Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
27th out of 60 books
—
12 voters
Little Century
by
Anna Keesey (Goodreads Author)
In the tradition of such classics as My Ántonia and There Will Be Blood, Anna Keesey’s Little Century is a resonant and moving debut novel by a writer of confident gifts.
Orphaned after the death of her mother, eighteen-year-old Esther Chambers heads west in search of her only living relative. In the lawless frontier town of Century, Oregon, she’s met by her distant cousin,...more
Orphaned after the death of her mother, eighteen-year-old Esther Chambers heads west in search of her only living relative. In the lawless frontier town of Century, Oregon, she’s met by her distant cousin,...more
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
June 5th 2012
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
(first published June 1st 2012)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,932)
Using lyrical prose, author Anna Keesey tells the story of Esther, an eighteen year old orphan from Chicago who travels west to Century, Oregon, a frontier town in the early years of the twentieth century, to live with her distant cousin, her only known relative.
Against the backdrop of the range wars between cattle ranchers and sheep farmers, Esther must live in her cousin Pick's cabin for five years, which will automatically add it to his spread.
Not your ordinary Western, nor your typical r...more
Against the backdrop of the range wars between cattle ranchers and sheep farmers, Esther must live in her cousin Pick's cabin for five years, which will automatically add it to his spread.
Not your ordinary Western, nor your typical r...more
This book goes far beyond being just a “western” and a romance. As 18-year-old Esther arrives in eastern Oregon at the turn of the century to stay with her male cousin, her story shows what homesteading was like for both women and men. On top of the resentment and violence between the cattlemen and sheepherders, the members of this small community also burn with guilts, shames, or unexpressed desires that Esther gradually learns of. Her cousin has a shadow in his past. So does the schoolteacher....more
Who knew that a story about feuding cattle ranchers and sheep herders in turn-of-the-century Oregon could be so good? I really enjoyed reading this--especially since the writing was tight and polished, and the characters were interesting. I loved the main character Esther and how she came of age to make up her own mind about what is right and wrong. I guess I love a good western with a strong female protagonist! Also, I loved how the story was not only about the demise of the town Century, but r...more
Well who doesn't like a good cowboy story now and then?! This was absolutely enchanting, and though the plot may be a classic, that doesn't make it any less fun. It is set at the turn of the century (1900's). Poor Esther, born and bred a city girl in Chicago, is only 18 years old when her mother dies, leaving her with no living relatives except a distant cousin living in Century, Oregon. She writes to him and then takes the train out to visit, seeking some kind of connection or kinship. Her cous...more
Loved this book. It's written in present tense, which can be tricky, but the author handled it beautifully. So engaging!
The rich history of Oregon in 1901 stood out for me. I felt like I'd been transported to Century, Oregon, and I loved learning about the cattle/sheep wars and the issues with the railroad possibly coming through.
I really related to Esther, too. She comes out to Oregon with expectations that are dashed by reality--and instead of wallowing in self-pity or quitting--she dives int...more
The rich history of Oregon in 1901 stood out for me. I felt like I'd been transported to Century, Oregon, and I loved learning about the cattle/sheep wars and the issues with the railroad possibly coming through.
I really related to Esther, too. She comes out to Oregon with expectations that are dashed by reality--and instead of wallowing in self-pity or quitting--she dives int...more
It’s been several days since I finished Little Century, but the images are still fresh. I have a vision of Oregon at the turn of the 19th century, the smell of the land — sage and juniper and pine — on the high desert around Bend. Yes, I was actually close by last month, in the mountains between the Willamette and Deschutes Rivers. It’s Keesey’s vivid writing, though, that brings the land alive; and my recent visit, as well as growing up in the West, allows me to simply confirm: Little Century i...more
A beautifully-told and richly-realized prairie tale, Anna Keesey's "Little Century" will find and hold its place in the reader's mind. A reminder of the frontier power struggles which shaped the America in which we now live, it is also a portrait of a hopeful girl who becomes a strong, resourceful woman. After her mother's death, eighteen-year-old Esther Chambers heads West to the rough and tumble town of Century, Oregon, where her distant cousin lives. Ferris Pickett, Anna's only remaining fami...more
This was an interesting yet slow moving story. Esther is a city girl whose mother dies so she goes west to live with a relative he talks her into staking a claim on a piece of land which Esther thinks is hers and will always be hers but there is more to this “kindness” than meets the eye. Once Esther figures out the real reason behind it and what she has to do to keep her land things go from bad to worse. There is also a war raging in this little town between cattlemen and sheepherders and there...more
Century is a frontier town in Oregon where the resources and pastureland are being fought over by ranchers and sheepherders. Esther, a nineteen year old orphan, comes to this town to seek out her third cousin, her only living relative once her mom dies. This cousin, Ferris Picket, is a rancher who is trying to claim the land for cattle. The fighting over the land escalates and Esther falls in love with a sheepherder-- an enemy of her cousin Pickett.
I liked the romance element in this book but...more
I liked the romance element in this book but...more
I loved this book, especially after meeting the author, an associate professor at Linville College near Salem, Oregon where a good friend of mine lives. Keesey uses wonderful metaphors, has a good sense of humor and fascinating characters. Her word choices are also interesting, some of them undoubtedly from the time period the novel covers. I grew to appreciate easy access to the dictionary on my new Kindle and always had a new "word of the day!" The subject of the book--the range wars between s...more
I love a good western with a solid female lead character and this book doesn't disappoint on this score. True Grit is one of my all-time favorite books, so I'm always looking to recreate the experience of reading that engrossing and deceptively simple novel. The main character, Esther, is a city girl, young and alone when she heads west in search of a distant male cousin to call family. Her sense of adventure and pointed searching for some place to call home rings genuine to me. The cast of char...more
Oregon in 1900
"Little Century" tells the story of the small town of Century on the high desert of central Oregon, as told by 18 year old orphan Esther Chambers - at the turn of the 20th century. Esther has come to Century from Chicago to live with a distant cousin after the death of her mother.
This is an exceptional book, telling Esther's story as she homesteads, full of incredible detail and lyrical prose. It is a story of the range wars between the cattle ranchers and the sheepherders. It is a...more
"Little Century" tells the story of the small town of Century on the high desert of central Oregon, as told by 18 year old orphan Esther Chambers - at the turn of the 20th century. Esther has come to Century from Chicago to live with a distant cousin after the death of her mother.
This is an exceptional book, telling Esther's story as she homesteads, full of incredible detail and lyrical prose. It is a story of the range wars between the cattle ranchers and the sheepherders. It is a...more
A delicious read! Some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read. The characters are incredibly rich. Some of my favorite passages:
P. 95 - Fused together by a merriment so colossal it mimicked the effect of drink, the people of Chicago ... went arm in arm about the town like crabs, tipping sideways, making a dance-hall step of their lost balance. In the big houses . . . women enjoyed the liquid drag of silk dresses on stairs.
p. 130 - She has been waiting , she realizes, for that explosion int...more
P. 95 - Fused together by a merriment so colossal it mimicked the effect of drink, the people of Chicago ... went arm in arm about the town like crabs, tipping sideways, making a dance-hall step of their lost balance. In the big houses . . . women enjoyed the liquid drag of silk dresses on stairs.
p. 130 - She has been waiting , she realizes, for that explosion int...more
The high desert town of Century, Oregon is the turn of the century setting of high drama between those who raise cattle and those who raise sheep and the violent greed over free range land which seems to be anything but free. Young Esther Chambers is living with her only relative, a distant cousin of means who is a cattle rancher. Anna Keesey has portrayed her as a woman of poise, ethics and morals far beyond her years. At times, it seems she is the only sensible being in the town. The author ha...more
I enjoyed this read for many reasons - the characters, including many of the secondaries, were well-drawn, without resorting to stereotypes or extremes. As a main character, Esther is naive, but trustworthy, creating just enough empathy in her relationship with readers. The story was precisely paced with a slower build-up - but overall a book that held my attention throughout. And Keesey is a gifted writer; she has an ear for dialogue and the rare gift to show more than tell.
Besides all that, an...more
Besides all that, an...more
I didn't exactly roll my eyes in the first few pages of this book, but I came close. The set-up was just so tidy: an orphaned 18-year-old goes West to her only living relative, a handsome cattle rancher who may or may not a wastrel. The landscape is cold and sere, but, oh look, there is brutal beauty! The old ranch hand is kinder than his scraggly beard would suggest!
But somewhere in the first 50 pages or so, my opinion began to shift. This is a deep novel, a story that works as fable and as a...more
But somewhere in the first 50 pages or so, my opinion began to shift. This is a deep novel, a story that works as fable and as a...more
Esther Chambers is orphaned in Chicago at 18 and travels west to Century Oregon to find her only relative, a distant cousin. Set at the time that the railroads are expanding into the west, and water rights are becoming an issue this historical fiction sheds light on the fractious relationships between cattle ranchers and sheepherders as Esther develops and "understanding" that she will marry her cousin Pick and then falls in love with Ben Cruff, a sheepherder whose entire flock is destroyed by t...more
I'm a well-known sucker for historical fiction. However I have been so disappointed so many times these last five years. So when I saw Little Century reviewed well in the New York Times AND it was set in Oregon AND it involved pioneers, I crumbled. I am glad I did - this was a fine, good, strong read. I lost myself in a Lonesome Dove kind of world for a day or so - a world full of greedy schemes, emotional loss & frontier justice. I loved the "pioneer" writing syntax (reminiscent of Amor Tow...more
There will be blood. But first there are 100 or so pages establishing the look and feel of eastern Oregon, one of the story's main characters. A patient reader will be lulled into the slow rhythm of the desolate desert and its parching heat, and will come to appreciate Anna Keesey's spare but absorbing writing.
With the second half of the book friendships deepen and love blossoms, but there is savage violence too - to property, to animals, and to people. Yet "Little Century" never reads like a cl...more
With the second half of the book friendships deepen and love blossoms, but there is savage violence too - to property, to animals, and to people. Yet "Little Century" never reads like a cl...more
A story about the birth of modern America and how the west was won. Greed, jealousy, lies, and back-stabbing have always existed in American history, and in this story a young woman encounters all this and more on the Oregon frontier just after the turn of the 20th century. When young Esther is lured to the Oregon territory by her distant cousin, she has little idea of what she will find, and her fellow townspeople have agendas of their own. Through her intelligence, independence, and persevera...more
Western set in remote Oregon amongst cattle and sheepherders, their conflicts over land that could lead to bloodshed and the young woman who moves into the region to squat on a claim so a distant relative can take ahold of the land. Anna Keesey's writing is nice and spare--as any book set in this world must have, flowery writing isn't welcome here--but, I just did not ever get much interest in the young heroine who struggles with the choices she must face in this difficult world she enters. That...more
Overall, I felt like this book was disappointing. Like the author almost wrote a great book, but couldn't manage to pull it off. This book deserves a three, but if three stars means "I liked it", I can't give it that.
3 - Writing Style (It was ok.)
3 - Kept me Awake at Night Reading (It was ok.)
3 - Good Discussion Book (Maybe.)
4 - Violence (Some, but nothing written in a disturbing or nightmarish way.)
3 - Sex (This book has adult relationships in it. Now I feel like ranting. I hate the double stan...more
3 - Writing Style (It was ok.)
3 - Kept me Awake at Night Reading (It was ok.)
3 - Good Discussion Book (Maybe.)
4 - Violence (Some, but nothing written in a disturbing or nightmarish way.)
3 - Sex (This book has adult relationships in it. Now I feel like ranting. I hate the double stan...more
3.5 stars
Upon the death of her mother, Esther Chambers moves West to Central Oregon at the invitation of distant cousin Ferris Pickett (Pick). Pick is a cattle rancher, and he wants Esther to homestead a recently abandoned piece of land adjacent to his own ranch. Esther settles in to her new home and the community, but things are getting a bit heated - those cattle ranchers do not like the men raising the sheep. Not. One. Bit. Life gets even more complicated for Esther when Pick asks for her han...more
Upon the death of her mother, Esther Chambers moves West to Central Oregon at the invitation of distant cousin Ferris Pickett (Pick). Pick is a cattle rancher, and he wants Esther to homestead a recently abandoned piece of land adjacent to his own ranch. Esther settles in to her new home and the community, but things are getting a bit heated - those cattle ranchers do not like the men raising the sheep. Not. One. Bit. Life gets even more complicated for Esther when Pick asks for her han...more
2 likes
·
like
· see review
18 years old, Esther has grown up in Chicago but travels to live with a distant cousin in the high desert town of Century, Oregon after her mother dies. Set in the early twentieth century, the predominant themes of the novel are certainly around change and conflict. Sheepherders have begun to use the federal lands long used by cattlemen, who respond with resentment and violence. The area is becoming less frontier-like and more settled. Esther herself is changing as she grows up quickly and finds...more
Aug 17, 2012
PopcornReads
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
anna-keesey,
range-war,
american-history,
animals,
family,
giveaway,
giveaway-hop,
historical-fiction,
historical-romance,
history,
horses,
loss,
relationships,
romance,
secrets,
suspense,
western,
young-adult,
ya
Book Review & Giveaway: We’re participating in the Last Days of Freedom Giveaway Hop. It seemed only fitting to have our giveaway be about the Western frontier when it was seen as the last free place for men and animals to roam. For that reason, we’re reviewing and hosting a giveaway of Little Century by Anna Keesey. Set in the eastern Oregon desert landscape before railroads came through to the West Coast, this one should appeal to historical fiction fans as well as fans of strong, independ...more
I love historical fiction, especially stories set in the old west. This was a page-turner for me and I had a hard time choosing the rating between 4 and 5 stars. I only went with 4 because I don't know if I would read it again. 5 stars to me is a book I could read again.
Esther leaves Chicago to live with a distant cousin in Century, Oregon. The story follows the change in her relationship with him, the town's demise and the different characters in the town. The last few pages were emotional for...more
Esther leaves Chicago to live with a distant cousin in Century, Oregon. The story follows the change in her relationship with him, the town's demise and the different characters in the town. The last few pages were emotional for...more
I wanted to like this story about a city girl moving to the homesteading era of Oregon, replete with cattle/sheep wars and a little bit of romance. The title alone seemed to indicate an epic story in itself.
However, the story is written so passively that it honestly gets boring. Perhaps that is the mood of the protagonist that the author wished to highlight and so it is written completely in her filtered, passive, calm, laid back POV. But that ended up greatly distancing me from the story and I...more
However, the story is written so passively that it honestly gets boring. Perhaps that is the mood of the protagonist that the author wished to highlight and so it is written completely in her filtered, passive, calm, laid back POV. But that ended up greatly distancing me from the story and I...more
4 1/2 stars
Reviewed for www.compassbookratings.com
Overall Review:
Little Century is the bittersweet tale of young Esther Chamber's stay on the Oregon frontier. It's 1901 and although the location of Century, Oregon is considered backwoods, its citizens are the ones who are wild and untamed. The story moves gradually, but my desire to know Esther's fate had me reading late into the night. Kessey writes in the present tense, a difficult task, but her writing comes across as effortless.
With a femal...more
Reviewed for www.compassbookratings.com
Overall Review:
Little Century is the bittersweet tale of young Esther Chamber's stay on the Oregon frontier. It's 1901 and although the location of Century, Oregon is considered backwoods, its citizens are the ones who are wild and untamed. The story moves gradually, but my desire to know Esther's fate had me reading late into the night. Kessey writes in the present tense, a difficult task, but her writing comes across as effortless.
With a femal...more
This book surprised me. I was about 3/4 the way through when I thought, ok - it's a story, but it's sooooo predictable. Ho Hum ... then those last few chapters came and renewed my faith in plot construction.
Most of things I 'thought' might happen, happened - no surprises there. I pretty well knew it would be a boy gets girl thing in the end. I pretty well knew our illustrious postmistress would eventually be found out.
And Pick ... he wasn't one of the bad guys ... he wasn't exactly lily-white i...more
Most of things I 'thought' might happen, happened - no surprises there. I pretty well knew it would be a boy gets girl thing in the end. I pretty well knew our illustrious postmistress would eventually be found out.
And Pick ... he wasn't one of the bad guys ... he wasn't exactly lily-white i...more
I am glad I stuck with this one. It started super slow, but it managed to pick up by the middle of the book. It's quite a good story if you manage to stick by it to the end.
A young girl called Esther comes to her cousin Ferris Pickett, a cattle rancher in Century, Oregon; who makes her lie about her age and stake her claim on a piece of land. A valuable land apparently, because it's a source of water. What she has no idea about (among other things) is that she has landed into a hotbed of confli...more
A young girl called Esther comes to her cousin Ferris Pickett, a cattle rancher in Century, Oregon; who makes her lie about her age and stake her claim on a piece of land. A valuable land apparently, because it's a source of water. What she has no idea about (among other things) is that she has landed into a hotbed of confli...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book Haven: Win a Hardback Copy of Little Century by Anna Keesey | 1 | 2 | Aug 17, 2012 08:28am | |
| The Indie Exchang...: Win a Hardback Copy of Little Century by Anna Keesey | 1 | 6 | Aug 17, 2012 08:27am | |
| Bloggers Unite™ : Win a Hardback Copy of Little Century by Anna Keesey | 1 | 3 | Aug 17, 2012 08:27am | |
| Book Bloggers Ano...: Win a Hardback Copy of Little Century by Anna Keesey | 1 | 1 | Aug 17, 2012 08:25am | |
| Creative Reviews: Win a Hardback Copy of Little Century by Anna Keesey | 1 | 3 | Aug 17, 2012 08:24am |
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“A waltz begins, that floating, sweet rhythm. The fiddle is plaintive. A few minutes ago she was at least pleasantly contented. Now certain of the notes dip into her like ladles and come up full of loneliness. The people in the room recede. They are strangers, every one.”
—
3 people liked it
“His very limbs feel different, as if they know that sometime soon there might be a little softness, a little love to spend like money, and the body's whole business won't be to keep itself alive on skinflint rations. Yes, she is a pleasant girl, intelligent. And under him, or inside him, spring is banging its little green drum.”
—
3 people liked it
More quotes…
Jan 26, 2013 08:26pm