Molly Gloss' The Jump-Off Creek is a story about a woman's independence in Western society. It follows the lives of the three main characters; Lydia Sanderson, Tim Whiteaker, and Tim's Indian friend, Blue. Throughout the book, Gloss tells her story by using the different perspectives of her characters. These changes in points of view allow the reader to understand the main characters personalities and to watch them develop. Gloss uses the harshness of the West and its winters to strengthen her characters, and she tries to show her reader that life in the West was not as easy as it normally appears to be in typical western stories. The Jump-Off Creek demonstrates life through hardships and trials. But, through them all, the main characters are able to persevere and are made stronger. It is my opinion that her portrayal of the West was well done and will challenge the reader to think differently about how he or she conceives the West. Gloss' book is a western which shows the reader how a woman saw the West. No longer is the western only about cowboys and Indians. Now, the reader is allowed to see how a woman, and an independent one at that, perceived the West and the trials that she had to go through just in order to survive the first winter. Lydia Sanderson's husband had recently died and had left their farm land to her. With a restless soul and the need for transformation, Lydia is driven West to find a new life. However, Lydia does not go West to find a new husband. She does not need any help from a man, and is rather reluctant to accept any help from the opposite sex. She intends to make it on her own, and throughout the book, she does maintain her independence. She does not conform to the lifestyle of the other women in the West. Gloss uses to reflect women's position in today's society. Gloss intends to prove that a woman and survive without a man. And, what better way to prove this for the young women of today than through a story of the harsh West? Gloss keeps the theme of her abnormal depiction of the West in her portrayal of Tim Whiteaker. Mr. Whiteaker was not a typical cowboy. In fact, none of the men in this story are. The men in this book depend on each other a lot more than the men are allowed to in other westerns. Tim and Blue rely on each other so much that, in the end when Blue dies, Tim becomes so lonely that he begins to rely on Lydia's company. These men are also quite squeamish when it comes to blood and injuries. For example, after Blue is injured during a fight with a bear, Tim calls Lydia to stitch up Blue as he cannot stomach the thought of doing it himself. Tim even feels the need to step outside while she is working. Tim shows that he is not a typical cowboy in many other ways. He is a cook, and he even gets a job cooking at a ranch during part of the story. He never finishes a fight, at one time he falls off of his horse, and many times the reader sees that Tim has bad aim while shooting a gun. None of these are characteristics of a cowboy, and may make one wonder how he has been able to survive the harshness of the West. In her journal entries, Lydia constantly refers to Tim in childlike terms, as she often does while she speaks to him. Throughout The Jump-Off Creek, the weather plays a big part in the characters' lives. Especially during the winters, the reader is able to see how hard a settler had to work in able to get through an ice storm. A settler did not only have himself to worry about, but any animals that he might have, as they could not care for themselves during this weather. If the animals were to die, the settler would have a hard year to look forward to as his livelihood would be gone. The toughness of the land, and the weather that came with it, eventually drew the characters closer as they tried to band together in order to survive. I feel that Gloss's portrayal of the sexes in her book are quite beneficial to young women in today's society. So many times, in literature and other areas of life, women are called upon to take the "back seat," or a supporting role. In The Jump Off Creek, Gloss shows that this secondary role is not necessary. She shows her female readers that they should feel free to take the reigns and strike out on their own adventures. No longer must a woman need a man. Also, Gloss shows her male readers that it is "O.K." to ask for help. They need not "do it alone" as so many men feel they need to do in today's society. I enjoyed this book, and I believe that while it may challenge a person's traditional view of the West, it does so thoughtfully. Now, the reader is allowed to make their own decisions about "how the West was won," and to consider the role of the female. Could the West have survived without the woman? Gloss does not think that it would have. And, she challenges her reader to think the same.

The Jump-Off Creek The American West: a place of fun and excitement, action and adve nture. These stereotypes often come to mind when thinking about the West. However, do these terms ideally describe the real American West? In her novel, The Jump-Off Creek, Molly Gloss offers an opposing perspective of the Western frontier. Instead of focusing on the excitement of the West, she shows the struggles and hardships that may give a more realistic picture of the frontier. The Jump-Off Creek gives the reader a well-rounded portrayal of the West. Contrary to most Western novels, The Jump-Off Creek allows the reader to see the West through the eyes of a woman. Lydia Sanderson travels to the West alone where she makes her homestead. Lydia is not a glamorous woman but a woman of the land. Her life is not simple. It is a daily struggle for her to survive on her own. Unlike most Western novels the hero in the book is not a male. In fact, Lydia is definitely the heroine in The Jump-Off Creek. She represents the strength most women wish they could achieve but are afraid of being alone. Lydia ignores fears of being without a man and follows her dream of traveling West. Her courage is admirable and it is that which kept me turning the pages of the novel. The focus of The Jump-Off Creek is not on action or adventure and its scenes are not glamorous and beautiful. Instead it shows the often overlooked and sometimes ugly side of everyday life of the frontier and the strength it took just to survive. Although the traditional West is not always prevalent, in small passages throughout the text there are some glimpses of the West. A native American and his cowboy friend, Blue and Tim, are involved in two scenarios that are familiar to former Western novels. The two major characters are intertwined in both a bar fight and a struggle with a bear in the wilderness. However, the endings of the two scenes contrasts with the fights of typical Westerns. In both instances, the two "heroes" are defeated. After the quarrel behind the bar, Blue and Tim are left in pain. "Tim lay where he was, drawn up protectively around his genitals. His ears rang. He breathed carefully through his mouth. After a long time he heard a Pianola playing through the wall of the building next to him, and after that Blue said, 'Sh*t,' on a high coughing gasp. Tim made a small sound too, meaning it to be a laugh, but it came out soft, a sigh." Blue and Tim are not invincible like typical Western heroes. They are mortal. Unlike the heroes of many Westerns they do not escape a brawl without a bruise or scratch. Blue and Tim show the realistic human qualities of pain and suffering. Throughout the novel Gloss thoughtfully includes journal entries written by Lydia to display the dialect of real women of the West. "8 April Lost the way on poor directions but I am here now and glad for it, tho it is bad as I knew it would be, the stove rusted clear through, the roof rotted, the logs poor fitted and mildewed, the yard where the Animals must stand all Mud and stones." Through Lydia's journal we feel as if we are beside her in her adventures of surviving alone and we realize the harshness of her situation as she is making her own home on the frontier. While Lydia's views are most prominent throughout the text, Gloss uses smooth transitions to also write in the perspective of other characters. For example, Blue's viewpoint emerges in one chapter beginning with the following sentences: "A woman rode out of the trees and stopped at the top of the hill to let down the fence rails. Blue saw her before Tim did." Although Gloss does not come right out and tell the reader that she is writing from Blue's perspective, it can quickly be inferred. While writing from the perspective of other characters one can get a feel for the distinct personalities of these characters. The use of many perspectives is a very beneficial literary device that Gloss thoughtfully uses to give the reader insight to each main identity. The conclusion of The Jump-Off Creek left me with a sense of disappointment. However, realistically, the ending contained a truth about the West that is often glamorized in most novels to leave the reader with a sense of false belief of the real frontier. Gloss reminds us that in the West not every story ended "happily ever after." The question remains for the reader of The Jump-Off Creek: what is the real West? Is it the West of John Wayne in Hondo or is it the harsh life of Lydia Sanderson in The Jump-Off Creek? The answer is ambiguous: we cannot define it in simple terms. No doubt, both the excitement of Hondo and the reality of The Jump- Off Creek existed simultaneously. The Jump-Off Creek is a fast reading novel that offers a contrasting perspective of the frontier and leaves the reader with a more troubling, complex, and real picture of the American West.

The Jump Off Creek: A Book Review The nineteen nineties feminist movement has been slowly permeating every domain of society. Female empowerment has become an increasingly common protagonist theme among all genres of literature as well. The American western novel has become subjugated to a new hero. In Molly Gloss's novel The Jump Off Creek the feminist literature movement finds a graceful home.

Jump Off Creek tells the story of Lydia Sanderson, a widow taking up a claim in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. The text begins with a spring journal entry. This is the beginning of Ms. Sanderson's endeavor. The journal entries are continued throughout the story, not only to keep the reader aware of the time line of the story, but also to provide a unique first person account of Lydia's life story. Lydia says of herself, "I am used to being Alone, in spirit if not in body, and shall not be Lonely, as I never have been inclined that way. I believe what I feel is just a keenness to get to that place and stand under my own roof at last." Lydia's strong and independent character is a careful mix of gracefulness and ruggedness. Her resourcefulness and amazing endurance makes the Ingalls family look passé.

Yet the feminist tones of this book manage to make concessions and include some strong male characters to compliment Lydia. On her way to the homestead Lydia meets Tim Whiteaker. Tim is a John Wayne figure minus the capacity for conversation. Early in the text the model for Tim's behavior is clearly etched. One passage describes him as such: " He stood at the edge of the creek, not looking toward (Lydia), while he pushed his hair back up under his hat with the heel of one dirty hand. Then he gave the dog a word, took hold of the bay's reigns and started off afoot..." Gloss managed to soften this granite figure by making him an excellent cook. Tim even ends up taking up cooking at a nearby ranches when funds are running out. But while his bread baking and cattle branding may be time consuming, Mr. Whiteaker still manages to take time out to pay special visits to Ms Sanderson. It is through these visits that a fragile and special friendship blossoms just as Lydia's wildflowers.

Tim also serves as an avenue for another friendship to develop for Lydia. This being with Blue Odell. Blue triumphantly beats the so-called Indian side-kick role in this novel. He develops more three dimensionally than Tim. This is in part due to the relationship he has with Lydia. While these two characters have more dialogue, it is their physical interaction that speaks the true message.

Of course the standard Western elements are retained in this novel, even though the main characters have been assigned the opposite sex's code of conduct. Man still has to fight nature; the weather and a bear. The conflict of man vs. man is also important. In this case there is only one drunken fight, but the altercations between some unscrupulous wolf hunters and Lydia's male friends nourish the western need for violence.

Another important characteristic of a Western novel is the main character's quest for identity. Molly Gloss obviously wrote in the previous characters to aide in this task. But it often takes a character of the same sex on the opposite end of the personality spectrum to clearly define that identity. The definition comes via the means of Evelyn Walker. She is a young, rotund, bubbly, mother of three. Gloss's careful attention to these two women allow Evelyn's brightly smiling face to enhance Lydia's stern beauty, not diminish it any.

Lydia's character is also enhanced in the story through a series of social gatherings at the Walker's. The reader admires her quiet, near invertedness among the chatty and whimsical fourth of July celebration. This process of the reader identifying with Lydia is a slow process throughout the story. In fact, the nature of the text never moves the reader to feel very strongly about any of the characters, because indeed, Lydia never demonstrates any strong emotions. Perhaps the only persons the reader may ever develop active feelings towards are Lydia's late husband and her parents, who aren't even active in the story!

The simple link that the reader develops with Lydia, and which Lydia in turn shares with the characters, is reflective of the style of prose in which this novel was written. The plain language is honest and appealing. The matter-of-fact narrative is believable. Simply put, the journey the reader embarks on with Ms Sanderson develops into a wonderful meditative exploration of self. I thoroughly enjoyed my journey and strongly suggest that other readers pack their bags for the trip.

This must be one of the more unconventional approaches to SF in general and generation ships in particular.

The story is slow-moving. We get into the heads of about five different viewpoint characters of different ages, sexes and professions, and stay with them for large parts of the book. In the end, I have a pretty good idea about life on the generation ship; how it works, how they reach decisions, what they eat, how they marry, how they date and how they simply live together. Nothing really exciting ever happens, it's a very calm, steady story.

This feels very different from most other SF I've read, where something *happens*. Here, I came away from the story with an understanding of life on the ship, but not much more. I don't know if there IS more to take from this book and I just haven't found it yet (that's what I suspect), or if that's actually what the story is about.

I liked the use of Esperanto names and phrases, it made for a nice background. The technological background seemed okay to me. It blended nicely into the general framework of the story.

Only four stars, because the ending left me musing over the story and what exactly it all meant, and I still haven't made up my mind.

The story was very enjoyable, but a little slow. The story is told from the point of view of many people. The first chapter is split between two people, while each of the other chapters is a “time in the life of” one of the characters. The chapter breaks sometimes feel a bit jarring, as the reader has to figure out how much time has passed since the last chapter.
The book is not gallant, romantic, or exciting. It’s simply real. It focuses on small details, like the loss from the death of cats or army ants on the ship. It also focuses on the psyche of each character, so that each character is eventually quite richly fleshed out.
The use of Esperanto is nice, and it was fun practice for me.
While I would recommend it, my only two problems with the book were the sudden shifts in time, and the fact that the author sometimes focuses on very odd details. Otherwise, it’s probably one of the most realistic portrayals of life aboard a generation ship, and the psychological effects on the colonists, in print. (I think one of the most interesting parts was a dialogue about the sky.)

It took me 3 tries over 2 years to get beyond page 50 -- but it was well worth the effort. Since I don't generally read SF, I initially had a hard time envisioning the future world that Gloss describes -- the sails, the ship, the neighborhoods, etc. Ultimately they were incidental to the plot; this is a novel about the lives of people and the decisions they make.

Some readers have written that it's a "woman's" book. I think that's entirely off base. There are some central female characters but there are central male characters as well. I thought it was fascinating to learn about the Quakers, the dilemmas they faced, their interaction, their decision making processes, etc. It was a very very interesting book and throughly engrossing.

Early in the 1900s Charlotte Bridger Drummond, a thoroughly modern woman & a writer of popular women's adventures, sets out with a search party to rescue a lost child in the wilderness between Oregon & Washington.

In the beginning, Wild Life is written in a dense & informative narrative style, reminiscent of the literature of that era & Molly Gloss has captured the transformation of a self-assured pioneer woman, confident in her knowledge of the local flora & fauna, until she becomes separated from the search party.

Then Wild Life changes to short entries of despair & longer ones when the observer, the scientist in Charlotte, overtakes the pampered housewife.

When Charlotte wanders into the territory of band of elusive, seemingly human creatures & is accepted as part of their extended family, she must re-think her modern, patronizing opinion of wild animals & learn the secrets to a contented life. Then the unthinkable happens: a battle between modern men & the wild creatures she has befriended & suddenly all the layers of that revered civilization are peeled away.

Wild Life is both a joy & a labor, a remarkably absorbing, thought-provoking & endearing read. Do check out my site for my full review.

As ever, Molly Gloss's writing is elegant, her characters appealing. She puts wonderfully imperfect people in extraordinary circumstances and lets her story play out in all the complicated, unresolved ways in which real life stories themselves play out. An independent woman in 1900's America goes tramping into the woods to help find her housekeeper's lost little granddaughter. Some of the loggers with whom the child was staying swear that they saw her being carried off by a Wild Man of the Woods. Beautiful descriptions of the way of life and the countryside imbedded in a marvellous story.

You get a lot with this book: mystery, comedy, a clear picture of pioneer life at the mouth of the Columbia river at the start of the 20th century. I was completely engrossed; I lost sleep because of this book. Outstanding prose that in itself is a pleasure to read, but the tale is so well told you feel as if you're in it rather than reading. The journal style of the book works great, in my opinion. The first half or so of the book is gritty and realistic while towards the end the book takes on a more adventurous and fantastical air. That's a word of warning to approach the book knowing that the plot may take an eyebrow-raising turn or two.

If you enjoy this book I urge you to get Diane Smith's Letters from Yellowstone. You would think these books are from the same author. Similar style, similar turn of the century wilderness setting, a focus on nature, and colorful characters featuring spitfire pioneer women. I'm off to the library for more Molly Gloss books.