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Reviewed by Bil Howard for Readers' Favorite
Haunted by memories of her mother in the pain of childbirth, Kathleen O’Dwyer is on the run in The Strange Courtship of Kathleen O'Dwyer by Robert Temple. Leaving St. Louis with a small group of traders and the promise of a teaching job in Santa Fe, she transforms on the vast plains stretching before her. With their traveling party, but keeping himself apart while he fought his ghosts, is James Colter, a mountain man with a deadly Hawken rifle. When a band of Comanches attacks the wagons, Kathleen escapes on a paint pony taken by the blade of her knife from the band leader. She follows Colter into the mountains, eventually arriving at Santa Fe, where it seems teaching school is no longer her destiny. Determined to make her way in life without the help of a man, Kathleen learns to shoot, hunt, and take care of herself, thanks to an Apache boy who would one day become the leader of the Mimbreno people. Leaving Taos fully independent, she heads north, remembering Colter, wondering if he is the one man with whom she could share her life. Will she find him in the rough expanse of the Rockies? If so, will she still want him?
Take a ride with Robert Temple back to the old West in The Strange Courtship of Kathleen O'Dwyer when it was nothing more than trading posts, trappers, and Indians. Besides being transported back in time to a wilder, freer land full of beauty that can kill, Temple puts you inside the restless and formidable spirit of a determined Irish woman who will stand firm on her own two feet. Her struggle to become who she is rather than settle for what is expected of her is one that all fight or surrender to. You will live the battle, hoping she will succeed while wondering if she’s bitten off more than she can chew in a barren land conquered only by the strongest men. The author has done a great job of capturing the essence of this character as well as masterfully telling a powerful story of transformation. I’m walking away from this book filled with a renewed sense of being who I am rather than worrying over what others want me to be. You will, too.
