Book Review: Outlawed (a CLSC selection, women [perhaps] of the Old West))(OT)

Outlawed, by Anna North (Bloomsbury, 2021, $17, 262pp PB) Review by Skye Anderson. A CLSC selection.

The Barren Women of the Hole in the Wall Gang

Ada's mom, a midwife, is teaching young Ada her trade until Ada marries but cannot get pregnant. If a wife doesn't conceive, she can be hung as a witch: that is why Ada's mom sends her to a convent. 

And, after that, she joins the Hole-in-the-Wall gang of women who ride and shoot and fight and steal, just like men. Ada, however, knows only medicine so has to learn the other skills - riding and shooting and fighting and stealing. It is the last one that causes such consternation, for Ada is not very good at that and . . . .

Written with quiet smooth eloquence - it's a good thing at that because the first part could have been boring: chapter one sets the stage for Ada becoming a midwife, living with her mother and sisters; the second covers her months at the convent.

Second Continuing Thread

Neither Ada, nor most anyone in the 1880s Wild West, knows what causes infertility or barrenness (on the woman's part) so our Ada buys medical texts to study and discover, if she can, the cause - clear to the last page. She sets out, when she can, to find the woman who knows the most about this condition - that search might be the impetus for a sequel or a TV series. However, bloody and violence scenes might result in an X-rated TV series - for mature audiences.

Alternative History of the Wild West

A gang of women, all barren, most chased from their hometowns, who steal for a living (robbing banks, etc.) and try to tame the Wild West. Outlawed

is a book you won't soon forget. The writing style keeps you enthralled, the suspense keeps you reading faster, and the unique plots (yes, plots) make you want to tell the world about Outlawed.