A retired sheriff and his wife go after their young grandson in “a fast-paced story of marital love, family violence and small-town justice” (Pioneer Press).It’s been years since George and Margaret Blackledge lost their son James, and months since his widow, Lorna, took off with their only grandson and married Donnie Weboy. Margaret is resolved to find and retrieve the boy—while George is none … boy—while George is none too eager to stir up trouble. Soon, the Blackledges find themselves entangled with the entire Weboy clan, who are determined not to give up the boy without a fight.
The author of Montana 1948 returns to big sky country in midcentury America with a riveting novel pervaded with a sense of menace that “traces the desperate lengths families will go to in order to protect their own” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
“Watson evokes the deepest kind of suspense: that based upon the fact that humans are unpredictable and perhaps ultimately unknowable—even to their most intimate associates. This fierce, tense book is beautifully written, with spare and economical prose . . . A brilliant achievement.” —Alice LaPlante, New York Times–bestselling author of Turn of Mind
“An outstanding work that is sure to expand Watson’s audience of devoted readers. Not to be missed.” —Library Journal (starred review)
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Watson paints a tragic and heartstruck story of grandparents trying to hold on to their grandchild- the last bond they have with their late son. Tense and lyrical. Highly recommended!
It’s been a long time since I read a book filled with this much suspense. And Watson delivers it with sparse dialogue, characters that leap off the page, and a setting that becomes a character itself, vast and immense while at the same time confining. Margaret Blackledge is a woman on a mission—to find her three-year-old grandson and bring him home—her devoted husband, George, a former small-town sheriff, along for the ride. Standing in their way, however, is the dreaded Weboy clan of Gladstone, MT, a group of despicable villains that, quite frankly, make your blood boil. Watson, like fellow Western wordsmith Kent Haruf, delivers the narrative with simple prose and limited punctuation, an ode to the desolate landscape. The result is an acutely-powerful novel that refuses to be put down.
Once again Watson writes a compelling tale that takes place in the center of the USA in a previous era. Subject matter is touching. The strength of the grandmotherly characters is righteous. Read it. Some violence, but not distracting to the story
Harrowing, gritty, and atmospheric!
Let Him Go transports you to the small towns of the American Midwest during the early 1950s and into the lives of George and Margaret Blackledge. A quiet, unassuming couple who after suffering the devastating loss of their son, their daughter-in-law’s subsequent remarriage to a hoodlum, and the relocation of their grandson, find themselves on a journey where personalities clash, emotions run wild, and conflict is inevitable.
The prose is effortless and precise. The characters are vulnerable, raw, and impulsive. And the plot is a tense, thrilling tale of life, loss, love, grief, rage, fury, familial duty, palpable emotion, violence, and murder.
Overall, Let Him Go is a tragic, haunting, beautiful story by Watson that is ultimately a powerful page-turner where the spaces between the words almost say more than the words themselves.
On a side note, I was lucky enough to watch an advance screening of the movie adaptation of this novel and was amazed at how closely it followed the original story. If you get a chance, I would highly recommend not only reading this novel but also watching the newly released movie starring Kevin Costner and Diane Lane.