West: A Novel

3.5 stars would have been my choice. The story is intriguing if at times overwrought and at other times undernourished. A father and widower in the early 1800s becomes consumed with the possibility of mega fauna still roaming the American west, so leaves his ten year old daughter on their farm in western Pennsylvania, in the care of his spinster sister, while he heads into the wilderness in the wake of Lewis and Clark. At times the language seems derivative of Cormac McCarthy, though not as finely done. The story bounces between Cy Bellman, the father, and Bess, his daughter back home. To her credit, Davies raises many serious points: what kind of love (or selfishness) would permit a supposedly loving father to abandon his daughter, what is the affect on one's psyche of losing a young and vibrant spouse, what kind of life did women suffer in that society, how were girls mistreated and misvalued, to coin a word, and what level of blame or responsibility does a conquering force (white Europeans) accept or need to accept for the destruction of indigenous cultures (American Indian). The book is short and the ending was abrupt. These important themes could have been explored in much greater detail over a longer period of time. The truncated story was ultimately unsatisfying, merely raising important issues without seeking any fuller understanding or resolution.

West is like a time bomb. I read it one week-end loving the narrative and the prose style. Later on reflection, I was jolted by a succession of explosions as I appreciated deeper and deeper insights that had been planted in my mind by Davies . For example, the disappearing culture of the Shawnee boy and the taming of the West made me think back on how the world has changed over my lifetime due to globalization. Davies has a gift for exploring profound universal issues through the intimate lens of the psyches of a handful of carefully crafted characters. Don't be fooled by her gentle style as she will shake your comfortable worldview profoundly. By leaving it to the reader to join the dots, West is a refreshing change from the shrill voices of so many writers with a message.

I read it, but I didn't get it. The story doesn't go anywhere the characters do not illumine some larger purpose. Maybe for Europeans the setting is exotic enough to create interest/curiousity? Not for me. The book's greatest asset is its brevity.

This author is a short story writer and perhaps she should stick with that genre. This novella was interesting at first and finally disappointing in its facile wish fulfillment ending.

one of the things you can say about this novel is that at no point can you with certainty predict the ending. so, although everything that happens is logical and flows from a to b in a predictable manner, nothing is predictable. I loved it.

Dreams and reality collide. A man goes in search of his dreams, while his daughter dreams of his journey and return home. Of course, things rarely go as planned. This is their story.

I really loved this novel. Even the minor characters were brought to life. I particularly liked the character Old Woman From A Distance. There was a lot of emotion evoked without any sappy description.

Exquisite. Loved it. You have GOT to read it.

This a slim novella that punches above its weight. Written in a spare but accurate prose, which is perfect for the subject matter and setting and calls to mind the great Westerns, we are offered a mythical story that is a recasting of the Orpheus myth with a large spoonful of Cervantes mixed in. If you're looking for an adventure story or the hard details of a long journey you'll probably be disappointed, but if you're looking for the kind of story that stays with you and rewards reflection and rereading this is a good bet.

I pre ordered this book mainly because of the hype around it - articles in newspapers etc promoting it as a potential Prize winner. Didn't expect it to be such a thin book but happily started to read it. Almost immediately I realised that the general subject matter was not that interesting although the way the book was written was very good. The story just seemed to crawl along very slowly not really doing anything and as I was reading this over a few evenings I found I was forcing myself to finish it - hoping for something special to bring it all together. By the end, I was quite disappointed that it didn't.

We are reading this book for book club and I have just finished this moment and I am so enthralled, moved and excited that I want to recommend it to everyone. Beautifully written and so enthralling is the story that here for once I can honestly say this writer is one of the best story tellers of our time.

Persuaded by effusive reviews in a 'Sunday' as to a sense of place, wonderment and predicament.What book were they reading, it wasn't this one.Persevered to the end, but on finishing it thought, "Well that was predictable"

Having read and been gripped by Carys’s short stories, I was excited to learn that she had written her first novel, and I was keen to read it. I wasn’t disappointed. “West “ intrigues from the first page, and I found myself wanting to press on, alongside Cy, in his quest, and to know what happened next. The reader also learns so much about life in the US in those days, its everyday hardships, so well researched, and its slow pace, so different from today, as well as the difficulty involved in undertaking any long journey.This was a satisfying read, and towards the end it was completely unputdownable. The only weakness in my opinion was the credibility of Cy’s motivation for his trek, but once he was on his way, I was with him on every hoofprint and river crossing. Highly recommended.