Mary Martin Benton's new novel, Dulsey, is, quite simply, a page turner. This western romance, with a feisty seventeen-year-old heroine, forges deep impressions of a pre-Civil war agrarian culture and the men and women who roam the hills and ford the rivers of the new frontier.
Born and raised in the high Tennessee valley in a family where the father is disabled and the mother disconnected from the responsibilities heaped upon her and her two sisters, Dulsey becomes a strong protector. She rejects the option of a bad marriage, survives a sexual attack by the angered suitor, and hides this terrible secret as her dear father lies dying. Seeing her mother about to accept a conniving suitor's proposal, Dulsey determines to fulfill her father's last wish: that his brother-in-law be notified of the death so that he can return to Tennessee and care for the now vulnerable family.
With her best friend, Carla, and the compelling Harvey Kendall, young Dulsey Carpenter makes her way from Tennessee high country to Fort Smith, Arkansas, in search of her missing uncle. On the rutty trail west, she escapes rogues who see civil war as a means to wealth and, in their greed, are willing to plunder and murder. The trio risks even greater danger as they shepherd two young slaves to their next stop on the Underground Railroad after the children's aunt is brutally murdered. Much to the reader's satisfaction, a strong and steady Harvey commits all his strength and his heart to Dulsey and her quest to reach her family.
When bounty hunters arrive at Fort Smith with a warrant charging the young heroine with assisting runaway slaves and the murder of the disgruntled suitor, it appears Dulsey's journey will have been in vain and that her lover will have to continue his trip to California without her. The ending, when it comes riding on the back of a stubborn mule, is gratifying and worth the wait.
Dulsey, a first novel, exposes Mary Benton as a skilled storyteller with a lyrical sense of language, a keen ear for dialogue, and the ability to satisfy the adventurous reader while keeping their curiosity mightily engaged. Quite simply, this book is a page turner!
Sharon Patterson
Sharon is the recipient of North Carolina Writers Network Fiction Award, Cape Fear Arts Council Emerging Artist Grant, Best First Chapter Award from Green Valley Writers, Cal Poly Fiction Award, and others.
Her fiction has appeared in Crucible, Art Times, The Color of Ojai. and
Out of Thin Air
Sharon’s poetry appears in ASKEW, Common Ground, California Quarterly, Hedge Apple Review, and others.
Her short fiction is heard on Valley Writers Read, National Public Radio, Fresno/Bakersfield programming.
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