Hay-Wire by B. M. Bower
~Hay-Wire by B. M. Bower
~Originally published in 1928 by Little, Brown, & Company (edition in photos is published by Grosset & Dunlap).
Lynn Hayward, a 22-year old young man, is growing bitter and fed-up while living on his family’s run-down ranch. His father is an angry, controlling, cripple confined to the house who refuses to allow any entrepreneurial endeavors or part with a penny to serve his family. Poor, estranged from each other, and letting everything crumble about their ears in poverty the Haywards are in a bad way. Until a difference in Lynn’s mindset–the way he thinks of himself–leads him to undertake a big change…
A fun ranch tale set between the Wind River basin and Green River basin in Wyoming. One of my favorite of B. M. Bower’s westerns so far! The characters were quite easy to sympathize with and I quickly got caught up in the story.
Many of Bower’s books are different from your average western in having a family/community setting vs. the lone guy facing the world with no ties and no one to answer to except the law. And this one is no exception. She doesn’t tend to follow the stereotypes of the western genre in her writing. Unless they happen to serve that particular plot, of course.
Aside from an abrupt and unbelievable character twist with Lynn’s father in the end–which I still haven’t gotten over–it was a fun story with the point (as Elisabeth Grace Foley noted on Goodreads) that what a man sows he will reap.
It also ran strongly on the general effects that a man’s thought patterns–how/what he thinks about himself–will change his kind of life. If he mentally refers to himself as “hay-wire” he likely ends up living like he is: thinking “hay-wire” leads to trash piles by the door, un-mended fences, and decaying sheds. Along those lines it reminded me (strangely enough!) of Jennifer Scott’s books Lessons From Madame Chic, At Home With Madame Chic, and Audrey Hepburn’s Sabrina. All three of which have the same truth running through them as a theme.
If you like B. M. Bower, you’ll love this one–it’s on my “Top-10” list of her novels!
Currently available in the book shop here!