Book review: Adventure of a lifetime, in untamed Canada
"Blood and Dust"
Author: J.C. Paulson
Black Rose Writing, 302 pages, $20.95
J.C. Paulson, the Canadian author of the acclaimed “Adam & Grace” mystery/romance series, has given us a story drawn from her country’s past. “Blood and Dust” is set in the 1880s, and I loved it from the first page. The tale opens in Toronto, Ontario — a city booming with growth and opportunity. We meet young James Sinclair. He lives at home with a kind and nurturing mother and a father who is never easy, especially when the drink has taken him.
Out of obligation, Sinclair is apprenticed to his father as a machinist. This changes abruptly one night when his father beats him within an inch of his life. Sinclair decides he must make his own way in the world. He leaves his parent’s home for a boarding house run by a kind woman who caters to young, single, working men. He becomes apprenticed to a mentoring goldsmith and finds he has a natural talent for the work. For a time, his life is harmonious and fulfilling.
Fate steps in when he is falsely accused of raping and impregnating a young woman — the daughter of the most powerful, ruthless man in the territory and beyond. He stands no chance for justice and must flee Toronto at a moment’s notice. Fortunately his landlady is prepared to assist and he manages to avoid being captured or killed.
Thus begins an adventure of a lifetime. Sinclair hops a train, hobo-style, and rides the rails out of town. He’s heading far west to untamed territories — presumably beyond the reach of the man who wants his hide. Along the way, he meets with a contact of his landlady who provisions him with a wonderful horse named Buck, and a gun. Sinclair is a tenderfoot, so his new friend schools him in riding, shooting and survival in the wide-open plains he’ll be traveling alone. Fortune seems to be smiling on this capable and honorable young man with a caring heart.
There are many trails and trials ahead for Sinclair. He meets friends and foes along his dusty path and encounters violence which tests his mettle. After many weeks of riding he makes it to Moose Jaw, a city in the provisional territory of Saskatchewan. He finds employment, stalwart friends, a lady love, and plans to make his home there. At his point in author Paulson’s story, the action intensifies. Turns out the man from Toronto has been relentlessly pursuing Sinclair. A group of his hired gunslingers have tracked him to Moose Jaw. His life and that of his friends are threatened and he must decide to flee or stay and fight. What happens next kept me turning pages late into the night.
“Blood and Dust” is a heartwarming, engrossing story of a time gone by. It brings to the page right and wrong, love, loyalty, and self-sacrifice — principles that seem less obvious in current times. From reading her other works, I knew Paulson was a skilled storyteller. She seamlessly weaves certain aspects of Canada’s history into her main character’s story. As in all her books, along with the action, there is romance — drawn in her deft style.
I highly recommend this book to fans of historical fiction and Westerns, and to anyone who loves a great tale, well told.
Jacksonville author Claudia N. Oltean is currently completing a two-book historical fiction series set during Prohibition/The Roaring 20s. www.oltean.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Book review: 'Blood and Dust' by J.C. Paulson
