Telegraph Days by Larry McMurtry

Review by Brenna B. (demiducky25)

This historical fiction is set in the glory days of the Old West.  It centers on the life of Nellie Courtwright, a young woman who has no one left except her younger brother Jackson after a series of rather unbelievable events take away the rest of her family and servants (I know the Old West was deadly, but the way McMurtry describes the constant death of family members, and later other acquaintances makes me think he’s poking fun at the dangers that could have been faced).  But don’t be fooled into thinking Nellie is a young damsel in distress.  She’s actually the one pulling the strings to make sure her brother Jackson becomes the deputy sheriff, and then figures out how to publicize on his good luck when he accidentally kills the vicious Yazee gang as they attack the town of Rita Blanca.  As the town telegrapher, Nellie knows that she holds a lot of power, and she knows that her talents can’t always be limited to this tiny, middle-of-nowhere town.  She’s sassy, spunky, and isn’t afraid to talk back to anyone that gets in her way- even if that someone happens to be a famous western outlaw or two.

McMurtry mixes historical fact with fiction by blending the events of Nellie’s life with those of some well-known figures such as Buffalo Bill, the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday, and Billy the Kid just to name a few.  You can take the events and figures described at face value and accept that they are just playing characters in a story, or you can do what I did if you become curious and look some of them up to see if McMurtry’s characterizations seem to ring true (obviously some of the events, especially those directly involving Nellie are fictionalized, but the essence of many of these figures seems to be captured from the little bit I looked up, though so many of these figures have such controversial histories even involving what their personalities were like so it’s tough to tell).

The one thing I wasn’t totally prepared for was the amount of sex in the novel.  It’s not usually overly graphic, though there are some things that are described in a fair amount of detail.  But be prepared for a lot of bed-hopping (or barn loft hopping in some cases) after the first seventy or so pages.   I guess this stands out to me for this book more than it would in another book from the same historical fiction genre because an elderly relative recommended this book to me, so I guess I wasn’t totally prepared for that, haha.

All-in-all this was a fair read.  It’s fairly light, and it doesn’t make you think too hard which makes it a good summer time distraction read if you just want to escape into something a little more “over the top” (a phrase I saw used on the inside cover of reviews that accurately describes this book), then feel free to pick this up.  I’d give it 3 ½ out of 5 stars.