Read In Calamity's Wake Storyline:
Set in the badlands of the North American west in the late 1800s, In Calamity’s Wake tells the story of orphaned Miette’s quest to find her mother, the notorious Calamity Jane.Miette is reluctant to meet the woman who abandoned her—whom she knows only as an infamous soldier, drinker and exhibition shooter—but she sets out nonetheless across a landscape peopled with madwomen, thieves, minstrels and ghosts, many of whom add a thread to the story of her famous mother.Interspersed with Miette’s story are the stories of Jane as told in legend, history books, dime store novels and by the woman herself. As Miette makes her way to Deadwood, South Dakota, history and myth collide to create a picture of a remarkable woman who shattered the expectations of her time, and a daughter who must confront the truth of her past. As in Billy the Kid or HBO’s Deadwood, In Calamity’s Wake blends fiction with real conversations and events to transport us, through vividly crafted atmosphere and seductive storytelling, to a side of the Wild West we’ve never seen before.Praise for In Calamity's Wake"Echoes of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje and Away by Amy Bloom reverberate in Natalee Caple's brilliant poetic novel about the daughter of Calamity Jane seeking her mother." Susan Swan, author of The Western Light“Haunting and hallucinatory, Natalee Caplee’s In Calamity’s Wake is a rich collage of sweeping myth and searing historical detail. Packed with the requisite big skies, barroom raconteurs and bullet wounds of an epic western, the story of Miette and Calamity Jane is also personal and timeless, echoing our own, futile attempts to know and understand even the people we love. This novel will have you asking 'What is true? What is legend?' long after the fire is out and the embers gone cold.” Miranda Hill, author of Sleeping Funny"Eloquent, earthy and evocative, this gorgeously-written, dream-like novel is a delight. Caple's voice is enchanting and her perspective on the mythology of Calamity Jane enthralling." Lauren B. Davis, author of Our Daily BreadAbout the AuthorNatalee Caple’s previous novels, Mackerel Sky and The Plight of Happy People in an Ordinary World, earned high international praise. Her collection of poetry, A More Tender Ocean, was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. Caple’s work has been optioned for film and nominated for a National Magazine Award, the Journey Prize, the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award, and the Eden Mills Fiction Award. She lives in Ontario, Canada.Pages of In Calamity's Wake :
