finding her way back to the homeland and finally discovering what was once thought to be lost. I highly recommend it.

I have read all of Jo-Ann Mapson's books and this is one of the best. She is a wonderful writer who never disappoints me with her stories that truly show the hearts of women. Her women are real and their situations familiar to any woman who has loved a man, a parent, a sibling, a horse or a dog. She gets better and better with each book and I can't wait for each one to come out. I always buy her in hardback because I cannot wait for the paperbacks to come out. I would like to go on a trail ride with her just to hear where some of her marvelous plots come from. I hope she continues to give us more literate, articulate, inspiring and heartful novels. Thanks, Ms. Mapson, for continuing to gift us with your work.

Ms. Mapson's talent continues to expand. How nice that it doesn't have to rush from crisis to crisis to grab the reader's attention. The charatcters are well developed and multi-dimensional. The comment one reader made about it being the "thinking woman's Danielle Steel" is really too trite. This book is much fuller, and I didn't feel my emotions were being manipulated by the story.

As a male reader, I always come away from reading one of Jo-Ann Mapson's books better understanding how women think and feel about love, relationships and....men. In The Wilder Sisters, I particularly enjoyed the family dynamics of Rose and Lily's parents, who operate a horse ranch in Floralee, New Mexico. While there is no actual town of Floralee on the map, I found clues that made me believe we were in Taos--Michael's Restaurant, Sage Bakery, etc. Mapson's strength in painting locales and developing characters is strong and convincing. She doesn't shy away from examining human imperfections, but she doesn't male-bash, either. Austin, the alcoholic vet Rose has a crush on, comes across as a complex, sympathetic character. So does Rose's father, Chance, but I have to say my favorite character was Shep Hallford, the ranch wrangler. In this respect, Mapson's writing belongs right up there with Larry McMurtry--if he wore a skirt.