The Outlander: A Novel (P.S.) Paperback – Import, 30 June 2009

Wonderful adventure story set in 1913 in the Canadian wilderness. Lots of unexpected twists! A great first novel by Gil Adamson.

We had a lot of expectations from Amazon regarding this book but were kinda disappointed when the book's cover was folded, giving it an unpleasant look and and the ink used for printing was very light!

I don't usually read adventure books but I have a vague recollection of catching an episode of this on the radio when it was 'book at bedtime' a couple of years ago and I was intrigued enough to read the whole book. It is a bit slow at the start but worth persevering with as overall, this is an excellent read. I did have to suspend my disbelief a couple of times (nobody ever seems to ask who this girl is or where she came from) but the story kept me interested enough to want to find out what became of 'the widow', even if some of her exploits seemed a tad unlikely. I rather liked the device of referring to the main character of this book by a title rather than her actual name and that it is necessary to get a long way into the book in order to find the details of her past and 'the murder'. The cast of supporting characters were mostly interesting, although I thought a few of them (for example 'the lunatic') were irrelevant to the story. Part of this story (the dead baby and the mountain wilderness) are still very much with me weeks after I finished reading it.

This assured first novel follows The Widow as she runs through the Canadian Rockies, pursued by two twins, who chase her to avenge the murder of their brother, her husband.Adamanson paints a beautifully detailed landscape and populates it with complex, believable characters.The strength and weakness of this book lie in the distance maintained between the reader and the Widow. It is fully two-thirds of the way through that we learn her name and the motive for the killing is never fully realised. This adds a serious literary tone to the book, but never fully allows you to empathise with her as a character.The book toys with the idea of mental illness, but never fully explores it and the hallucinations that she experiences at the beginning are an underused motif throughout.That said the writing is really strong, descriptive without being indulgent, and the plot is deceptively simple, making this an impressive debut and a satisfying read.

Whenever I see that a novel has been written by a poet, I know that the prose will be rich - sometimes too rich and 'worked' for my taste - and that there's a risk that style might compromise story. Adamson's first novel came close to the line for me, but the story she told was vivid and beguiling enough for me to continue to the end. I felt for Mary Boulton, the heroine, and I loved the early tension of the chase (reminded me a little of the remorseless, unflagging posse in Butch Cassidy), but if it hadn't been for the Ridgerunner - one of many striking players in this tale of desperate escape - I might not have made it. I enjoyed the book, I'm glad I read it, but it didn't quite pull off the narrative punch I get from Proulx and Eidson. Three stars mean I'll be looking out for her next book; two stars and I wouldn't have bothered.

If like me, you find the first few pages heavy-going, persevere, because this is a great read. The main character, who is referred to as 'the woman' for most of the book and only gets a name towards the end, gradually becomes more and more of a real person, and I found myself really caring about what was going to happen to her in her fight for survival. The people she meets along the way may be unusual and even eccentric (outlanders like herself) but they are well-drawn, realistic characters and at least three of them are strangely endearing. Her pursuers, on the other hand, are so single-minded that they are like characters from a computer game. The wilderness is beautifully portrayed and the quality of the writing is high. I am looking forward to reading more by this writer.

I should say straight off I'm still a bit undecided about the rating. In many respects, eg the way Adamson sustains an atmosphere of menace that waxes and wanes but never recedes altogether, this is a 5 STAR read.Incidentally, I got in to it via one of the free tasters and was hooked.The only reason I stuck with the 4 Star rating was a very slight disappointment that the early surreal quality of the 'woman's' experience of the world she escapes from, and to, gets diluted. Maybe I'm missing the point?Anyway this is a page turner and the characters stay with you.....Loved it