Etta

Hold onto your hats and suspend your disbelief because ETTA is the story of the woman who ran with the "The Hole in the Wall Gang." That's right, she was a gun-toting, horse-riding gutsy woman who rode with Butch Cassidy and loved the Sundance Kid without reservation. With a steady voice and careful enunciation, Kirsten Potter narrates the partially fictionalized life of Lucinda Jameson Carr, aka Etta S. Place. Reading newspaper articles, short stories, and tall tales, Potter depicts the forgotten chapters of Lucinda Carr's life. The listener will smile when Potter tells of how Etta crosses paths with Teddy Roosevelt, Wild Bill Hickok, Pinkerton agents, and even Eleanor Roosevelt. This charming novel crisscrosses North and South America at the end of an era. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

October 6, 2008
The sketchy details of the life of Etta Place, outlaw and paramour of William “Sundance Kid” Longabaugh, are imaginatively filled in by first-time novelist Kolpan in this winning tale of the Wild West. After her wealthy father's disgrace and demise, Etta departs Philadelphia society and heads west to become a Harvey Girl on the railroad in Colorado, where a series of misadventures leads her to the Hole-in-the-Wall gang. Romanced by Longabaugh and the fugitive lifestyle, Place earns an integral part in the gang through her shooting and riding skills as well as her beauty and sophistication. Pursued by the police, Pinkertons, the Black Hand and rival desperado Kid Curry, Etta and the Sundance Kid make their way across the country, diving from one daring adventure to another. The novel is not without its flaws: Etta's friendship with a young Eleanor Roosevelt and her encounters with other luminaries can seem precious, and her proto-feminism feels too canned. But the wide-screen drama of Etta's life makes these choices forgivable, and Kolpan's snappy storytelling makes it impossible not to want to ride along as the characters careen toward their tragic ends.