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INFORMATION ABOUT THIS BOOK
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 2022
Format:  Hardcover, Paperback, audiobook, and ebook
Print length ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
Genre:  Literary Fiction / Western

WHY DID I GET THIS BOOK?

I recently read Bog Queen also by Anna North, and although I found the book just ok, during my review, I saw a lot of buzz behind this book; the author also wrote.  I decided to add it to my TBR, and the other day, while working in my local Library, I saw the book on display.  I was also happy when I saw it was also available in audio, so I did the combo book/audio for this read.

MY PERSONAL OPINION OF “OUTLAWED”

First, I enjoyed this book more than the previous one I read.

The book concentrates on the consequences that women have to endure because they are barren. From being sent into convents, to being forced to live on the outside of town as pariahs, or even death because of witchcraft. Then we are told the story of Ada, a young woman, training to be a midwife, who marries, and after a year of trying to get pregnant, realizes that her life is about to change once she is known as “barren”. Unfortunately for her, the witch accusations were piling up, and her mother sent her to a convent to escape what could be death or life imprisonment.

Then comes her story. How she finds out about a doctor in a faraway town, who tries to understand why some women are barren, and her determination to get there. In the journey, she meets The Kid, and her full life as an outlaw comes to fruition. Finding strength and friendship, among other barren women struggling to stay alive and build a life worth living, she grows in strength and knowledge.

I enjoyed the book, the characters, the story, and the end. I think the writing sometimes was not my favorite, but it held its voice throughout the story. The story was fun, interesting, sometimes a bit tense, and sad, but with a lot of bravery and courage towards the main character and her group of outlaw women.

PREMISE OF THE BOOK AS FOUND IN AMAZON / GOODREADS:

The day of her wedding, 17 year old Ada’s life looks good; she loves her husband, and she loves working as an apprentice to her mother, a respected midwife. But after a year of marriage and no pregnancy, in a town where barren women are routinely hanged as witches, her survival depends on leaving behind everything she knows. 

She joins up with the notorious Hole in the Wall Gang, a band of outlaws led by a preacher-turned-robber known to all as the Kid. Charismatic, grandiose, and mercurial, the Kid is determined to create a safe haven for outcast women. But to make this dream a reality, the Gang hatches a treacherous plan that may get them all killed. And Ada must decide whether she’s willing to risk her life for the possibility of a new kind of future for them all.

Featuring an irresistibly no-nonsense, courageous, and determined heroine, Outlawed dusts off the myth of the old West and reignites the glimmering promise of the frontier with an entirely new set of feminist stakes. Anna North has crafted a pulse-racing, page-turning saga about the search for hope in the wake of death, and for truth in a climate of small-mindedness and fear.

MY RATING: 4.0

QUOTES FROM THE BOOK

“Knowledge can be very valuable,” she said, “but only if people want it. If they don’t, it can be worse than useless.”

“Mama says at every birth, death is in the room. You can try to ignore it, or you can acknowledge it, and greet it like a guest, and then you won’t be so afraid anymore.”

“When someone believes in something,” Mama said, “you can’t just take it away. You have to give them something to replace it. And since I don’t know what makes women barren, I’ve got nothing to give.”

“If they take you, keep your head up. Don’t beg for your life. Don’t confess to any sin. If you die without shame, the shame is all theirs.”

OTHER ANNA NORTH’S BOOKS

Bibliography:

• The Life and Death of Sophie Stark: a Novel
• Bog Queen: a Novel (Read)
• America Pacifica: a Novel