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Perseverance
It was 1932, the depths of the Great Depression, and thousands of desperate people rode the rails in search of jobs, homes, and hope. For some, the track was a road to nowhere, a dead end in a boxcar or under the wheels or in a sea of emptiness. Their fate seemed certain until Ish Watson grabbed the rungs of a passing freight train bound for a dying relative on the Texas Gulf Coast.
140 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2006
About the author
Patrick Dearen
48 books33 followersA 2022 inductee in the Texas Literary Hall of Fame, Patrick Dearen is the author of 19 novels and 10 nonfiction books, including primary-sourced histories. Born in 1951, he grew up in the small West Texas town of Sterling City. He earned a bachelor of journalism from The University of Texas at Austin in 1974 and received nine national and state awards as a reporter for two West Texas daily newspapers.
An authority on the Pecos and Devils rivers of Texas, Dearen also has gained recognition for his knowledge of old-time cowboy life. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he preserved the firsthand accounts of 76 men who cowboyed before 1932. These interviews, along with decades of archival study, have enriched Dearen’s novels. His newest nonfiction work is "Bitter Waters: The Struggles of the Pecos River," the first environmental history of the Pecos.
His middle-grade novel, "Halloween on the Butterfield Trail," was published in 2025 by TCU Press. That same year, his novel for adult readers, "The Big Dry," was named a finalist for the prestigious Spur Award of Western Writers of America. In 2024, his novel "Grizzly Moon" was also Spur Award finalist.
Dearen's 2022 novel was "The End of Nowhere," based on the events in Porvenir, Texas in 1918, when Texas Rangers and accomplices--without authorization--executed 15 men and boys of Mexican heritage in retaliation for the Brite Ranch Raid of Christmas Day in 1917. No solid evidence linked any of the executed individuals to the raid, and no one was ever indicted for participating in the executions.
Other recent novels are "Haunted Border" and "Apache Lament," both of which received awards. Other award-winning fiction titles include "Dead Man's Boot." and "The Big Drift," winner of the 2015 Spur Award for Western Traditional Novel. This work is set against the backdrop of the actual big drift of 1884, when a blizzard drove hundreds of thousands of free-ranging cattle down from the Great Plains into Texas. He has also authored the novels "To Hell or the Pecos" and "Perseverance," the latter work set along the rails in Depression-era Texas.
Dearen has received awards for his books from Western Writers of America, Western Fictioneers, Academy of Western Artists, Will Rogers Medallion, San Antonio Conservation Society, West Texas Historical Association, New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards, and Permian Historical Society. A backpacking enthusiast and ragtime pianist, he makes his home in Midland, Texas.
An authority on the Pecos and Devils rivers of Texas, Dearen also has gained recognition for his knowledge of old-time cowboy life. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he preserved the firsthand accounts of 76 men who cowboyed before 1932. These interviews, along with decades of archival study, have enriched Dearen’s novels. His newest nonfiction work is "Bitter Waters: The Struggles of the Pecos River," the first environmental history of the Pecos.
His middle-grade novel, "Halloween on the Butterfield Trail," was published in 2025 by TCU Press. That same year, his novel for adult readers, "The Big Dry," was named a finalist for the prestigious Spur Award of Western Writers of America. In 2024, his novel "Grizzly Moon" was also Spur Award finalist.
Dearen's 2022 novel was "The End of Nowhere," based on the events in Porvenir, Texas in 1918, when Texas Rangers and accomplices--without authorization--executed 15 men and boys of Mexican heritage in retaliation for the Brite Ranch Raid of Christmas Day in 1917. No solid evidence linked any of the executed individuals to the raid, and no one was ever indicted for participating in the executions.
Other recent novels are "Haunted Border" and "Apache Lament," both of which received awards. Other award-winning fiction titles include "Dead Man's Boot." and "The Big Drift," winner of the 2015 Spur Award for Western Traditional Novel. This work is set against the backdrop of the actual big drift of 1884, when a blizzard drove hundreds of thousands of free-ranging cattle down from the Great Plains into Texas. He has also authored the novels "To Hell or the Pecos" and "Perseverance," the latter work set along the rails in Depression-era Texas.
Dearen has received awards for his books from Western Writers of America, Western Fictioneers, Academy of Western Artists, Will Rogers Medallion, San Antonio Conservation Society, West Texas Historical Association, New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards, and Permian Historical Society. A backpacking enthusiast and ragtime pianist, he makes his home in Midland, Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 18, 2026
Patrick Dearen’s Perseverance is the kind of historical novel that does not simply tell a story, it resurrects a time, a mood, and a people. Set against the stark desolation of the Great Depression, the novel immerses readers in 1932 America with an authenticity that feels both researched and deeply felt. From the very first pages, I was transported into a world where survival itself was a daily negotiation with fate.
Dearen’s prose is restrained yet powerful. He does not rely on melodrama to evoke sympathy; instead, he presents the harsh reality of the era with quiet dignity. The imagery of freight trains cutting across barren landscapes serves not only as physical movement but as a metaphor for fragile hope. The desperation of men riding the rails is rendered with such clarity that I could almost hear the steel wheels grinding against the tracks.
What impressed me most was the humanity woven into every character. These are not caricatures of poverty or despair, they are layered individuals shaped by circumstance yet defined by their choices. Dearen explores resilience without romanticizing suffering, and that balance is extraordinarily difficult to achieve. The Texas Gulf Coast setting adds another textured layer, contrasting the emptiness of the rails with the humid unpredictability of the coast.
At only 140 pages, the novel is remarkably concise, yet it never feels incomplete. Every scene carries weight. Every exchange matters. Perseverance stands as a testament not only to the endurance of its characters but to the quiet heroism found in ordinary lives during extraordinary hardship.
This is historical fiction done right, honest, evocative, and deeply human.
Dearen’s prose is restrained yet powerful. He does not rely on melodrama to evoke sympathy; instead, he presents the harsh reality of the era with quiet dignity. The imagery of freight trains cutting across barren landscapes serves not only as physical movement but as a metaphor for fragile hope. The desperation of men riding the rails is rendered with such clarity that I could almost hear the steel wheels grinding against the tracks.
What impressed me most was the humanity woven into every character. These are not caricatures of poverty or despair, they are layered individuals shaped by circumstance yet defined by their choices. Dearen explores resilience without romanticizing suffering, and that balance is extraordinarily difficult to achieve. The Texas Gulf Coast setting adds another textured layer, contrasting the emptiness of the rails with the humid unpredictability of the coast.
At only 140 pages, the novel is remarkably concise, yet it never feels incomplete. Every scene carries weight. Every exchange matters. Perseverance stands as a testament not only to the endurance of its characters but to the quiet heroism found in ordinary lives during extraordinary hardship.
This is historical fiction done right, honest, evocative, and deeply human.
July 13, 2022
I enjoyed this book very much and was intrigued by the religious highlights in it. The moral and ethical delimna was well used. I couldn’t see the “damsel in distress” however. Usually the author makes me feel I was right there. I think I can describe her but I’m thinking it might be from seeing movies from that time period. I could visualize all the others easily. His descriptions made me feel I was right there! Enjoyed it very much!
July 1, 2008
This book had a very good moral message. We never know how many lives we have influenced without even being aware. It addition to its moral value, the book is a good read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews