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In a similar vein to 'Cold Mountain', this award-winning novel transcends the straight-and-narrow Western in a rich melodrama of gun-slinging, hidden identities, conflicted loyalties and high-stakes emotion. In the spring of 1885, 17 year old Jessilyn Harney finds herself orphaned and alone on her family's homestead. Desperate to fend off starvation and predatory neighbours, she cuts her hair, binds her chest, saddles her beloved mare, and sets off across the mountains. Her goal is to find her gun-slinging fugitive brother Noah and bring him home. A talented sharpshooter herself, her quest lands her in the employ of the territory's violent, capricious governor, whose militia is also hunting Noah - dead or alive. Wrestling with her brother's outlaw identity, and haunted by questions of her own, Jess must outmanoeuvre those who underestimate her, ultimately rising to become a hero in her own right. The story is told in her wholly original and unforgettable voice, touching on issues of family, identity, gender and sexuality. 430pp, paperback.