Crazy Woman by Kate Horsley

Crazy Woman Reviews

• 
  Lataun

  I think I was a Crazy Woman to stick with this book! I hate when the cover of the book looks so promising but then you read the book and you find out that the book was only what the cover said and nothing more. I could have read the cover and been as satisfied as I was after reading all 239 pages, in fact, more satisfied.
  
  
  Another recommendation from Julia Roberts...I think I'm 4 for 4 on recommendations from famous people. (as in, I didn't really like any of their tastes)
• 
  Dawnie

  I read this book on Julia Roberts recommendation. Funny, huh? It tells the story of a very religious (but not churchy) dreamer that marries a minister and travels west. She is kidnapped by Indians and lives in their tribe and much of them think she is some sort of witch. It was an interesting story and while I didn't love it, I was happy to have spent a few hours enjoying it.
• 
  Mark Ehlen

  A beautifully written story of Sara, a troubled East Coast child, whose Protestant upbringing, abject poverty, and alcohol-accelerated 'medieval' fathering push her forward into a seemingly never ending reliance on disillusioned men and self-serving institutional narratives. Very quickly you come to know Sara and also fear her: she is decisive, not impetuous; she will hold the hand of someone she likes and crush with a rock the hand of one she doesn't. She does this not out of fear but out of empowerment.
  
  The book is set in the early 1800s, when almost every man she encounters casts judgment on her beliefs and ambitions without knowing what they are or who she is; she is mostly defined by what she isn’t. Sara seeks to find her self, find true friends, find a husband, find a meaningful life, and regardless, survive an highly distrustful and judgement-filled world. Just another story about the human condition? Well, maybe, but maybe instead just of the female condition in 1800s Roanoke, Virginia. (1800s men had other subjugations, including from the church, at the expense of the women.)
  
  So Sara heads to New Mexico, part of the folly of 'westward ho!' that sent thousands to their early deaths. This is when Sara takes matters into her own hands, writes her own calculus, and finds her carnal mate, without leveraging any of the institutional norms.
  
  So what is the book really about? For me, it's not about the East, or the Southwest, or Catholicism, or Protestantism. It's about the narratives that are in deep conflict to if not false when compared to one's own growing truth. Being schooled in false narratives is as old as the idea of narratives. What one does about these conflicts is how humanity advances. I believe it's about how any human, like our Sara, beaten down by subjugation, can become 'crazy’: how they become subject to the imperatives of their intuitions, which themselves are attempting to help the spirit survive what can be existential conditions. A spirit that deserves to flourish will create the narratives that keep it alive. All set in the 1800s, when such ‘crazy’ ideas would result in being committed to a sanitarium for the rest of your life.
  
  To this extent, modern humanity starts to look progressive?
  
  P.S. This book was the first for La Alameda Press. Its nice to know that a book was so good that they built a publisher around it. Reminds me of Rudolfo Anaya's first work, Bless Me Ultima, which also pitted the indigenous against the Spaniards and from-East colonists.
• 
  Leslie

  I was interested in this book because I grew up in Southwest Virginia, near Roanoke, and generally enjoy stories set in this area. Some of the descriptions and attitudes described in this area rang true for the time period, although a few situations and characters strayed into stereotypes. I'd be intrigued to know why the author chose to make her characters Presbyterian, as the religious attitudes and fanaticism of some of the characters might have felt more authentic to me if another sect had been used. I liked the main character despite her mental issues but some of the Western scenes also seemed a bit stereotypical. Frankly, I could have guessed everything that happened and there really wasn't anything fresh about the story to me. An OK read, probably historically accurate as far as it went but I think it could have been more interesting.
• 
  Virginia Douglas

  I will remember this book for a long time, and it's main character Sara Franklin Willoughby. I don't think I've ever been so worried about a fictional person! Even at the end of the book, I wasn't sure if it was safe to stop caring about what happened next! Read the book and you'll understand why I was so worried for her.
• 
  Sean Hall

  Well-written historical fiction.
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  Stephanie

  This book started super strong for me, but it started to lull in the middle. I skimmed the last bit of this book because it began to feel unbalanced and lost me completely.
• 
  Rebecca Gregory

  This was an exceptional book. Written by a New Mexico author. She took me deep into the life of a woman in the mid 1800's. Mystical and magical.
• 
  Teri Holford Talpe

  More plot driven than her later writing (which I prefer) but it's always a pleasure to read Kate Horsley.
• 
  Cheryl

  The author couldn't have picked a better title. What a strange book.
• 
  Christine Carbone

  This was a good read.
• 
  Moe

  I found this book at the library discard sale for 50 cents. It wasn't the best book in the world, but it did manage to hold my interest. It was corny and wierd (in some parts), as well as romantic and sad.
• 
  Nathalie

  Such a sad book but fascinating. I was surprised at its power to carry me along, except for the long sections about the Apache Tribe. Every time Sara was in the story, I was mesmerized.
• 
  Karen

  Julia Roberts recommendation