The Whipping Boy: A Novel

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Synopsis
An &“engaging&” novel of hardship, danger, and frontier adventure in the Oklahoma Territory at the end of the nineteenth century (Publishers Weekly). The Oklahoma Territory is a bleak, brutal place in 1894, especially for Tom Freshour, a half-Indian who knows nothing of the world beyond the orphanage where he&’s been raised by a sadistic minister who forces him to bear witness to a botched public hanging. But Tom is about to get a bracing education, thanks especially to two people: Jake Jaycox, an aging hardware salesman who takes Tom under his wing, and Samantha King, a beautiful, mysterious woman who attaches herself to the two men and promptly seduces Tom. The adventures of this colorful trio begin with a horrific flood—but the story turns darker when Tom and his companions run afoul of a scheme to steal thousands of acres from depression-ravaged farmers. Before long, they are being chased by a hired killer—and Tom&’s searing memories of his childhood drive him back to the orphanage and a violent confrontation with the man who made him a whipping boy. As Tom learns more about the world around him, he suspects that the real villains in this unforgiving territory may not be the outlaws with six-guns, but the businessmen who will do anything to amass wealth and property. &“A rollicking page-turner. I read it once with a fierce compulsion to find out what would happen, a second time for the pleasure of the language and craft.&” —Wally Lamb, author of She&’s Come Undone &“Here is the real West in its lurid twilight—the Oklahoma Indian Territory when the last land grab was under way. Here too is a good mystery [and] a bawdy romance. . . . Every vignette of frontier life—flood, train wreck, blizzard, bank, brother, or church—is authentic.&” —Will Baker, author of Hell, West, and Crooked &“Brings alive the pain and shame of a little-read chapter of history, when greed ruled, thievery wore a frock coat, and guile was the governing virtue.&” —Charles Gusewelle, columnist, The Kansas City Star
Copyright:
1993

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
Book Size:
326 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780547524139
Related ISBNs:
9780395677254
Publisher:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
status in your country.
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Literature and Fiction
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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