Her name is synonymous with the West. Her celebrity has spread to the East Coast and California, traveling down the new-laid railroads and along the telegraph wire.But breathless tales of Calamity Jane bear little resemblance to the truth. As she senses death coming closer, the legendary hellcat longs to set the record straight—to reveal her life story at last, unclouded by legend, every sin and … every sin and failing laid bare. Only then can she hope to rest in peace.
In a Deadwood saloon, she finds a writer willing to hear her out, and recount the truth to a public hungry for more tales of Calamity Jane…
So begins Libbie Hawker’s expansive biographical novel, an intimate portrait of one of the best-known yet least-understood women of the American frontier. The international bestselling author of The Ragged Edge of Night takes the reader on a heart-rending journey through a landscape lost to time, as seen through the eyes of one outcast woman. Calamity is a haunting meditation on hardship, unrequited love, and the stark, affecting beauty of the American West.
Editorial note: In pursuit of a narrative voice faithful to the central character, this text employs deliberate misuse of grammar and occasional misspellings. These are the author’s intentional stylistic choices and should not be interpreted as a lack of editing. Readers are encouraged to use the “Look Inside” feature before purchasing.
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Calamity: A Novel is a work of historical fiction about the well-known western legend, Calamity Jane. Author Libbie Hawker writes about Martha Canary, aka Calamity Jane, in what is no doubt a more accurate portrayal than what was offered in the dime store novels written in Calamity’s own life time (1852 – 1903). The book is a Women Writing the West’s 2020 WILLA Literary Award Finalist.
Calamity Jane tells her story to a writer in a Deadwood saloon. She tells it honestly, without sparing details that taint her own reputation.
Martha Canary was orphaned at the age of twelve, the oldest of six children. Her mother had already died when her father packed up the kids and their few belongings to head west from Missouri. Martha saw her father shot and killed by an unhappy gambler, who also took her father’s winnings. Martha and the two older boys scraped by in the wilderness, caring for their three little sisters, one just a baby, finally stumbling into Salt Lake City, Utah. The siblings were separated then and Martha was on her own to earn a living.
Martha was never a pretty girl, and she was the first to admit it. Legends of the old west talk about her raving beauty and many talents, but in truth she had an ungainly body, tall as a man, with no redeeming features to call herself pretty. But she had many talents, was a successful oxen, mule and horse bullwhacker, and could shoot a pistol or rifle with great accuracy. Her greatest pleasure was to ride alone on a wilderness trail. She endured many hardships, and the disasters and calamities that befell her earned her the name of Calamity Jane.
At times her life ran smoothly, as was the period she spent with Wild Bill Hickok, the love of her life, albeit unrequited. In her later years she appeared in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show performing sharpshooting skills astride a horse.
The author superbly describes the people of the American West and the western landscape as it appeared then. In many respects the story is a sad one, but the author shows Calamity as a woman of courage, endurance, and independence, a woman who could find humor in tight situations.
I thoroughly enjoyed Calamity from beginning to end. It’s a large book, 497 pages in a hardback copy, but it’s a story alive with passion and warmth. I urge anyone who enjoys reading about “the old West” to read this highly entertaining novel.
I really, really, really enjoyed this novel for two reasons: fantastic writing by Hawker and fantastic narration by Zebrowski (Audible). If you saw and enjoyed Deadwood in any shape or form, like westerns, love stories that take the Disney out of the legend, you are not going to want to miss this book. This is not at all for the feint of heart: Calamity Jane is here, in raw, first-person format, speaking bluntly about all of her flaws, all of her misdeeds, all of her hopes and disappointments, and she’s not being pretty about it. Hawker has brought this legendary woman to life with a no-holds barred, taking no prisoners retelling that is down, dirty, and gritty. Calamity is on a mission here to reveal what society has created out of her wild, erratic, and alcohol-induced hurrahs. Here we meet a woman with a broken heart, who was wholly misunderstood, trussed up, done up, brought down, and created into something far from the sensitive survivor Martha Canary was. And Hawker has given her an authentic voice, right down to the language and grammar.
The ups and downs might feel old, even repetitive as if you are in a never-ending spiral or cycle. I felt the book could have ended several different times within the last four to five chapters and yet, each new move Calamity had to make, I rose with hope that this time–THIS TIME–she was going to get things right. Stick with the story if you feel stuck towards the end. It’s well worth it. And again, huge, huge, huge kudos to an incredible duo who put this Audiobook together. It’s just fabulous!