Review: Quincy's Woman
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 20, 2013
Texas 1866.... A Boston miss steps reluctantly down from a stagecoach and sees dust and plain wood structures. Why her father is interested in buying land here is beyond her understanding. The women dress so plainly and there are none of the comforts of home. Lucille would far rather be enjoying the end-of-war celebrations and coming-out balls, not standing on a windy street looking at horsemen bristling with guns.QUINCY'S WOMAN lets Lucille tell in her own words how rich northerners invested in the south, despite surly glances from the locals who had lost so much during the war. The bank in Eclipse is keen to do business, and a local rancher, Ambrose Quince, is willing to deal over a herd of mustangs. As both Lucille and her father love horses they get to know him, though Lucille imagines that wild animals cannot compare to blooded stock. Out on the land, they spy a fine stallion and Lucille's father makes plans to capture him and settle down to crossing mustangs with northern Morgans. To Lucille's distress this would mean making their home in Texas, away from society and close to the rugged, strong, distracting Quince.  Then her life changes forever.Author Gem Sivad elegantly uses the language of the times to write Lucille's diary, aptly showing the contrast between characters and social paths.  The life of a woman in Texas includes cooking and washing, tasks our heroine had never learned, and she had no prior knowledge of lovemaking, which comes as quite a revelation.  Icehouses enable the storage of winter ice through the year. Weather extremes can be savage.  Drought is not making life easy for ranchers and men expect to be in control of their wives, as much as in control of tightening funds.I enjoyed the changes to Lucille's life and the well-drawn characters, the strongly-realised settings.  The women were fine, strong working females, keen to make a good life and with very little chance to socialise or even, once on a ranch, to meet other female company.  And when they met the right man, life heated up considerably!  This was a fun read with a lot of historical detail and happiness.