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“Patiently told and moving…[Enger’s]
writing style is precise, restrained, and enlivened by his protagonists…Although
some would call The High Divide a
historical novel, it’s really a fine literary work that steps back in time a
bit. It offers an engaging and affecting story with very real characters.”
— Minneapolis Star Tribune
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“A captivating stor…The adventure
unfolds in prose at turns rollicking and sanguine; Enger is a master of pacing,
and once you start turning the pages, there’s no setting the book down.”
— Denver Post
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“Blends adventure, two boys coming
of age, and an exploration of trust in marriage. Set in 1886, the story
captures the splendor of the nineteenth-century West.”
— St. Paul Pioneer Press
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“[A] compelling story of a house
divided, of a man’s haunting pursuit of forgiveness, and a family’s search for
the husband they thought they knew—but never really did . . . The High Divide
is a vivid reminder of why we read, and why we want to.”
— True West magazine
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“This masterfully told Western reinvention of Homer’s Odyssey…Set against a backdrop of beauty and danger, this is the moving story of a man coming to terms with his past. In its narrative simplicity and emotional directness, it is reminiscent of John Ford’s classic The Searchers.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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“Moving through the High Divide—‘the rough country between the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers’—even as its characters move through important divides, or turning points, of their own, Enger’s novel is told in beautifully exact, liquid language that wastes no time, just as one cannot afford to waste time when making a journey such as the Pope family’s. Highly recommended.”
— Library Journal (starred review)
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“Set in 1886, Enger’s novel
embraces not one but three journeys that involve guilt, expiation, and
redemption…in a plot development that would reek of soap opera if it weren’t so
well-handled…The psychology of character deepens…[with] the third quest of the
novel…Enger writes in an expansive style suitable to his sprawling subject.”
— Kirkus Reviews
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“A compelling family drama that
plays out against the beautifully evoked backdrop of the American West.”
— BookPage
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“This is a gripping story with well-portrayed, complex, and sympathetic main characters and a complement of believable secondary figures in a vividly described region nearing the close of an era. Enger is an author worth watching.”
— Booklist
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“Lin Enger sets out from the conventions of the traditional Western and brings the reader into new emotional territory, that of the soul of an exquisitely drawn, American family. Told with caring patience and precise language, The High Divide is a novel to get lost in.”
— James Scott, author of The Kept
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“The High Divide, a novel about a family in peril, is haunting and tense but leavened by considerable warmth and humanity. Lin Enger writes with durable grace about a man’s quest for redemption and the human capacity for forgiveness.”
— Benjamin Percy, author of Red Moon
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“Written with lean, crisp prose, Enger[‘s novel] seamlessly blends historical events with the personal and deftly pulls the reader into America’s Great Plains during the nineteenth century. The narrators’ voices are captivating, and I was spellbound by the author’s ability to express the human condition and especially the complicated bonds between fathers and sons. Layered with meaning, this remarkable novel deserves to be read more than once. The High Divide proves Enger’s chops as a masterful storyteller.”
— Ann Weisgarber, author of The Promise