Sophia Rose Reviews The Cherokee Trail by Louis L'Amour

Today Sophia Rose is on the blog reviewing an audio by one of her favorite western fiction authors, The Cherokee Trail by Louis L'Amour
Enjoy!

The Cherokee Trail by Louis L’Amour, narrator Carrington MacDuffie

Western Fiction

Publisher: Random House Audio

Published: 6.28.22

Time:  6 hours 13 minutes

Rating: 4 stars

Narrator: 5 stars

Speed: 1.25x

Format: audio

Source: Penguin Random House Audio

Sellers: Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

GoodReads Blurb:

A woman ahead of her time, Mary Breydon knew how to get things done. Raised on a Virginia plantation, she learned how to care for livestock, respect her workers, and keep good books. But after her husband is killed, Mary must provide for her young daughter by running a stage coach station on the Cherokee Trail. With the help of an Irish maid and a mysterious stranger, Mary faces challenges that even the men eagerly anticipating her failure would have a difficult time overcoming. After firing the previous station manager with the aid of a bullwhip, she must track down stolen horses, care for a wayward boy, and defend against Indians. If that wasn't enough, she also has to protect herself from the man who murdered her husband--and is coming for Mary next.

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

A woman stage coach station manager, an enemy from her past, a gold shipment, and a wild Colorado Territory during the height of the Civil War make for one unique and riveting western tale.  Louis L’Amour entertains with his lone, male hero westerns, but he excels at the courageous, tough women on a few occasions he tackled.

 

Mary Breydon’s Virginia plantation was burned down in the war and her husband killed when he left the army to go west for a job.  She has nothing left, but to pack up a few things, take up her young daughter Meg, and convince the Overland Stage Manager that she has what it takes to do the job of overseeing Cherokee Station in spite of her skirts.

The task is daunting from the outset as she must roust out the previous station manager and his ne’er do well cronies, clean up the mess he left, and track down the stolen stage horses all while feeding the stage passengers and getting the stage horses changed and back on the trail to their next stop.  Mary is shrewd and sees the potential in the unlikely people she chooses to help her get operational and being the best on the line- an Irish woman, an orphan boy, a quiet man, and a crusty old guy.

Stacked against her are the disgruntled former station boss, outlaws in the hills, and a murdering enemy from her past.

 

L’Amour mostly wrote with male lead characters, but there are a few excellent exceptions and The Cherokee Trail is one of them.  He wrote Mary Breydon with an interesting backstory that gave her the skills to do what she did and he wrote her as gracious, strong lady who had stubborn moments, and vulnerabilities.  In fact, he wrote a more layered character in Mary than most of his usual stories and I was down with that.

 

The surrounding cast, particularly at the station, were a great team of misfits I enjoyed seeing in action and helping Mary.  She has a gunfighter shyly being of assistance, but she fights her own battles for the most part.  The old man who claims he fights shy of trouble, but he happily hauls out his old buffalo gun when the bullets start flying.  Then there is spirited Mattie who confronts a party of Indians and makes friends, Watt the young boy who does a man’s job and wants a family and home, and then little Meg who fits right into the new life they lead.

 

The villains were men it was a pleasure seeing get their comeuppance, but not always in the usual way of gun battles or fist fights.  It was also fun to see Mary visiting the local rich rancher and businessman during his party and surprising those there because they assumed about the ‘woman running the station’ and discovered they had a southern belle who had entertained aristocrats from all over Europe and powerful elite of DC.

 

Only one niggle was that I felt the story ended abruptly leaving me wondering what came next for Mary and the others.  I could guess, but she was confronted with the decision to stay out west or go rebuild back east after the war and she was confronted with friendships she shared with some good men, but was still mourning her husband.  Curious minds want to know…

 

Carrington MacDuffie was a new to me narrator, but I sure did enjoy the soft southern voice she gave Mary and her equally original voices for the men to distinguish them alone with Mattie’s Irish and the children’s voices.  I hope to discover more of her work.

 

All in all, a satisfying western adventure that I have no doubt will be a relisten.  Loved the history, the thoughtful moments, backdrop, and heroine with her adventure.  Definitely recommend to western fiction lovers, but also those who enjoy seeing women spotlighted in historical fiction.

 

Author Bio:

Our foremost storyteller of the American West, Louis L’Amour has thrilled a nation by chronicling the adventures of the brave men and woman who settled the frontier. There are more than three hundred million copies of his books in print around the world.

Website:  http://www.louislamour.com

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, and gardening. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

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