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The Condor’s Feather

by Margaret Muir

     

Thia Beresford is a fiercely independent young woman who is still unmarried at twenty-seven to the despair of her conventional older brother. Yet her father and younger brother admire her courage and spirit; and soon the trio, plus Thia’s maid and brother Algernon’s best friend, are bound for the wilds of Patagonia. They fall in with a mysterious Welshman called Euan Davies, who appears to have a secret. What this is will affect them all as they journey into a wild and inhospitable land.

If you are an armchair traveler like me, you will happily curl up with this tale of travel and adventure. I could imagine this book being made into a western, as it is replete with the sorts of events that those wonderful old films always feature. The strong silent cowboy, jail breaks, bad hombres on the trail who will stop at nothing, and lots of descriptions of the beauty of a savage, untamed landscape. The only problem—and you won’t often hear me complaining of this—is that there isn’t quite enough of it.

This book has the odd feeling of having been cut down from a much bigger, almost epic, story. Several chapters at the beginning are taken up with introducing characters such as the villainous Edmund Arkwright, and giving a good flavor of life on the Huntingley Estate. This part of the plot goes nowhere unless there is to be a sequel, but it made me wish for more; not something that happens very often. Worth a read for a taste of vintage "western" spirit.

The Book

Robert Hale
31 July 2009
Hardback
0709088221 / 9780709088226
Historical Adventure / 1885 / Patagonia
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Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Rachel A Hyde
Reviewed 2009
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