I read the audio version of The Hired Man, narrated by Jesse Vilinsky who did a marvelous job. Many a fine book has been written about life in the Dust Bowl and Sandra Dallas’s entry is right up there. The setting is a farm in Colorado in 1937. Martha Helen, a young teen, is in part of a loving family that is still able to maintain some chickens and grow some food, doing far better than those with less skill or luck. Her friend Frankie’s father is abusive and as to the farm, not very handy or hardworking. Their nearby neighbors, the wife pregnant, are getting nowhere at all due to the incompetence and maybe laziness of her husband. With Martha Helen’s older brother off to California to try to find a job, the family takes on a drifter, Otis to serve as a hired man in exchange for food and shelter in the dug out room that was their original home. They are partly driven by the fact he saved a local boy from a dust storm. Otis is a hard worker, makes some jewelry and little animals and is kind and grateful in his interactions with the whole family. The town goes crazy over the family’s decision to take him on with a strong prejudice against all the folks traveling through and a fundamental belief that this man is dangerous. The whole thing has a “To Kill and Mockingbird” vibe to it, with Martha Helen’s family and the local sheriff being protective while others cause serious trouble for Otis and threaten the family.
Dallas has such a gift for drawing characters and plotting. This book is no exception and it reminds me I have more of her books in my to be read queues. Since the publisher saw fit to include the spoiler that Frankie disappears and later is found murdered, I can add that she plots a mystery well too, with various red herrings and the ultimate resolution. It’s a sad story full of desperate people with varied outlooks and values and a truly rich read.
This is a review of the audiobook.
They Called me Bookworm 