Little Bighorn

May 15, 2014
Coming of age in nineteenth-century America, Allen Winslow is a young man between prospects when his mother strikes a deal for his future with General Custer. Winslow will deliver a surgeon's sister, Addie Grace, to the fort in Lincoln, escorting her safely through the long train journey. In return, Custer will take Winslow as secretary on his quest to drive the Sioux and Cheyenne from the West, providing him with an income and a chance to tour the country in relative safety on a military campaign that is expected to be a simple affair. The battle is one of history's most famous, but Hough augments the tragic story with a romanticism that vitalizes the beauty and tragedy of the unsettled West. As a believer in human rights and a reluctant soldier, Winslow's character softens the harshness of the tale as we know it and adds a contemporary voice. Written with sensitivity and an eye for detail, blending a love story and intricate realism, Hough's newest work is a worthy addition to western and historical fiction collections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)