John Larison

It is 1885 and Jessilyn Harney finds herself all alone, on her family's homestead. Her father recently died and her older brother, fled years earlier. Jess decides to track her brother down, despite the fact that he has become a notorious outlaw.
This one begins with echoes of True Grit, but the story evolves in much different ways and Jess, a talented sharpshooter and gunfighter herself, is a terrific character and it was a joy following along on her dangerous journey. I am glad to see a show more fresh, well-written, western on the shelves. And yes, there is whiskey too. Lots of it, along with the blood and bullets. show less

Whiskey When We’re Dry by John Larison is a western saga set in the 1880s. The book has all the elements one looks for in a western novel, a hard land, lots of corrupt men, kindly prostitutes, along with plenty of guns, booze and horses. What makes this book stand out is the main character, seventeen year old Jessilyn, who is not quite the western heroine we have come to expect.

Jesse’s mother died at her birth and she has been raised without any female influence so has no idea of the show more narrow role that women were allowed in these days. She identified strongly with her older brother, and she grew up on the back of a horse with a gun in her hand,. After her brother runs off and becomes an outlaw, and her father dies, she learns that a female isn’t safe on her own, so she binds her chest, cuts her hair, and rides off on her horse, Ingrid, to find her brother and bring him home. Although Jesse took on her male role out of necessity, she is comfortable in it and adapts to it well. Her gender fluidity comes full circle when she meets and falls in love with outlaw, Annette.

The story is narrated by Jesse and although she hasn’t been properly educated, she has a lyrical and philosophical manner and her thoughts are both perceptive and descriptive. As this book falls right in my wheel house with it’s setting and subject matter, I, of course, loved it. Whiskey When We’re Dry is one of the new breed of Westerns that are being written today, a story of courage, endurance and bravery, I highly recommend this book. show less

As someone whose main ol' Western fare has been through Timothy Olyphant with Deadwood and Justified, this was a nice surprise. Larison reminded me of Barbara Kingsolver with his excellent capture of Jessilyn's utterly unique voice.

A one-line review in the book described it as Mulan meets Justified, I offer Willa Cather meets Tamora Pierce's Alanna meets The Mask of Zorro (although Noah is very much built in the vein of Boyd Crowder and his militia). Take the isolation of pioneer life as a show more small girl, let her grow up into a young woman who has the potential to become a skilled sharpshooter, let her venture out disguised into the world where her charismatic mentor/outlaw brother roams but also she happens to be undercover in the household of a villain government figure who is obsessed with the outlaw mentor/brother.

As might be gathered above, there's the usual melodrama and gruffness one would expect in a western which worked well for me for about 80% of the book. The other times, I just wanted to trim some sections and write in the margins, where are you going with this!! where's the through line! But only because I was enjoying it so much and didn't want to be taken out of the story.

This was very much a modern take on the Western but Jessilyn and all still felt very real to their time period. This was in no small part thanks to the amount of research and details that must have gone into describing even the most basic actions and scenery and dialogue.

I can be quite a resistant reader so it was very welcoming to be so comfortably immersed in the story from the first page. Four solid yeehaws. show less

What are the options, or limits thereof, for a girl alone in the world with no protective father or brother? What is it that we all ultimately are seeking in the world? How far will we go to achieve what we're hungry for?

These are just two of the issues the author deals with in this fascinating Western bildungsroman. Jessilyn Harney is in a precarious situation: brother has run off, Dad is out of commission, addicted to opium. She has to fend for herself on the outskirts of a Western town, show more and care for the cattle they raise. When options become even more limited, she is faced with frightening and limited choices, mostly which entail losing her land (either by selling it or marrying). Jessilyn decides to hunt down her outlaw brother and drag him back to the homestead, where, in her opinion, he rightly belongs. The story is Jess's quest for him, for maturity and adulthood, and for home.

The story is told through Jess's voice, and although the grammar and syntax take some getting used to, the character herself is fascinating. Psychologically realistic, her portrayal as a child, much wiser than her years in some ways, and much more immature in others, really shines here. I was struck over and over with the author's portrayal of her as the ultimate child that exists in us all, someone who craves home or "home" more than anything -- this idealistic home being something she's never really had, but which she catches glimpses of and thirsts for over and over. Her emotional pain at seeing and craving the motherly love that she is privy to here, provides glimpses into her emotional desperation. I thought, too that her character fit with the times she lived in. Very often an author implants 21st century thoughts and emotions into female characters that don't ring true; this is not the case here.

The story itself is by turns harrowing, tense, suspenseful, and enjoyable, everything you'd expect in a classic Western. I'm always struck in these survivalist stories with how different young people were in those days and in those situations. They had life skills and knowledge, by necessity, that make today's young look practically infantile.

I love a good bildungsroman, because I believe that the ultimate great story is one about growing up. On this score, I'm not sure I am entirely satisfied. The ending comes quite abruptly and in my view does not do any justice either to the character herself or to the ending she deserves. There's no real closure or growth that I see, and it left me with a "that's it?" feeling. show less