Into the Savage Country

Starred review from December 1, 2014
Burke’s first venture into western fiction (after two novels set in the present, Safelight and Black Flies) is a masterpiece of historical accuracy and exciting storytelling. Set in the 1820s, this bawdy tale of unwashed mountain men and foul-smelling fur trappers follows a 22-year-old tenderfoot named William Wyeth, who is seeking his fortune as a trapper with such real-life notables as Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, and Hugh Glass. Wyeth is an idealistic young man, eager to prove his worth to his doubting father, and just as eager to win the affection of Alene Chevalier, the destitute widow of a friend. Then a rival for Chevalier’s attention shows up: the unscrupulous Henry Layton, an old enemy of Wyeth’s. Layton plans to start his own fur company and invites Wyeth (who needs money) to join, which is too tempting for Wyeth to refuse. Their Market Street Fur Company must compete with other American, British, and French trapping outfits, as well as the Crow and Blackfeet Indians, in western Wyoming’s inhospitable Wind River Mountains. Wyeth and his party contend with bear attacks, betrayal, and murder—and not all of them keep their hair. Meanwhile, Wyeth wonders if Alene will still be waiting when he returns from the mountains. This is a raucous tale of a young man’s dream colliding with reality, and it also makes an entertaining history of fur trapping. Agent: David McCormick, McCormick & Williams.

October 15, 2014

It's 1826. The American West is still wilderness, and William Wyeth is ready to indulge his restless nature and sign on with a fur-trapping outfit. He spends a season in the mountains as a trapper and forms deep friendships with his companions, learning to live with deprivations and danger on the trail. He comes across native encampments, encounters hostile British outposts, joins massive buffalo hunts, gets himself shot, and also finds time for romance. While many vivid events are related here, Burke's (Safelight; Black Flies) third novel is a slower-moving historical narrative, bound to appeal to those who enjoy real-life accounts of opening the West. VERDICT In its realism, the novel echoes Francis Parkman's The Oregon Trail and is told in retrospect by an adult William, so any tension about his survival is defused. Rather, readers enjoy a thoughtful reminiscence about the last unrestricted years of the fur trade. There are no cowboys but plenty of Western landscapes, hardworking trappers, and native tribes. This satisfyingly complex portrayal of a Western reality doesn't need white or black hats to engage the reader.--Melanie Kindrachuk, Stratford P.L., Ont.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2014
Burke, author of contemporary novels Starlight (2004) and Black Flies (2008), delves into the past and traverses a beautiful, savage land in this homage to the American wilderness. When a restless William Wyeth journeys west of St. Louis in 1826, the untamed territory beckons a diverse group of spiritual, political, and financial opportunists. Joining a fur-trapping outfit, he ventures into the wild, experiencing friendship, romance, and conflict in equal measure. The magnificent scenery and sense of place serve as more than a backdrop, taking on the contour of a main character in this beautifully conceived version of frontier life. Steeped in Americana, this gritty testament to the fortunes and foibles of one man moves well beyond classic notions of romantic nationalism, revealing the complex core of a rapidly evolving environmental landscape.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)