KDL Recommends

Sun Going Down: A Novel

ISBN: 1416550488

Title: Sun Going Down: A Novel

Author: Jack Todd

KDL Description:

Based on true events chronicled in family memoirs, this novel of the American West spans from the Civil War to the Great Depression. It is the story of Ebenezer Paint—who panned for gold in Alaska, piloted riverboats on the Mississippi & Missouri Rivers, & homesteaded in Montana territory—and his sons & grandchildren. Lots of historical background as well as really descriptive writing… an excellent read! (Only one caveat—it’s 464 pages long!)
-Marlys at KDL’s Wyoming branch

Amazon Description:

From an award-winning author whose ancestors lived the adventures in this novel comes a spectacular new epic about the American West.

Part history, part romance, and part action-adventure novel, Sun Going Down follows the fortunes of Ebenezer Paint and his descendants—rough and tough individuals who are caught up in Civil War river battles, epic cattle drives through drought and blizzards, the horrors of Wounded Knee, the desperation of the dust bowl, and the prosperity of the roaring 1920s. The page-turning plot is peopled by a vibrant, unforgettable cast of characters: a grizzled Mississippi steamboat merchant, two horse-thieving brothers, five Annie Oakley-like sisters who can outride any cowboy, a half-Sioux bride who demands her new family claim her heritage, and a courageous daughter who defies her father and braves the West alone. Throughout their lives, the Paint family must battle both internal and external elements, and learn to live with spirit and wit.

Letters and diaries from the author’s own family archives form the basis for all the events and characters in Sun Going Down, infusing the novel with richly detailed authenticity and deep emotional power. It is intimate in its portraits of the unforgettable characters who settled our country, sweeping in its geographical reach from Vicksburg up through Montana and the Dakotas, and epic as it spans four generations from the Civil War to the Great Depression.

Masterfully written, Sun Going Down holds the reader fast through tears, laughter, terror, and joy until the very last heart-gripping page is turned.