Etta: A Novel
by Gerald Kolpan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Gerald KolpanEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Deckle Edge
Published: 2009-03-24
ISBN: 0345503686
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of Etta: A Novel
Book Review: 'Etta' has a promising beginning, but gets bushwacked by Eleanor Roosevelt and Leon Trotsky
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
"Etta" is a fanciful recreation of the life of Etta Place, girl bandit and legendary sweetheart of The Sundance Kid. Since little is known about the real Etta Place, the assumptions made here about her origins as the debutante daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia family fallen on hard times are certainly plausible.
The story is both entertaining and a fast read. The chapters are in the form of Etta's journal entries, newspaper clippings, letters, and some brief exposition by an omniscient narrator. There's lots of excitement as Etta has to escape The Black Hand, Pinkertons, and even other outlaws.
The author has done a fine job in presenting the main character, Etta, is a way that makes her feel alive. The reader feels Etta's character, determination, and her overwhelming love for The Sundance Kid.
I feel two things kept this book from being as good as it should have been. First, the bizarre friendship that springs up between Etta Place and Eleanor Roosevelt. It's difficult to picture the future first lady in a Turkish bath with the female outlaw, much less shelling out a fortune to rescue her from Pinkerton custody. Second, and where the story completely and irrevocably went off the rails for me, was The Sundance Kid's conversion to Socialism. We're not talking a Robin Hood character, taking from the wealthy and giving to the poor, but a full on disciple of Trotsky. In fact, according to this novel, the famous ranch that Butch Cassidy, The Sundance Kid, and Etta Place owned in Argentina was intended as a sort of communal living experiment for downtrodden campesinos. Sundance even arranges to bring Trotsky himself to the ranch to lecture the workers. I mean...The Sundance Kid? And Leon Trotsky?!
Three stars for what could have been a really fine book seriously marred by taking a sharp left turn into incredulity.
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