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Overview
Living on a thousand-acre sheep ranch, fifteen-year-old Sophie Behr can ride for hours and not see another person; her closest companion, her horse, Pablo. And Sophie often roams to think - about Demetrio, the Mexican ranch hand who helped make the baby growing inside her; about her mother and Aunt Alice, who drink every night while watching the television news, hoping to catch a glimpse of their sons fighting in Vietnam; and about her father, who vanished one day when Sophie was four years old. Sophie's mother - tough, bitter, and unstable - warns Sophie never to mention her father's name, but Sophie is compelled to find him and discover why he left. After a frighteningly violent reunion, she seeks refuge and illumination from her grandmother. At once child and woman, Sophie is a precociously wise observer of the tragedies of her own family and of the world.Editorials
Grace Filt
Kuban's heralded debut is perfectly rendered in the context of a particular time and place, yet is classically timeless, capturing that fleeting moment when transition is made from childhood into adulthood.J. M. Coetzee
With her quick temper and uninhibited sexual curiosity, her feel for the land and her fund of ranching lore, Karla Kuban's Sophie Baer is an unforgettable creation.Jeff Guinn
It's a fabulous book, one that marks the emergence of an important new writer... very few more established, no matter how rich or famous or laden with writing awards, take you into a character's soul like Karla Kuban can.... It is arguably the best novel published so far in 1998. If there's any justice, it will be required college reading for our grandchildren.John Nichols
As clean as the western skies it hails, as full of energy as wild horses, Marchlands captures a tough and passionate girl searching for love, for her father, for her womanhood. Karla Kuban is a wise and wonderful writer.Madison Smartt Bell
Karla Kuban's Marchlands is an unforgettable novel, both for the calm brilliance of its language and for the great conviction of its narrative-a powerful and persuasive story of a woman's way of winning her own life.New York Newsday
"Karla Kuban's proe is like a thoroughbred in mid-flight utterly at ease."Sandra Scofield
"everything in Marchlands is compelling....Karla Kuban is a storyteller of uncommon talent, gifted not just with a startling voice, but with a deep knowing attachment otthe land and a gift for illuminating the nature of regret, and courage, and love." -- Chicago TribuneThe Philadelphia Inquirer
"Elegant and electric....Marchlands is a dramatic debut by a writer speaking strongly from the heart, straight to our hearts.Book Details
Published
June 28, 1999
Publisher
Prentice Hall & IBD
Pages
272
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780684854441