The Survival of Margaret Thomas

Great book! I normally dislike Westerns, perhaps because the Westerns of my childhood were all about white men using violence. This book, however, started out with a strong female character and just got better as it went on and more characters were developed. I didn’t want to stop, and read it in tw......more

The Western has been an established genre of fiction for well over a hundred years. In the early to mid20th century, Western fiction grew in popularity, largely driven by similarly themed motion pictures and television programs. In the 1970s, however, the genre began to fall out of favor with the ge......more

This delivers on the promise of the title — this gritty novel is about a woman surviving, getting past a defining tragedy, and forming a new life, all in the shadow of a quest for justice. Del Howison’s strength lies in character building — even Margaret’s dog Slocum is vivid. In his West, probably......more

Fantastic book with an interesting array of characters. The majority of the story is about Mrs. Thomas’ journey to San Pueblo and the people she meets along the way. The book is also realistic in the sense that Mrs. Thomas, on at least a couple of occasions, makes a decision you know is dead wrong a......more

Unsuspecting treat! I had never read a western before, but I was immediately drawn into the strong, enduring lead character's story and swept along into her journey. Vivid characters. Sad, funny, heart-pounding...all the good stuff. But skip if you're sensitive to brutality. This western DEF has hea......more