THE ADVENTURERS

by Ernest Haycox ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 3, 1954

The Earthbreakers (1952) was a departure from all the previous, sunbaked, taut Western stories and this is its companion, not only in the picture of people confronted by a new, raw country but also in the locale, Oregon and its growth at the end of the Civil War. Mark Sheridan, undecided and stubborn, Clara Dale, who doesn't know what she wants, and George Revelwood are shipwrecked on their way to the twenty year old state and their survival is a bond that holds through Mark's casting about for permanence. Unable to have Mark, Clara marries George but finds her needs lead her to other men; George makes money and learns this is not the answer; Mark finds a challenge in the possibilities of the new lumber country, tries and fails, and tries again with his sawmills; he is offered the naked hunger of Liza and the steady purpose of Katherine. There's a devastating forest fire and the competitive gamble for a new stage line that background Mark's energetic search for other outlets and it is Clara's desperate suicide that frees him for Katherine and wakes him to the knowledge that people must live in the necessary worlds to which they are committed. Shorn and realistic, this is an understanding and strong picture of Northwest colonization and as the choice of the Literary Guild for January it will have a larger than usual Haycox audience.

Pub Date: Jan. 3, 1954

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1954

Categories: FICTION