Book Review: The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley

Lately, I've had rotten luck with audio selections, even getting a far way in and chucking them. Louisa May Alcott's Jo's Boys (something I read in high school and thought I'd revisit) was slow-paced and not enticing enough to take my mind off the treadmill trek. I tried one called Entwined. Again, I just couldn't connect with it. I figured a book about the psalms would do. Even though I had my name on the hold list for the book copy of Open and Unafraid, I attempted the audio. Alas, in that format it was difficult to digest. It is a book you need to read with the opportunity to dwell and contemplate. Finally, I gave The Thirteenth Tale a whirl. After all, it has received tremendous accolades. Yikes - 3 discs in and I came upon an uncomfortable stretch that made me google the book to check for sexual content - sadly, there were even more scenes ahead, so I trashed that effort, as well.

I may have ditched The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley, too, if I hadn't been experiencing such a poor track record. Thus, I gave it more leeway. The premise and story structure was enticing. You knew you were going to get through twelve tales of bullet wounds on Samuel Hawley's body. Plus, I appreciated the role of the daughter in the tale.

Loo Hawley is used to packing up and moving at a moment's notice. She and her father do it repeatedly. Now, for the first time in her life, her father is ready to put down roots in her deceased mother's hometown. However, when he approaches Loo's grandmother, she wants nothing to do with them. She holds Samuel responsible for her daughter's death. As Loo uncovers more of the story, and the reasons her father has so many guns and uproots so often, she grows up and comes into her own tale.

The book held my attention. Though the father was unsavory, the daughter was delightful even when conflicted. It won't be a favorite read this year, but I finished it and for now, given my audio book track record, that is saying something. Ha!