Book Review: Outlawed by Anna North

Outlawed
by Anna North (North)

Outlawed is a western set in the 1890s, but not exactly the one in our history books. A flu epidemic several generations before killed 90% of Americans (or at least that many white Americans). The United States government dissolved. Much of white American Christianity shifted focus from Jesus’ death and resurrection to the baby Jesus as a fertility god, with a new manifest destiny to repopulate.

 

Ada is the daughter of a revered midwife, but she turns out to be infertile herself. Everyone knows infertile women are likely to turn into witches and curse other women with infertility, kill babies, and bring general disaster to their community. Ada is forced to flee into hiding to escape execution. She still wants to learn what causes infertility, but she finds a community of other outcasts making their own way in the world with guns in their hands.

 

This was a delightful read for me, especially when it came to Ada learning how to be an outlaw. It’s a violent adventure with broad racial and queer representation. I’d recommend it to western fans and to people who have never read a western novel in their lives.

 

A book club selection by Reese Witherspoon.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey or The Grace Year by Kim Liggett.)

 

( official Outlawed page on the official Anna North web site )

 

Recommended by Garren H.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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