By Molly Gloss

The winter of 1917 was a time of change for George and Louise Bliss.  America had recently entered World War I, and the Blisses had sent a son off to Europe.  In their war effort, they had also converted a large portion of their pasture land to grow wheat for the first time.  Their workforce had changed, as many young men in the area were now soldiers fighting far away.  Perhaps it wasn’t so strange that in all of this, George hired a very tall, quiet, young woman decked out in an old rodeo costume who showed up one day and offered her services as a broncobuster.  Martha Lessen worked with horses in an entirely different way than they had seen: slowly, quietly, naturally – we might call her a horse whisperer.  In her own quiet way, she brought change to their community and found her place in it.  An excellent read that will bring the west alive in your mind.

                                     Reviewed by Rachel Jones