Here's to the Ladies: Stories of the Frontier Army [Paperback]

When I heard that Ms. Kelly's next publication would be a book of short stories about the post-Civil War American West, I was disappointed because I rarely find that short stories satisfy my desire for deep involvement with characterization and plot. I should not have worried. I don't know how she does it, but Ms. Kelly can say more about a character, time and place in one paragraph than most writers can manage in a chapter.

These stories are beautiful, tragic, funny and elevating. They are built around life at U.S. Army forts, which were the vanguard of white civilization in the territories of the west. The "Ladies" of the title that we get to know here are heroic in the finest sense of the word. Their men, too, are worthy of them. Ms. Kelly debunks a lot of the myths surrounding the Old West. She clearly demonstrates her knowledge of the people and times, right down to the command structures of the army and the incessant bitter cold of the endless winters.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough! If you want to get lost in a time and place that will move you to laughter and tears; if you want to meet people who were able to forge lives out of dust, privation and beans; and, most especially, if you appreciate a terrific yarn, READ THIS BOOK.

This is a delightful collection of stories of men, and their women and families, serving in the Army, Cavalry and Army Medical Corps during the period of the Indian Wars. Living and working in remote, isolated and difficult circumstances in frontier forts in the Dakotas, Nevada, Arizona and Wyoming, the people in these stories come to brilliant life in Kelly's hands. She writes with economy and brevity yet breathes life into her characters so that the reader feels they know each one intimately, their foibles, their fears and their deepest emotions.

Some of the stories are told from the masculine POV and Kelly is a past master at creating male characters of great sympathy and humour. My personal favourite is Capt Jesse MacGregor, a surgeon in Arizona whose story reads like a thrilling dime novel. In "Kathleen Flaherty's Long Winter" we have a shy hero and a heroine who turns tragedy into triumph. "Casually at Post" is the story of a man named God and is written with wit and charm. "A Season for Heros" tells of courage and heroism amongst the famous Buffalo Soldiers and is touching and poignant.

I don't usually read the "western" genre but feel this collection is as good as Nancy Turner's much applauded "These is My Words" or Penelope Williamson's "Hearts of the West". I expect to read this volume again and again and have passed it to the man in my life to read for the themes Kelly writes about are those which are central to all meaningful fiction: honour, courage, pathos, tenderness, humour and meaningful, satisfying personal relationships.

A keeper; please read it and relish the sterling quality of Carla Kelly's beautifully wrought prose.