Let Him Go Book Review

"With you or without you," Margaret insists, and at these words George knows his only choice is to follow her.

It’s September 1951: years since George and Margaret Blackledge lost their son James when he was thrown from a horse; months since James’s widow Lorna took off and remarried that thug Donnie Weboy. Now Margaret is steadfast, resolved to find and retrieve her grandson Jimmy—the one person in this world keeping her son’s memory alive—while George, a retired sheriff, is none too eager to stir up trouble with Donnie Weboy. Unable to sway his wife from her mission, George takes to the road with Margaret by his side, traveling through the Dakota badlands to Bentrock, Montana, in unstoppable pursuit. When Margaret tries to convince Lorna to return home to North Dakota, bringing little Jimmy with her, the Blackledges find themselves mixed up with the entire Weboy clan, a fearsome family determined not to give the boy up without a fight.

With gutsy characters and suspense-filled prose, Bring Him Back speaks to the extraordinary measures we take for family and the overpowering instinct to protect those we love. From the award-winning author who gave us Montana 1948, Justice, and American Boy, Larry Watson is at his storytelling finest in this unforgettable return to the American West.

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 My Review

Margaret Blackledge lost her son after he was tragically thrown from a horse. Now her grandson has been taken away by her former daughter-in-law and her new husband. She's seen the interaction between little Jimmy and his new stepfather many times and she could see that Donnie Weboy was cruel to Jimmy. Now Margaret has decided that she wants to raise the little boy herself. This places her and her husband George on a journey from North Dakota to Montana. With it comes the memories that brought them together and things that could have torn them apart. What they encounter in Montana is far more than they expected and much more trouble than they bargained for.

Literary Fiction isn't something I read often. But when I do, it has to be as wonderfully written as Larry Watson's Let Him Go. The story starts a little slow as the stage is set for what is to come, and gradually picks up the pace right up to the shocking end. This was a beautiful story of love, loss, and letting go. It was hauntingly suspenseful and will have you thinking about this book for days after you've finished reading it.

About the Author

Larry Watson was born in 1947 in Rugby, North Dakota. He grew up in Bismarck, North Dakota, and was educated in its public schools. Larry married his high school sweetheart, Susan Gibbons, in 1967. He received his BA and MA from the University of North Dakota, his PhD from the creative writing program at the University of Utah, and an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Ripon College. Watson has received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1987, 2004) and the Wisconsin Arts Board.

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