Where Coyotes Howl by Sandra Dallas

Title: Where Coyotes Howl

Author:  Sandra Dallas

Narrated by:  Stephanie Németh-Parker

Publisher: McMillian Audio

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 14 minutes

Source: Thank you @netgalley for the audiobook review copy.  Sadly, only about half of the book ended up working on the NetGalley download so I purchased the audiobook from Amazon.com to listen to the rest of the book.

What is the saddest book you’ve ever read?  When Coyotes Howl is on my list of saddest books I’ve ever read.  I don’t know if I’ve ever cried as much reading a book.

Ellen Webster answers an ad to become a schoolteacher in Wyoming.  She meets Charlie Bacon and is swept off her feet.  The two work to make a life together on the high plains, but life in Wyoming is very difficult.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This novel was the September pick for the Kewaunee Library Page Turners Book Club.  I sadly missed the meeting due to a work meeting.

·       I listened to this audiobook from NetGalley, but tragedy struck as it only had half of the story!  The audiobook wasn’t available from the library, so I purchased the rest of the story from Audible.

·       I liked the framing with someone that knew Ellen and Charlie telling their story in 1945 when they are showing a friend their empty homestead.

·       This story was set in 1916, which seems late for a pioneer homestead tale, but there were still parts of the west being settled at that time.  My great-grandma used to show me a picture of her father’s homestead in Montana in the 1920s.  It was stark.

·       I loved Charlie and Ellen’s romance and pure love for one another.  They have their down times, but their love remains strong.

·       This novel was beautifully written.

·       The audiobook had great narration and was easy to listen to.  Warning – do not listen to the last half of this book while you are driving!

·       This novel had many strong women who helped each other.  Ellen helped her friends, and they helped her.

·       This novel really showed the harshness and loneliness of settling on a ranch in Wyoming in the early 20^th century. The tragedies that the women and children faced such as fires, insanity, depression, poverty, and more brought tears to my eyes.   Just when I thought the book couldn’t get any sadder . . . it got sadder.

·       This pioneer tale is perfect for fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Willa Cather, and Bess Streeter Aldrich. 

·       I liked that there was an auction for picnic baskets in this book and that is how Ellen and Charlie got together.  It reminded me of the musical, Oklahoma, and of So Big by Edna Ferber.  It leads me to believe the auctioning of baskets was a common entertainment back in the day.

Overall, Where Coyotes Howl is a beautifully written tale that shows the harshness and the beauty of homesteading in Wyoming in the early twentieth century.