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Local
author writes of wild in TEN THOUSAND ACRES
Clackamas County News, Jan.29, 2003 by Ali Ryan
1700's
America: A time of nature unbound, wild and desperate to grow,
populated with men and women aching to tame. Author Preston
Gorbett of Moalla casts Ten Thousand Acres against the rich
backdrop to weave a compelling snapshot of young America.
At center,
Ten Thousand Acres is the story of Flora McAndrews, a Baltimore
woman who sets out, along with her husband, for the 10,000
acres purchased in the unsettled land of Mexico-the region
known today as Colorado.
When her
husband dies midway through their journey, McAndrews makes
the choice to continue:
"She
had inherited some of her grandfather's tenacity and it was
not in her to do something half-way. She left Baltimore fully
aware of the difficulties she was going to have to face and
happily agreed to accompany her husband. Common sense told
her to turn around and return to the east as quickly as possible,
her stubborn streak dared her to go on despite the danger."
Led by
only an ill-drawn map, she struggled through the journey and
arrives, livestovk in tow, on her ranch:
"She
rode to the top of the rise; from there she could see all
of the cattle and the other two horses...She sat on the horse
and allowed him to eat as she sat in awe of her valley.'Her
valley.' That had a nice sound to it."
Flora's
story pauses for several chapters as Chester, a well educated
slave of an Alabama plantation, is introduced. Gorbett traces
Chester's life from its roots: his grandmother's arrival in
Charleston on a slave ship.
Chester
is a prized slave,for his physcial abilities and intellect.
He forms a close friendship with the plantation owner's son,
and is exposed to many advantages thusly. When the son dies
in a tragic accident, Chester flees:
"He
knelt down again and embraced Jefferson's head and apologized
for the last time. As he released his head he said, 'I will
miss you for the rest of my miserable life.' Then he stood
up, turned west, and ran as fast as he could,"
The lives
of Chester and Flora eventually intersect, and the pair joins
first in friendship and eventually in a relationship.
Wealthy
down-on-his-luck former plantation owner Henderson Applegate
is introduced last, as he finances a ragtag group of "soldiers"
to invade Texas. Looking for a way to become a landowner again,
Applegate and his men make a disasterous foray into Texas.
With the Spanish Army at their backs, the men retreat, and
stumble upon Chester and Flora's home on their 10,000 acres.
Gorbett
pulls his stories together with ease, variances in speech
and tone marking the shifts from character to character. Historical
details peppered throughout serve to round out the story and
flesh the fictional lives into fuller reality. Each story
develops fully, the individual histories displayed before
their lives are joined in the novel's ultimately tragic finish.
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