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Bandit Queen
In this powerful novel based on a true story, Pearl Hart, the first woman sentenced to the infamous Yuma Penitentiary for holding up a stagecoach in a daring fashion, is not the cold-hearted woman everyone believes her to be. Original. 150,000 first printing.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 29, 2009
This is a novel about a real life bandit lady, Pearl Hart. It starts out with a sixteen year old Pearl being swept off her feet by a "black sheep" named Frank. After running away from her childhood home and eloping, Pearl discovers she chose her husband very unwisely. He gambles, he beats her, and suffers extreme bouts of jealousy. Pearl runs away but he finds her (What kind of woman runs away from her husband and doesn't bother to change her name??) and of course, she takes him back.
Two children later, Pearl is once again free but new difficulties arise. Bad luck follows this lady bandit everywhere. When she gets a job as a cook, the kitchen is swept away in a flood. When she gets a job in a hotel, the place burns down. And it goes on. I don't wish to reveal too much, but a stagecoach robbery gone bad lands her in prison. There may or may not be a happy ending for Pearl Hart...
I enjoyed this and devoured it in one evening but I give it only four stars because A. Pearl was a stowaway on a train to get out west in the first place, so why didn't she just stow herself away a second time? Why rob a stagecoach for money for a ticket? B. A knight in shining armour named Cal is just way too perfect and understanding.
Overall tho, a pretty good tale.
Two children later, Pearl is once again free but new difficulties arise. Bad luck follows this lady bandit everywhere. When she gets a job as a cook, the kitchen is swept away in a flood. When she gets a job in a hotel, the place burns down. And it goes on. I don't wish to reveal too much, but a stagecoach robbery gone bad lands her in prison. There may or may not be a happy ending for Pearl Hart...
I enjoyed this and devoured it in one evening but I give it only four stars because A. Pearl was a stowaway on a train to get out west in the first place, so why didn't she just stow herself away a second time? Why rob a stagecoach for money for a ticket? B. A knight in shining armour named Cal is just way too perfect and understanding.
Overall tho, a pretty good tale.
January 11, 2010
Meet Pearl! She was so naive in the first part of the book. She became a very strong minded individual. She was a bandit too. Pearl endeared a lot of abuse from men. I think she let them off too easy for it also. Pearl does a stint in prison and there she meets two ladies that end up being true friends to her. It is amazing what one can do if they set there mind to it.
November 17, 2011
Wow! This might be my second favorite Jane Candia Coleman book. I virtually knew nothing about Pearl Hart before reading this book. And what a riveting tale it is. You wind up absolutley floored at what Pearl Hart had to endure before turning bandit. It's hard to imagine anyone having such a long streak of bad luck. Pearl's character reminds me a bit of Kate Haroney: stubborn, self-willed, intelligent, and having to work ungodly hard at trying to get by in a man's world.
Like all of her novels, you find these intelligent women surrounded by buffoons, continually lending a hand in screwing up womens' lives. Mr. Hart, Horace Tabor. But like in Tumbleweed, there are a few good men out there, a few Virgil Earps among all the jerks.
Coleman really drives home how discriminated against, women really were back then. I absolutely loved her friends Tally and the Mexican woman (name deludes me), and it's so comforting to know that there were a few decent men in Pearl's life like Cal and Dan. It gives me hope. LOL.
Fabulous read. My only complaint is that her historical novels are almost too concise. It seems you blink and then then the novel is done.
Like all of her novels, you find these intelligent women surrounded by buffoons, continually lending a hand in screwing up womens' lives. Mr. Hart, Horace Tabor. But like in Tumbleweed, there are a few good men out there, a few Virgil Earps among all the jerks.
Coleman really drives home how discriminated against, women really were back then. I absolutely loved her friends Tally and the Mexican woman (name deludes me), and it's so comforting to know that there were a few decent men in Pearl's life like Cal and Dan. It gives me hope. LOL.
Fabulous read. My only complaint is that her historical novels are almost too concise. It seems you blink and then then the novel is done.
December 18, 2009
I'm not sure what you would classify this as. Certainly not a romance. This is the "story" of the Bandit Queen Pearl Hart. Not a biography, more of a fictionalized account of her adult life, told in 1st person. It was interesting but depressing. I really hope Ms Hart did not suffer the indignities portrayed in this book, nor the lengths she was forced to go to. Overall I would say if you're just really looking for something different to read, go for it. If you're looking for romance, keep looking.
November 11, 2010
Pretty interesting especially when she is describing different places in Arizona at the turn of the century.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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