Small Rocks Rising

by Susan Lang

In 1929, Ruth Farley, a fiercely independent woman, homesteads a tract of land in a beautiful canyon in the Southern California desert. Determined to live on her own terms and to be free of troubling human attachments, Ruth initially rejects the help of the miners and cowboys who are her neighbors and struggles to develop the homestead on her own. Gradually, however, Ruth learns that survival is a far more complicated and dangerous business, and the entrapments of love sweeter, and more binding, than she had ever imagined. Determined to take possession of her land, Ruth must first face the consequences of her own stubborness and sensuality, and of mindless and terrible violence, as well as a bitter fight to stay alive through a harrowing and isolated winter. Only then, her hard-won wisdom forged in unbearable grief and wrenching physical trials, can she truly become part of the land she loves so intensely. Ruth Farley is a character of exceptional complexity - a liberated woman in a time when most women were tied to the home; a joyously sexual woman in a culture where most women merely did their duty for the men in their lives; a contradictory, self-centered, alienated woman who

Genres: Historical Fiction, Westerns

248 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Sandy D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very sensual and powerful story about a young woman who pioneers a homestead on her own in a canyon in S. California in 1929. She wants to be independent, but finds herself needing her neighbors to help her survive.

The descriptions of the land, the plants & animals, even the rocks are amazing. The sexism and racism are also disturbingly realistic. Her relationships with men, many of whom want to control her, are fascinating, graphic, and pretty much believable, and I just knew some of the bad things that were going to happen would...but I don't want to do any spoilers. It did end on an upbeat note, if not happily ever, at least.

[Jennifer Ley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evocative story that puts flesh on the kind of women who homesteaded in Joshua Tree long ago. Agree with other reviewers that the writing is at times a bit clumsy and the sex seems a little bodice-ripping. Given how LA has now discovered this part of the desert would expect to see a film of this soon.

[Patrick Whitehurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's something about vivid detail some writers get and others don't.
And Susan Lang has it down. Her debut novel "Small Rocks Rising," part of the University of Nevada's Western Literature series, is the sort of book where prose and linguistic elegance take center stage - a solid work that builds a rhythym and a soul before it builds on plot and character development. Those ingredients are there of course, but they cook gradually. The focus here is on emotional evolution, of painting the landscape through gentle and informed verse. It's not a potboiler, a crime drama, or a novel filled with fast scenes, but a silky tale of creative writing, and a tale of hardship in a world brimming with adventure, sexism and racism.
Ruth Farley plops her heart's desire on a tract of beautiful, yet inhospitable land in California's Mojave desert. She's determined to conquer the wild tangle of earth she finds there and build her meager home, for the most part, by her own hands - no small feat for a alluring single woman in the late 1920s. Through this she experiences her own inner awakening, both sexually and spiritually, as she gets to know the earth and her new place in the world.
I particularly enjoyed Ruth's struggles with a boulder she finds on her chunk of property and how she subsequently deals with the rather large distraction. For me, that boulder was as much a character in the tale, albeit stoic and silent, as the humans were. And even in the wilderness, where nature holds court, the spectre of racism against Native Americans and the raised eyebrows of sexism, have found a foothold.
Since it's publication in 2002, Lang has written others in the Western Literature series. Farley herself appears in "Juniper Blue," published in 2006 by the University of Nevada Press and in the 2008 novel "Moon Lily." Besides writing, Lang (who celebrates a birthday this month) is also quite involved in the writing world and hosts scribes of all kinds, on a weekly basis, through her work with the Peregrine Book Company in Prescott, Arizona. She helped found the Hassayampa Institute for Creative Writing and also taught English - among her many other notable achievements.
Readers of Jane Kirkpatrick, author of "What Once We Loved" and other tales of courageous women, as well as fans of author Sandra Dallas, and of course Bronte, will find the perfect author in Lang's well-scripted tales. And she is well worth the time.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story, though it was predictable. What I had trouble getting past was the writing. The description was okay but the sex parts sounded like they came right out of romance novel. Not what I was expecting. It was a quick read though so I felt like I wasn't too bogged down.

[Randi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts of this were very interesting..... mostly predictable. Susan Lang has moments of brilliance in her descriptions of the western landscape that made this an enjoyable read.

[Cws]

W Lan