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The Trackers
From the New York Times bestselling author of Cold Mountain and Varina, a stunning new novel that paints a vivid portrait of life in the Great Depression
Hurtling past the downtrodden communities of Depression-era America, painter Val Welch travels westward to the rural town of Dawes, Wyoming. Through a stroke of luck, he's landed a New Deal assignment to create a mural representing the region for their new Post Office.
A wealthy art lover named John Long and his wife Eve have agreed to host Val at their sprawling ranch. Rumors and intrigue surround the couple: Eve left behind an itinerant life riding the rails and singing in a western swing band. Long holds shady political aspirations, but was once a WWI sniper--and his right hand is a mysterious elder cowboy, a vestige of the violent old west. Val quickly finds himself entranced by their lives.
One day, Eve flees home with a valuable painting in tow, and Long recruits Val to hit the road with a mission of tracking her down. Journeying from ramshackle Hoovervilles to San Francisco nightclubs to the swamps of Florida, Val's search for Eve narrows, and he soon turns up secrets that could spark formidable changes for all of them.
In The Trackers, singular American writer Charles Frazier conjures up the lives of everyday people during an extraordinary period of history that bears uncanny resemblance to our own. With the keen perceptions of humanity and transcendent storytelling that have made him beloved for decades, Frazier has created a powerful and timeless new classic.
Hurtling past the downtrodden communities of Depression-era America, painter Val Welch travels westward to the rural town of Dawes, Wyoming. Through a stroke of luck, he's landed a New Deal assignment to create a mural representing the region for their new Post Office.
A wealthy art lover named John Long and his wife Eve have agreed to host Val at their sprawling ranch. Rumors and intrigue surround the couple: Eve left behind an itinerant life riding the rails and singing in a western swing band. Long holds shady political aspirations, but was once a WWI sniper--and his right hand is a mysterious elder cowboy, a vestige of the violent old west. Val quickly finds himself entranced by their lives.
One day, Eve flees home with a valuable painting in tow, and Long recruits Val to hit the road with a mission of tracking her down. Journeying from ramshackle Hoovervilles to San Francisco nightclubs to the swamps of Florida, Val's search for Eve narrows, and he soon turns up secrets that could spark formidable changes for all of them.
In The Trackers, singular American writer Charles Frazier conjures up the lives of everyday people during an extraordinary period of history that bears uncanny resemblance to our own. With the keen perceptions of humanity and transcendent storytelling that have made him beloved for decades, Frazier has created a powerful and timeless new classic.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published April 11, 2023
About the author
Charles Frazier
26 books2,023 followersCharles Frazier is an award-winning author of American historical fiction. His literary corpus, to date, is comprised of three New York Times best selling novels: Nightwoods (2011), Thirteen Moons (2006), and Cold Mountain (1997) - winner of the National Book Award for Fiction.
Librarian Note: There are multiple authors in the goodreads database with this name. more info here.
Librarian Note: There are multiple authors in the goodreads database with this name. more info here.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,462 reviews
November 17, 2023
The Trackers takes the reader to Wyoming and beyond in the later years of the Depression. Val Welch has been given a commission to paint a mural on the wall of the new post office in rural Dawes. He has been invited to stay at the ranch of John and Eve Long. Long collects art and loves to spend late nights talking about art. Among his collection is a small Renoir.
Frazier paints a detailed picture of the people and times. We learn everyone’s backstory. The focus of the story is the lovely Eve, with each man wanting something different from her.
Frazier has never been known for a fast paced story and this is no exception. He takes his time setting up the premise. His writing is beautiful and descriptive. Once Eve goes missing, John asks Val to take up the search for her. John is thinking of running for political office and doesn’t need any surprises about his wife. Val’s travels take him from one side of the country to the other. Throughout, Frazier plants you right into the despair and horrors of the Depression. Frazier inserts bits and pieces about the politics of the time. Not FDR and his liberal politics but the rich conservatives of the day. I was unaware of FDR’s attempts to expand the Supreme Court. “I set in to warn him, telling him that in New York and the other wealth centers of the nation, they use those convenient dreams to mash lower classes flat and build personal fortunes on that foundation. They slap their knees laughing at the naïveté, wipe their asses on trust and ignorance.” Whenever Val’s view on politics arose, I couldn’t help but think that Frazier was drawing parallels to more recent times.
It’s not a straightforward story, the ending is purposely ambiguous. The characters are well thought out. I had a special fondness for Faro, with his own definitive moral compass.
This would make for a good book club selection as there are multiple themes to be explored.
My thanks to Netgalley and Ecco for an advance copy of this book.
Frazier paints a detailed picture of the people and times. We learn everyone’s backstory. The focus of the story is the lovely Eve, with each man wanting something different from her.
Frazier has never been known for a fast paced story and this is no exception. He takes his time setting up the premise. His writing is beautiful and descriptive. Once Eve goes missing, John asks Val to take up the search for her. John is thinking of running for political office and doesn’t need any surprises about his wife. Val’s travels take him from one side of the country to the other. Throughout, Frazier plants you right into the despair and horrors of the Depression. Frazier inserts bits and pieces about the politics of the time. Not FDR and his liberal politics but the rich conservatives of the day. I was unaware of FDR’s attempts to expand the Supreme Court. “I set in to warn him, telling him that in New York and the other wealth centers of the nation, they use those convenient dreams to mash lower classes flat and build personal fortunes on that foundation. They slap their knees laughing at the naïveté, wipe their asses on trust and ignorance.” Whenever Val’s view on politics arose, I couldn’t help but think that Frazier was drawing parallels to more recent times.
It’s not a straightforward story, the ending is purposely ambiguous. The characters are well thought out. I had a special fondness for Faro, with his own definitive moral compass.
This would make for a good book club selection as there are multiple themes to be explored.
My thanks to Netgalley and Ecco for an advance copy of this book.
April 10, 2023
It is hard to believe that it has been 25 years since I read Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain. I fell in love with his writing style then, and he once again enamored me in this new novel, The Trackers.
The time is 1937. America is still in the throes of depression and President Franklin D. Roosevelt has started the "New Deal". Valentine "Val" Welch is an artist whose former professor helped him procure a WPA job painting a mural inside the post office of Dawes, Wyoming. The mural is to be called "The Trackers". Val stays with a wealthy rancher, John Long, who has ambitions of becoming a U.S. Senator. Long is married to the much younger, Eve, who had lived a transient life first picking fruit, then as a singer with cowboy bands. Another ranch resident is the mysterious Faro, who had served with Long during World War I. Val quickly becomes entangled in the Longs' lives. When Eve mysteriously disappears, John hires Val to track her down.
This historical fiction beautifully displays a portrait of America. While traveling coast-to-coast, Val experiences an incredibly bumpy airplane ride on a prop plane, a visit to a Hooverville camp for the homeless, backwood people who are quick to resort to violence, politicians who care more about status than relationships, smoky old bars, and cowboys full of interesting tales.
The time is 1937. America is still in the throes of depression and President Franklin D. Roosevelt has started the "New Deal". Valentine "Val" Welch is an artist whose former professor helped him procure a WPA job painting a mural inside the post office of Dawes, Wyoming. The mural is to be called "The Trackers". Val stays with a wealthy rancher, John Long, who has ambitions of becoming a U.S. Senator. Long is married to the much younger, Eve, who had lived a transient life first picking fruit, then as a singer with cowboy bands. Another ranch resident is the mysterious Faro, who had served with Long during World War I. Val quickly becomes entangled in the Longs' lives. When Eve mysteriously disappears, John hires Val to track her down.
This historical fiction beautifully displays a portrait of America. While traveling coast-to-coast, Val experiences an incredibly bumpy airplane ride on a prop plane, a visit to a Hooverville camp for the homeless, backwood people who are quick to resort to violence, politicians who care more about status than relationships, smoky old bars, and cowboys full of interesting tales.
April 8, 2023
John Long and his wife Eve, host Val (Valentine Welch) who has been commissioned to paint a mural representing the region for their new Post Office. John is a WWI sniper and wealthy art lover who with political aspirations and his wife, Eve, had a past riding the rails and singing in a band. They have a hired man named Faro who is a real cowboy. Soon Val becomes a part of their lives talking about art and life. When Eve takes off with one of John's prized and valuable paintings, John asks Val to track her down.
Thus begins the journey....
Charles Frazier can write, and his vivid descriptions put readers right in the midst of the story along with his characters. He depicts a time in the past, showing people and their ways of life. I had high hopes for this book but like the other books I have read by him (except Cold Mountain) this was a solid three stars for me. I enjoy his writing and yet there was just that little bit of something that was missing for me to feel more connected to the characters and their story.
Thank you to Ecco and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
Thus begins the journey....
Charles Frazier can write, and his vivid descriptions put readers right in the midst of the story along with his characters. He depicts a time in the past, showing people and their ways of life. I had high hopes for this book but like the other books I have read by him (except Cold Mountain) this was a solid three stars for me. I enjoy his writing and yet there was just that little bit of something that was missing for me to feel more connected to the characters and their story.
Thank you to Ecco and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
February 10, 2024
5 stars for sure
It’s the 1930’s and the country is in the midst of “The Great Depression” smack dab in the middle of 2 World Wars.
This story is a perfect combination of many things that I love and feel make a great read. Historical Fiction, an adventure full of mystery and secrets, characters that are imperfect and sometimes unreliable but likable nonetheless.
Throw in some WPA art, a tough OLD cowboy that would put Chuck Norris to shame and a rich Wyoming rancher with an impressive art collection and you have The Trackers.
The Narrator and main character is Val (Valentine). He is the WPA artist that was chosen to paint the Post Office Mural in Wyoming. He is staying at the Long Shot Ranch while he’s there for this job and he meets the most interesting folks there.
Each section is named for paint colors and I LOVE that!
*The Thousand Foot Blue (introduction to the characters, the ranch, and Val’s mural)
*Charcoal and Umber (Hoovervilles in Seattle)
“After lunchtime I sat awhile with a couple of men in their forties, Sam and Randolph, roommates in an entirely tar-paper-encased shack with a strong list to the east. Nailheads fixing the faded black paper to the roof and walls had rusted. Reddish stains descended tapering and irregular like icicles or stalactites from each of many nails staggered all over the structure. I made a quick note in my pocket sketchbook to paint that charcoal-and-umber abstract someday.”
*Rust and Chartreuse
Estafa Florida (fictional?/ but means rip off/fraud- Swamps and violent hillbillies)
“A purple mass of bougainvillea grew up lattice between the ground and the porch boards, and the screen door was rusty and hazed with pale green algae, a shade shy of chartreuse. Those were the only blasts of color not an earthy variant of gray, green, brown, or black.”
*Cinnabar and Azure (San Francisco night clubs and the cinnabar bridge)
*Indelible Black (wrap up and ending)
This will not the the last Charles Frazier book that I read for sure.
Great writing (with excellent nods to color and elegant descriptions as the narrator is an artist) and engaging story.
It’s the 1930’s and the country is in the midst of “The Great Depression” smack dab in the middle of 2 World Wars.
This story is a perfect combination of many things that I love and feel make a great read. Historical Fiction, an adventure full of mystery and secrets, characters that are imperfect and sometimes unreliable but likable nonetheless.
Throw in some WPA art, a tough OLD cowboy that would put Chuck Norris to shame and a rich Wyoming rancher with an impressive art collection and you have The Trackers.
The Narrator and main character is Val (Valentine). He is the WPA artist that was chosen to paint the Post Office Mural in Wyoming. He is staying at the Long Shot Ranch while he’s there for this job and he meets the most interesting folks there.
Each section is named for paint colors and I LOVE that!
*The Thousand Foot Blue (introduction to the characters, the ranch, and Val’s mural)
*Charcoal and Umber (Hoovervilles in Seattle)
“After lunchtime I sat awhile with a couple of men in their forties, Sam and Randolph, roommates in an entirely tar-paper-encased shack with a strong list to the east. Nailheads fixing the faded black paper to the roof and walls had rusted. Reddish stains descended tapering and irregular like icicles or stalactites from each of many nails staggered all over the structure. I made a quick note in my pocket sketchbook to paint that charcoal-and-umber abstract someday.”
*Rust and Chartreuse
Estafa Florida (fictional?/ but means rip off/fraud- Swamps and violent hillbillies)
“A purple mass of bougainvillea grew up lattice between the ground and the porch boards, and the screen door was rusty and hazed with pale green algae, a shade shy of chartreuse. Those were the only blasts of color not an earthy variant of gray, green, brown, or black.”
*Cinnabar and Azure (San Francisco night clubs and the cinnabar bridge)
*Indelible Black (wrap up and ending)
This will not the the last Charles Frazier book that I read for sure.
Great writing (with excellent nods to color and elegant descriptions as the narrator is an artist) and engaging story.
November 1, 2023
I have enjoyed Frazier’s writing and storytelling ever since I read Cold Mountain. That remains my favorite of his novels. This story of a young, idealistic painter commissioned to paint a mural on a post office wall in Wyoming as part of the New Deal WPA program is enjoyable in many ways . The descriptions of the landscape across the country, the realistic feel of what was happening in the country during this post Depression era and the protagonist himself are among the pluses here. The story line is interesting as Val paints his mural of three trackers to portray something of the areas history and then as he becomes involved with people in the town and becomes a tracker himself. I might have given it 4 stars if it weren’t so very slow moving. As much as I liked the writing and wanted to know more about Val, the pace of the story kept me from enjoying this as much as I’d hoped. I recommend this to tried and true Frazier fans for the writing.
I received a copy of this book from Ecco through NetGalley.
I received a copy of this book from Ecco through NetGalley.
April 25, 2023
Young painter Valentine “Val” Welch travels to the small town of Dawes, Wyoming to paint a mural in its post office as part of the Works Progress Administration, one of FDR’s New Deal projects to employ artists in the wake of the Great Depression.
Charles Frazier's novel gets its title from Val's mural, which depicts "a trio of trackers," two Native and one white, who "embody the hinge of time in this place, that moment not far past first contact between the Plains Indians and whites, the point where everything changed except landscape and weather."
Wealthy art patron and rancher John Long, who has extensive property and a glamorous young wife named Eve, offers to house and feed Val while he works on his mural.
Long aspires to the U.S. Senate, and Eve, before she married him, rode the rails as a transient, lived in shantytowns, and sang in a cowboy swing band... she also may or may not have had a previous husband, who may or may not be dead.
When Eve takes off without notice, Long sends Val to find her. He, as the tracker, soon has others in his pursuit.
The artist-turned-amateur-private-eye takes us across Depression-era America as he searches for Eve.
Boy, ol’ Will Shakespeare sure got it right when he said, “the past is prologue.” The parallels from the 1930s with today’s political, economic, and social issues — from concerns over housing to the Supreme Court — is rather astounding. It seems history does, in fact, repeat itself.
While Frazier succeeds in capturing the historical details of this distinctive American era, where he falls short is the narrative of the story.
Told in first person by Val, Trackers has a very noir feel to it — complete with femme fatale Eve. I could almost hear Joe Friday as I followed along.
But, and this is a BIG but, this dialog-heavy story contains no quotation marks. Nada. Zip. Zilch.
I know there are many reasons that authors choose not to use quotation marks. I, however, am not a fan.
It slows down the narrative. I have to work harder to understand what’s going on when thoughts and dialogue intermingle. The dialogue becomes passive instead of active as if you’re reading everything in the past tense.
Not a fan of this choice. Minus a star, Mr. Frazier, for an otherwise wonderful book.
Charles Frazier's novel gets its title from Val's mural, which depicts "a trio of trackers," two Native and one white, who "embody the hinge of time in this place, that moment not far past first contact between the Plains Indians and whites, the point where everything changed except landscape and weather."
Wealthy art patron and rancher John Long, who has extensive property and a glamorous young wife named Eve, offers to house and feed Val while he works on his mural.
Long aspires to the U.S. Senate, and Eve, before she married him, rode the rails as a transient, lived in shantytowns, and sang in a cowboy swing band... she also may or may not have had a previous husband, who may or may not be dead.
When Eve takes off without notice, Long sends Val to find her. He, as the tracker, soon has others in his pursuit.
The artist-turned-amateur-private-eye takes us across Depression-era America as he searches for Eve.
Boy, ol’ Will Shakespeare sure got it right when he said, “the past is prologue.” The parallels from the 1930s with today’s political, economic, and social issues — from concerns over housing to the Supreme Court — is rather astounding. It seems history does, in fact, repeat itself.
While Frazier succeeds in capturing the historical details of this distinctive American era, where he falls short is the narrative of the story.
Told in first person by Val, Trackers has a very noir feel to it — complete with femme fatale Eve. I could almost hear Joe Friday as I followed along.
But, and this is a BIG but, this dialog-heavy story contains no quotation marks. Nada. Zip. Zilch.
I know there are many reasons that authors choose not to use quotation marks. I, however, am not a fan.
It slows down the narrative. I have to work harder to understand what’s going on when thoughts and dialogue intermingle. The dialogue becomes passive instead of active as if you’re reading everything in the past tense.
Not a fan of this choice. Minus a star, Mr. Frazier, for an otherwise wonderful book.
January 18, 2023
A muddy black-and-white newspaper photograph. I’m standing on a scaffold made from two tall stepladders with boards running between them. I’ve barely begun the mural, haven’t even started putting color on the wall of the brand-new post office. In the photo, the wall looks almost blank, though if you know what you’re looking for, you can faintly see the penciled grid I’ve been laying out, where I’ll soon sketch the underlying for of my plan–curving lines moving across the space, swelling and rising and breaking like waves, the flow of energy moving left to right like a line of tex. Up on the scaffold, my head nearly touches the ceiling. My tousle-top hair needs a trim. I’m wearing baggy khaki pants and a workingman’s T-shirt and an old pair of Converse All Stars.’
Set in the years of the Great Depression, this begins as Val / Valentine Welch, an artist, has been commissioned by the WPA to create a mural, which news is shared by the front page in the ’Dawes Journal.’ Val travels to the small town of Dawes, Wyoming to create this mural he’s already envisioned, a mural that is meant to inspire people to look back on what the country has managed in the past, and to instill hope for the future.
When he arrives there, he connects with John Long after his art professor brings his work to Long’s attention, a man who is considered to be patron of the arts. Long and his wife, Eve, live in Dawes, where the mural will be painted. While there are several other characters, the focus is primarily on these three people once Eve leaves without leaving a note - but she does take one thing with her on a last minute whim, a painting. But it isn’t an insignificant one, a painting by Renoir.
When Long realizes she’s gone, as is the painting, he sends Val to find her. A journey that takes him to both Florida and the West Coast, trying to find her or anyone else who can give him some clues as to where she might have gone. Long needs her to return, as he is running for a political office, and it would jeopardize his plans for his future.
Many years ago I read, and loved, his ’Cold Mountain’, and while I’ve read other of his books since, none have lived up to that one. This one felt different, as though there was a desperation in it, cramming in multiple themes, multiple journeys, and more to distract from the lack of connection in the story.
Many others have loved this, but for me it felt like the literary equivalent of listening to the monotone voice of Joe Friday, shared for 336 pages.
Pub Date: 11 Apr 2023
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Ecco
February 16, 2023
Rating: ⭐⭐ ½
Genre: Historical Fiction + Literary Fiction
The events of the story take place in the 1930s. Valentine Welch is a graduate of an art school and the son of a wealthy man who took his own life during the Great Depression because he was having trouble meeting his financial obligations. The rich John Long and his wife Eve, both of whom have an appreciation for art, make the decision to invite the young artist to stay at their ranch. Regardless of whether Val wants to be a part of the life of this couple or not, he will find himself deeply involved in their routines. When one day Eve flees home for no apparent reason, Mr. Long will ask Val to go and search for her. When Val finds Eve, things will never be the same again.
The author of this story has done a remarkable job of creating a vivid and captivating setting for the story. I think this is one of the biggest highlights of the book. From the vivid descriptions of the sun-drenched meadows to the beautiful color of the sky, the reader is drawn into the unique and beautiful scenery. The author has an incredible talent for creating vivid imagery and descriptions that draw the reader into this world. His ability to capture the details of the environment makes the places come alive.
Unfortunately, where The Trackers falls flat is the plot itself. Although the synopsis sounds really good and captivating, I can’t say the same about the actual story. The story felt pretty average to me. I think the lack of strong character development must be the main reason I feel this way. When it comes to a narrative like this, I have a lot of hopes and expectations for the characters. It is sad to say those expectations were not met. The story didn't go very deep, and the characters didn't provide much in the way of intrigue. As a result of all of this, it is challenging for me to endorse this book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this novel.
Genre: Historical Fiction + Literary Fiction
The events of the story take place in the 1930s. Valentine Welch is a graduate of an art school and the son of a wealthy man who took his own life during the Great Depression because he was having trouble meeting his financial obligations. The rich John Long and his wife Eve, both of whom have an appreciation for art, make the decision to invite the young artist to stay at their ranch. Regardless of whether Val wants to be a part of the life of this couple or not, he will find himself deeply involved in their routines. When one day Eve flees home for no apparent reason, Mr. Long will ask Val to go and search for her. When Val finds Eve, things will never be the same again.
The author of this story has done a remarkable job of creating a vivid and captivating setting for the story. I think this is one of the biggest highlights of the book. From the vivid descriptions of the sun-drenched meadows to the beautiful color of the sky, the reader is drawn into the unique and beautiful scenery. The author has an incredible talent for creating vivid imagery and descriptions that draw the reader into this world. His ability to capture the details of the environment makes the places come alive.
Unfortunately, where The Trackers falls flat is the plot itself. Although the synopsis sounds really good and captivating, I can’t say the same about the actual story. The story felt pretty average to me. I think the lack of strong character development must be the main reason I feel this way. When it comes to a narrative like this, I have a lot of hopes and expectations for the characters. It is sad to say those expectations were not met. The story didn't go very deep, and the characters didn't provide much in the way of intrigue. As a result of all of this, it is challenging for me to endorse this book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this novel.
April 16, 2023
She climbed upstairs to their bedroom and packed her suitcase. On her way out she stopped in the gallery, walked up to her husband's favorite painting, took it down and placed it in her suitcase. Then she walked out the door.
Val drove in to town in his old Woody. He had obtained a job painting a mural in the new post office. It was the Depression. He was glad to have a job.
He had shown up a few weeks before Eve had left. When her husband realized that she was not returning to him, he asked Val to go look for her, to track her down.
Val took a cab into the Everglades to find eve's ex-husband's family. He really didn't know what he was getting into. But this is when the story picked up, when I began to enjoy it. Then when I put the book down I realized that I had read a really good story.
Val drove in to town in his old Woody. He had obtained a job painting a mural in the new post office. It was the Depression. He was glad to have a job.
He had shown up a few weeks before Eve had left. When her husband realized that she was not returning to him, he asked Val to go look for her, to track her down.
Val took a cab into the Everglades to find eve's ex-husband's family. He really didn't know what he was getting into. But this is when the story picked up, when I began to enjoy it. Then when I put the book down I realized that I had read a really good story.
May 21, 2023
"A muddy black-and-white newspaper photograph. I'm standing on a scaffold made from two tall stepladders with boards running between them. I've barely begun the mural, haven't even started putting color on the wall of the brand-new post office. In the photo, the wall looks almost blank, though if you know what you're looking for, you can faintly see the penciled grid I've been laying out, where I'll soon sketch the underlying form of my plan--curving lines moving across the space, swelling and rising and breaking like waves, the flow of energy moving left to right like a line of text. Up on the scaffold, my head nearly touches the ceiling. My tousle-top hair needs a trim. I'm wearing baggy khaki pants and a workingman's T-shirt and an old pair of Converse All Stars. In the photograph, the paint stains barely show. I'm holding a brush in my hand, not because I've been using it but because the photographer asked me to hold it where the camera would see it. Long and Eve stand a few feet apart on the new black-and-white tile floor, their chins lifted looking up at me. Eve is wearing a fancy show business cowgirl outfit. She looks a little silly, and at that moment somewhat ordinary. Long wears a dark business suit with subtle Western yokes on the chest. The photo highlights the gray at his temples and emphasizes the difference in their ages. They're tired, having driven hours from Cheyenne after a few late nights of political business, lobbying and glad-handing. The flash bulb pops and records the moment we first met, and it was news. The caption on the front page of the Dawes Journal read, 'After Cheyenne trip, prominent rancher John Long and wife greet WPA painter.'"
And so begins The Trackers. The narrator, Val Welch has journeyed from Virginia to Wyoming in 1937 to paint a mural in the new post office as part of President Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, a project to employ artists in the wake of the Great Depression. Val's local hosts are wealthy rancher, John Long and his beautiful wife, Eve. Long has political aspirations for the Senate. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Eve, thought to have ridden the rails and singing with a swing band. Val begins to settle into his life at the Long Shot Ranch while working on the mural at the Post Office. After a month or so into the work, the mural begins to come together. There is a sweep of time passing, cresting in the center with a trio of trackers--two Indian guides and John Colter. In planning the mural, Val Welch had wanted those three figures to give the mural its title and for that image to reflect the first contact between the Plains Indians and whites, the point where everything changed except the landscape and the weather.
Charles Frazier's beautiful prose effectively blends an historical perspective thoughout this fictional tale, particularly that of the legacy of the Great Depression throughout the country and the resilience of the people. The book's plot accelerates when Eve disappears and Long requests that Val search for her. This journey takes him to Seattle and the west coast, then to the swamps of Florida, and finally to California. The culmination of this search in San Francisco sets in motion the climax of this novel. At the heart of the book are the many reflections on the meaning of art as well as the many myths of the American West. And in some ways, parts of the narrative reads like a classic noir. I found this to be a delightful book that kept me turning the pages. Charles Frazier is a master storyteller, indeed.
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June 11, 2023I couldn’t put this book down, reading it over two days. The story brings alive the world of 1937, as the main character travels from an East Coast Tidewater town to a small Wyoming town, then to Hoovervilles and lawless Florida swamplands. The novel offers a marvelous opportunity to embrace the whole of America during the Depression. And, we learn that violence is endemic to American culture, with individuals or local authorities holding more power than the Federal government. It was a time when the people lost their trust in American ideals and institutions, while overseas, fascism was a growing threat.
…some days the converging portents felt like the end of the world was approaching, like the next logical progression would be a plague erupting or an asteroid plunging straight for us.
from the Trackers by Charles Frazier
Val has been hired by the Works Progress Administration to paint a mural on a newly built post office, art that reflected the history of the town. Val would show the people the importance of art and how it can inspire pride. He plans a scene of progression, showing the conquest of the West, with trackers in the center.
A local rancher offers Val a cabin, and friendship. John Long lucked out when he chose to inherit the ranchland that made him rich with oil wells and cattle. Stepping into Long’s home, Val first sees a gallery of fine art. Then he meets Long’s beautiful wife, Eve. She had been a singer with traveling band when they met. As a teenager, she was sent from home to find work, and she joined the company of hobos, traveling across the country. Long offered her comfort and wealth, but she bristled at being one more collected object, a trophy wife for Long’s political aspirations.
Val dines with the Longs, is invited to go riding and on picnics. He meets Faro, a cowboy who had once known Billy the Kid. Long trusts Val enough that when Eve disappears, he hires him to track her down. But, he is not the only one on her trail.
The law was whoever had the most guns, same as it always was throughout history.
from The Trackers by Charles Frazier
Like all the best historical fiction novels, the past informs our present. “For long stretches, you could believe we were still the imagined country whose overall movement was steadily and surely upward,” Val thinks. He is a socialist whose artist hero is Diego Rivera who portrayed the works on Ford’s assembly line and River Rouge factory on the walls of the Detroit Museum of Art. He believes that the Depression had revealed the fundamental flaws in the Constitution, allowing capitalism to have freewheeling control over the workers who are now organizing unions.
This historical backstory and political commentary is undergirded by the scaffold of a love story. Long’s love for his wife feels like a love of possession, but Val has also fallen for Eve. When he finally finds her, he becomes compromised. Long has hired him to do a job, bring Eve back, but Val wants Eve, too. And then, the tracker becomes tracked as well.
This is a fantastic read, and I hope, will become a fantastic movie.
…some days the converging portents felt like the end of the world was approaching, like the next logical progression would be a plague erupting or an asteroid plunging straight for us.
from the Trackers by Charles Frazier
Val has been hired by the Works Progress Administration to paint a mural on a newly built post office, art that reflected the history of the town. Val would show the people the importance of art and how it can inspire pride. He plans a scene of progression, showing the conquest of the West, with trackers in the center.
A local rancher offers Val a cabin, and friendship. John Long lucked out when he chose to inherit the ranchland that made him rich with oil wells and cattle. Stepping into Long’s home, Val first sees a gallery of fine art. Then he meets Long’s beautiful wife, Eve. She had been a singer with traveling band when they met. As a teenager, she was sent from home to find work, and she joined the company of hobos, traveling across the country. Long offered her comfort and wealth, but she bristled at being one more collected object, a trophy wife for Long’s political aspirations.
Val dines with the Longs, is invited to go riding and on picnics. He meets Faro, a cowboy who had once known Billy the Kid. Long trusts Val enough that when Eve disappears, he hires him to track her down. But, he is not the only one on her trail.
The law was whoever had the most guns, same as it always was throughout history.
from The Trackers by Charles Frazier
Like all the best historical fiction novels, the past informs our present. “For long stretches, you could believe we were still the imagined country whose overall movement was steadily and surely upward,” Val thinks. He is a socialist whose artist hero is Diego Rivera who portrayed the works on Ford’s assembly line and River Rouge factory on the walls of the Detroit Museum of Art. He believes that the Depression had revealed the fundamental flaws in the Constitution, allowing capitalism to have freewheeling control over the workers who are now organizing unions.
This historical backstory and political commentary is undergirded by the scaffold of a love story. Long’s love for his wife feels like a love of possession, but Val has also fallen for Eve. When he finally finds her, he becomes compromised. Long has hired him to do a job, bring Eve back, but Val wants Eve, too. And then, the tracker becomes tracked as well.
This is a fantastic read, and I hope, will become a fantastic movie.
September 11, 2023
The Tracker by Charles Frazier was a book that I found " difficult to pick up"
The characters were bland and the story dragged on and on.
I picked this one off the shelf as the artwork on the cover is stunning and the premise did sound
interesting.
Never judge a book by its cover is a lesson I am many a year trying to learn.
The characters were bland and the story dragged on and on.
I picked this one off the shelf as the artwork on the cover is stunning and the premise did sound
interesting.
Never judge a book by its cover is a lesson I am many a year trying to learn.
May 27, 2023
Unfortunately, the things that I enjoyed about this book make a short list. As someone who reads a lot of historical fiction, I appreciate that this novel is set during the WPA / New Deal post-Depression era, which does not get much coverage. I was engaged with the plot because we were visiting a unique and less frequently written about period. I think the mystery element of where his wife went and why kept me reading through my frustrations with the speed and lack of complexity of the plot and characters.
I'm disappointed that this book was 2/5 stars for me. I kept waiting for the plot to pick up and for me to get invested because this book sent me into a huge reading tailspin. I really struggled to pick this book up because I did not care. The plot moved incredibly slowly, and the characters are written in a way where they feel purposefully unknowable or likable. This novel is incredibly slow but without being character-driven or having poetic writing, which for me usually compensates. Some moments in this historical fiction novel felt overtly calling out modern politics- Florida and the people there are a wasteland, and the Supreme Court is a corrupt joke - and that took me even more out of the plot. Also, this feels like the gazillionth book I've read without quotations mark, is anyone using them anymore at this point? "What gives - they serve a purpose, let's use 'em guys," said the frustrated reader.
I'm disappointed that this book was 2/5 stars for me. I kept waiting for the plot to pick up and for me to get invested because this book sent me into a huge reading tailspin. I really struggled to pick this book up because I did not care. The plot moved incredibly slowly, and the characters are written in a way where they feel purposefully unknowable or likable. This novel is incredibly slow but without being character-driven or having poetic writing, which for me usually compensates. Some moments in this historical fiction novel felt overtly calling out modern politics- Florida and the people there are a wasteland, and the Supreme Court is a corrupt joke - and that took me even more out of the plot. Also, this feels like the gazillionth book I've read without quotations mark, is anyone using them anymore at this point? "What gives - they serve a purpose, let's use 'em guys," said the frustrated reader.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2023
2.5 ★★
A little bit beyond it was okay with skimming in the last quarter to get it done.
A little bit beyond it was okay with skimming in the last quarter to get it done.
April 6, 2023
In 1937, Valentine Montgomery Welch III, a young artist from Virginia, is hired to paint a mural in the new post office in Dawes, WY—a WPA project. He is offered free room and board at the Long Shot ranch owned by John Long, a man with political ambitions, and his beautiful young wife, Eve. All goes well until a couple months later Eve runs off, taking a valuable Renoir painting with her, and Long asks Val to search for her. The hunt takes Val back and forth across the US—to the Hooverville shacks of Seattle to the swamps of Florida and finally to the nightclubs of San Francisco.
There is much to love about this new novel of historical fiction set during the waning days of the Great Depression. Val’s artwork is influenced by his admiration of Diego Rivera and Thomas Hart Benton’s murals of everyday working people and perhaps their socialist ideation as well as Val quite often expresses his socialist views during discussions with the people he meets along the way. The story has quite the ‘noir’ feel to it, capturing that era’s violence simmering just below the surface. But Frazier’s love of nature also shines through with his beautiful descriptions of the American landscape through the artist’s eyes. I particularly liked the cover art and the way the title 'the trackers' had different meanings throughout the story.
I received an arc of this new novel from the author and publisher via NetGalley. Many thanks for the opportunity. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
There is much to love about this new novel of historical fiction set during the waning days of the Great Depression. Val’s artwork is influenced by his admiration of Diego Rivera and Thomas Hart Benton’s murals of everyday working people and perhaps their socialist ideation as well as Val quite often expresses his socialist views during discussions with the people he meets along the way. The story has quite the ‘noir’ feel to it, capturing that era’s violence simmering just below the surface. But Frazier’s love of nature also shines through with his beautiful descriptions of the American landscape through the artist’s eyes. I particularly liked the cover art and the way the title 'the trackers' had different meanings throughout the story.
I received an arc of this new novel from the author and publisher via NetGalley. Many thanks for the opportunity. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
July 31, 2023
Well written and the audio is wonderfully narrated so that this noir Western that turns out to be something of a slow shaggy dog story never stops being engaging.
However, the novel is set in the Depression and while some aspects of that period are well depicted, there are just too many anvils from our present time to be forgivable. It’s one of my pet peeves- not everything has to be an analogy for our current political mess, and I HATE when “historical” characters start speaking like they just stepped off of Twitter and onto the page. Thus you’ll hear a few more characters making speeches about white men having all the privilege and a woman’s sole right to choose then you might have thought were common in 1936 (the characters expressing these thoughts are not part of the radical intelligentsia or other activists who might have been expressing the antecedents of these views in the 30s, although even they would hardly use jargon of the 2020s). Similarly recurring commentary on the Supreme Court and Florida (of all things) just seem like a mouthpiece for Frazier’s 21st century liberal orthodoxies.
I like to keep my historical novels historical and I think showing is always preferable to telling when it comes to trying to make a political point. Our pain at the long history of inequity in this country should come from skillful story craft - not from NYT op Ed snippets masquerading as dialogue or interior monologue.
However, the novel is set in the Depression and while some aspects of that period are well depicted, there are just too many anvils from our present time to be forgivable. It’s one of my pet peeves- not everything has to be an analogy for our current political mess, and I HATE when “historical” characters start speaking like they just stepped off of Twitter and onto the page. Thus you’ll hear a few more characters making speeches about white men having all the privilege and a woman’s sole right to choose then you might have thought were common in 1936 (the characters expressing these thoughts are not part of the radical intelligentsia or other activists who might have been expressing the antecedents of these views in the 30s, although even they would hardly use jargon of the 2020s). Similarly recurring commentary on the Supreme Court and Florida (of all things) just seem like a mouthpiece for Frazier’s 21st century liberal orthodoxies.
I like to keep my historical novels historical and I think showing is always preferable to telling when it comes to trying to make a political point. Our pain at the long history of inequity in this country should come from skillful story craft - not from NYT op Ed snippets masquerading as dialogue or interior monologue.
July 7, 2023
I forced myself to finish the first chapter. This is so badly written. I could almost believe that some imposter managed to publish this under Frazier's name, except that I couldn't finish his last novel either.
All I can say is please don't try to imitate Cormac McCarthy because it can't be done. Only he can write a novel with philosopher cowboys. Anyone else who does this just sounds embarrassing. I'm cringing in agonies as I read such corny nuggets as "There's really no such thing as a guide. Just the trail."
All I can say is please don't try to imitate Cormac McCarthy because it can't be done. Only he can write a novel with philosopher cowboys. Anyone else who does this just sounds embarrassing. I'm cringing in agonies as I read such corny nuggets as "There's really no such thing as a guide. Just the trail."
July 7, 2024
DNF at 36%. Life is too short for boring books
July 20, 2023
I like this author, but this particular tale was not up my high reader expectations. I went in with anticipation of a good/great read and felt that the story base had been set, a most unusual one, with unusual characters. Okay, off we go…
Some mystery behind each of them with their personalities, background and relationships. But instead of getting more exciting, it lost its focus and energy. Just as our main character set off to find Eve here, there and everywhere, the story went here, there and everywhere. I wanted to DNF this one midstream, but plodded on in the hopes there would be a spark, a sizzle coming up. Unfortunately it didn’t happen - at least in my opinion. Even the ending was rather lackluster.
I give 2.5 stars because there was after all, some promise of a good story at the start, and I do like the authors writing style and storytelling with his way of words, descriptions. Could have been so much better though.
Some mystery behind each of them with their personalities, background and relationships. But instead of getting more exciting, it lost its focus and energy. Just as our main character set off to find Eve here, there and everywhere, the story went here, there and everywhere. I wanted to DNF this one midstream, but plodded on in the hopes there would be a spark, a sizzle coming up. Unfortunately it didn’t happen - at least in my opinion. Even the ending was rather lackluster.
I give 2.5 stars because there was after all, some promise of a good story at the start, and I do like the authors writing style and storytelling with his way of words, descriptions. Could have been so much better though.
November 29, 2022
Thank you to Ecco and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on April 11th, 2023
WPA painter, Val Welch, heads West for an enviable New Deal commission in small town Dawes, Wyoming. His remit: to paint a mural in the town Post Office that represents the region. His chosen topic: “The Energy of America or the natural and human history of this place.” He is offered free lodgings at the ranch of the wealthy John Long and his wife, Eve, a former honky tonk singer with her own troubled past. Faro, a rather iconic tough cowboy (and complete horse whisperer) is one of those mysterious characters who draws you in against your conscious inclination.
When Eve runs off, Val takes a break from painting to moonlight as a tracker, criss-crossing the Depression riddled country in search of her. It’s a rich narrative, teeming with individual stories and told from a young (and somewhat embittered) painter’s eye. His search takes him from Wyoming to Seattle to San Francisco to Florida — each location suffering from the Depression in its own Hellish way. Each character — from the four leads to the many supporting — is both an individual and an obvious product of his or her history in these troubled times. We are treated to Val’s narrative commentary on the way, ranging from his own hopes and desires to his surprises to his inner rantings on subjects of government, greed, and some (previously unknown to me) dispiriting Supreme Court Decisions.
The deep dives (scattered throughout the story) on how the mural was conceived and executed were engrossing. It was to be done in “roughly the ancient way” and I enjoyed learning about how to make, tint, and use tempera paint, build scaffolding, and simply look at the world in a different (artistic) way.
The story is bold, expansive, and yet also intricately detailed. Excellent writing — see some of my favorite quotes below. I liked the balance between action and introspection, and I loved the description of the physical surroundings integrated with internal landscape of Val’s thoughts. Highly recommended.
Some great quotes:
“Looking now, the missing element — and it was down in a deep crater — was the violence of the West. Not so much the physical geography, but the violence inherent in the concept of the West, the politically and culturally and religiously ordained rapacity smearing blood all over the fresh beauty.”
“Traveling the country, town by town, I felt a heady drift of grief and sometimes a breakthrough of optimism from the long Depression.”
“So the mural’s main argument, however it was shaped, was that this particular place held importance and was not forgotten after all.”
“The look seemed inhuman until I realized that just because I might never have felt or thought whatever passed through Faro’s mind and body in that flicker of time did not mean it wasn’t human.”
“Which struck me, a childless man with the first number in his age still two, as a better position on childrearing if you meant it metaphorically and if the floor wasn’t rock-hard hexagonal tile laid over a slab of concrete.”
“The higher the elevation, the more I felt like I was being rendered transparent by X-rays or gamma rays or whatever.”
“After all, the ultimate expression of Capitalism is not democracy. It’s a dictatorship not of individual men but of corporations with interchangeable leaders. I wasn’t sure if the Depression was straining the structural limits of our Constitution or simply revealing that its fundamental idea were faulty.”
“After Florida — a state equivalent to a hotel towel from somebody else’s bath flung sopping across your face — Wyoming felt clean and brittle, the light fragile as a flake of mica, the high air rare enough to be measured in the lungs and appreciated in its thinness, it’s lack of substance.”
WPA painter, Val Welch, heads West for an enviable New Deal commission in small town Dawes, Wyoming. His remit: to paint a mural in the town Post Office that represents the region. His chosen topic: “The Energy of America or the natural and human history of this place.” He is offered free lodgings at the ranch of the wealthy John Long and his wife, Eve, a former honky tonk singer with her own troubled past. Faro, a rather iconic tough cowboy (and complete horse whisperer) is one of those mysterious characters who draws you in against your conscious inclination.
When Eve runs off, Val takes a break from painting to moonlight as a tracker, criss-crossing the Depression riddled country in search of her. It’s a rich narrative, teeming with individual stories and told from a young (and somewhat embittered) painter’s eye. His search takes him from Wyoming to Seattle to San Francisco to Florida — each location suffering from the Depression in its own Hellish way. Each character — from the four leads to the many supporting — is both an individual and an obvious product of his or her history in these troubled times. We are treated to Val’s narrative commentary on the way, ranging from his own hopes and desires to his surprises to his inner rantings on subjects of government, greed, and some (previously unknown to me) dispiriting Supreme Court Decisions.
The deep dives (scattered throughout the story) on how the mural was conceived and executed were engrossing. It was to be done in “roughly the ancient way” and I enjoyed learning about how to make, tint, and use tempera paint, build scaffolding, and simply look at the world in a different (artistic) way.
The story is bold, expansive, and yet also intricately detailed. Excellent writing — see some of my favorite quotes below. I liked the balance between action and introspection, and I loved the description of the physical surroundings integrated with internal landscape of Val’s thoughts. Highly recommended.
Some great quotes:
“Looking now, the missing element — and it was down in a deep crater — was the violence of the West. Not so much the physical geography, but the violence inherent in the concept of the West, the politically and culturally and religiously ordained rapacity smearing blood all over the fresh beauty.”
“Traveling the country, town by town, I felt a heady drift of grief and sometimes a breakthrough of optimism from the long Depression.”
“So the mural’s main argument, however it was shaped, was that this particular place held importance and was not forgotten after all.”
“The look seemed inhuman until I realized that just because I might never have felt or thought whatever passed through Faro’s mind and body in that flicker of time did not mean it wasn’t human.”
“Which struck me, a childless man with the first number in his age still two, as a better position on childrearing if you meant it metaphorically and if the floor wasn’t rock-hard hexagonal tile laid over a slab of concrete.”
“The higher the elevation, the more I felt like I was being rendered transparent by X-rays or gamma rays or whatever.”
“After all, the ultimate expression of Capitalism is not democracy. It’s a dictatorship not of individual men but of corporations with interchangeable leaders. I wasn’t sure if the Depression was straining the structural limits of our Constitution or simply revealing that its fundamental idea were faulty.”
“After Florida — a state equivalent to a hotel towel from somebody else’s bath flung sopping across your face — Wyoming felt clean and brittle, the light fragile as a flake of mica, the high air rare enough to be measured in the lungs and appreciated in its thinness, it’s lack of substance.”
October 18, 2022
Charles Frazier writes an intriguing story set in the Great Depression in "The Trackers". A young artist finds himself just out of school and jobless when he signs up for the government jobs program that is paying artists to do murals on post office walls. A rich man in the town where he is assigned offers him a nice cabin on his ranch and all seems well. The rancher has an attractive wife and there is one ranch hand that is also interesting. He has a history of fights and seems to be one of the rancher's favorites. Meanwhile, the young artist gets to know his host and hostess, and all of a sudden she disappears. The wealthy rancher hires our artist to find his wife and bring her back if possible and the real story of "The Trackers" begins. Interesting characters fill the book, the ex-husband of the missing wife and all kinds of stuff to sort out make this a book I couldn't put down. Thanks to #TheTrackers#NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this excellent book.
January 1, 2023
It's been a long time since there was a new Charles Frazier novel and reading this new onr reminded me of why I liked Cold Mountain so much. There are descriptions of light, of weather, of colors, of people's skins, of smells and food and wine. All these create the atmosphere around an unusual story that will leave you thinking about what you have just read. And isn't that the best kind of writing?
Valentine is a 26-year-old painter, son of a wealthy man who committed suicide after the '29 crash. He has landed a job through a family connection to paint a WPA funded mural in Dawes County Wyoming. He has caught the eye of the local wealthy rancher, Joh Long, who has his eye on a political office of either Governor or Senator. Long invites him to live at the ranch, rather than in town, and Valentine accepts.
It is there, at Long Shot ranch, that he meets the cowboys who work there, an elderly former sheriff who is a horse whisperer, and the beautify younger wife of the rancher. The story moves along swiftly as he begins painting his mural. Just when I prepared for a love triangle or other complication of plot, Eve, the young wife, disappears and John Long asks Valentine to find her and to possible bring her back along with a small impressionist painting she took.
Surprisingly, the novel becomes wildly different from expectations. It leads Val to crisscrossing the country from Wyoming to Seattle to Florida and to San Francisco. Along the way, it becomes a mystery and an adventure. There is history of the depression and many oddball and violent characters. Frazier hasn't lost any of his style and it's good to see him back.
Thanks to Harper Collings and NetGalley for the download of this pre-publication proof.
Valentine is a 26-year-old painter, son of a wealthy man who committed suicide after the '29 crash. He has landed a job through a family connection to paint a WPA funded mural in Dawes County Wyoming. He has caught the eye of the local wealthy rancher, Joh Long, who has his eye on a political office of either Governor or Senator. Long invites him to live at the ranch, rather than in town, and Valentine accepts.
It is there, at Long Shot ranch, that he meets the cowboys who work there, an elderly former sheriff who is a horse whisperer, and the beautify younger wife of the rancher. The story moves along swiftly as he begins painting his mural. Just when I prepared for a love triangle or other complication of plot, Eve, the young wife, disappears and John Long asks Valentine to find her and to possible bring her back along with a small impressionist painting she took.
Surprisingly, the novel becomes wildly different from expectations. It leads Val to crisscrossing the country from Wyoming to Seattle to Florida and to San Francisco. Along the way, it becomes a mystery and an adventure. There is history of the depression and many oddball and violent characters. Frazier hasn't lost any of his style and it's good to see him back.
Thanks to Harper Collings and NetGalley for the download of this pre-publication proof.
April 21, 2023
The Trackers will likely appeal to you if—
-You enjoy historical fiction and want to go to a time rarely covered by this genre.
-You want your historical fiction to be well-researched and teach you something new about an era or time.
-You enjoy books set in the western US.
-You are a fan of slower-burning character-focused novels.
I love historical fiction that takes on unique stories. The Trackers' primary setting is Wyoming, but it also takes the reader on a cross-country adventure to Seattle, the Florida swamps, and California's bay area. This is a Depression-era story, but unlike most novels set in this period, it isn't about the Dust Bowl or migrant workers. For me, this was its biggest attraction. I enjoyed learning more about the main character's work as a New Deal mural painter.
The plot is slow and steady - not a page-turner; it unfurls in a manner that slowly pulls the reader in. Engaging with the characters fully took a while, but I eventually grew attached. A reveal in the last third made the book incredibly satisfying as historical fiction - but no spoilers here.
Fans of US-based 20th-century historical fiction should pick this book up.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an electronic ARC in return for a review.
-You enjoy historical fiction and want to go to a time rarely covered by this genre.
-You want your historical fiction to be well-researched and teach you something new about an era or time.
-You enjoy books set in the western US.
-You are a fan of slower-burning character-focused novels.
I love historical fiction that takes on unique stories. The Trackers' primary setting is Wyoming, but it also takes the reader on a cross-country adventure to Seattle, the Florida swamps, and California's bay area. This is a Depression-era story, but unlike most novels set in this period, it isn't about the Dust Bowl or migrant workers. For me, this was its biggest attraction. I enjoyed learning more about the main character's work as a New Deal mural painter.
The plot is slow and steady - not a page-turner; it unfurls in a manner that slowly pulls the reader in. Engaging with the characters fully took a while, but I eventually grew attached. A reveal in the last third made the book incredibly satisfying as historical fiction - but no spoilers here.
Fans of US-based 20th-century historical fiction should pick this book up.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an electronic ARC in return for a review.
May 14, 2023
2.5 stars, rounding down
Good lord, this book was boring. I was so excited to read this (having loved Cold Mountain), especially given its historical backdrop following the Great Depression. That historical backdrop was the only saving grace of this novel, imho. I thought the plot was slow and boring and there were exactly zero likeable characters. Such an interesting premise and so much potential for something great here. But nope. Didn't resonate with me at all. :/
Good lord, this book was boring. I was so excited to read this (having loved Cold Mountain), especially given its historical backdrop following the Great Depression. That historical backdrop was the only saving grace of this novel, imho. I thought the plot was slow and boring and there were exactly zero likeable characters. Such an interesting premise and so much potential for something great here. But nope. Didn't resonate with me at all. :/
April 17, 2023
First 50 pages rejected in 50 words: I forgot Charles Frazier hasn’t written anything good since Cold Mountain. This is a weird western that is not really about the Depression. Too much horsey stuff and cowboys telling stories. Too little painting. Eve runs away. Me, too. Nice try, Charles. Maybe use quotation marks next time. Remember those?
May 5, 2023
Since I'm a big fan of Charles Frazier it wasn't a stretch for me to like "The Trackers". I think his first novel, "Cold Mountain", could and should be taught in an English Lit course. Maybe this could too. During the Depression young painter Valentine Welch is commissioned by the WPA to paint a mural on a post office wall in Wyoming. When he arrives he discovers that the commission has a local benefactor, John Long, funding the project. Long offers Val the use of a cottage on his ranch free of charge. Val, being an artist, becomes a derisive figure among the cowboys but he has the run of the ranch and Long's seal of approval. Long is enormously wealthy and has political aspirations as well as a beautiful young trophy wife, Eve, who befriends Val. Eve has a somewhat checkered past. She was a teenage runaway who traveled with hobos in freight cars before landing a job as a singer for various bands. Her beauty and her voice are what attracted her to Long when he discovered her singing in a Western saloon. They marry shortly thereafter. But her life as the wife of a would-be politician on a lonesome ranch is not the future she had in mind. When Eve disappears one day Long, by reminding Val he is his benefactor, prevails on him to search for her.
Thus begins the tracking part of the story. Working off sketchy leads Val's detective work takes him from Wyoming, to Seattle, to Florida, and to San Francisco. In the process he is roughed up, chased, and shot at. And this is where "The Trackers" kind of lost me. I was delighted to read about the artistic processes of muralists like the fictitious Val and the actual muralists like Diego Rivera and Thomas Hart Benton. If there's a woman living on the ranch, and a potential love triangle, I can follow where that leads me. But like Eve, there was a lot I didn't sign up for. I liked "The Trackers". Beautifully written, like listening to the radio on Sunday nights when I was a kid pulling in staticky stations with different voices from far across the country. I just felt after a while the story went off the track.
Thus begins the tracking part of the story. Working off sketchy leads Val's detective work takes him from Wyoming, to Seattle, to Florida, and to San Francisco. In the process he is roughed up, chased, and shot at. And this is where "The Trackers" kind of lost me. I was delighted to read about the artistic processes of muralists like the fictitious Val and the actual muralists like Diego Rivera and Thomas Hart Benton. If there's a woman living on the ranch, and a potential love triangle, I can follow where that leads me. But like Eve, there was a lot I didn't sign up for. I liked "The Trackers". Beautifully written, like listening to the radio on Sunday nights when I was a kid pulling in staticky stations with different voices from far across the country. I just felt after a while the story went off the track.
March 31, 2023
This one was a struggle for me, I honestly didn’t find the storyline very intriguing or captivating. It did not keep my attention or encourage me to keep reading. Very descriptive, excellently written for the time period. Valentine is hired to paint a mural at the post office in a small Wyoming town, and he is given room and board on a ranch where Eve and her husband long live. Eve takes off and somehow valentine is talked into trying to track her down.
Shelved as 'abandoned'
April 6, 2023Sadly, I couldn't catch the rhythm of this one. I'm abandoning it. The dialog was odd, led by a dash rather than quotation marks, and I had trouble following the story.
Thanks, NetGalley and Ecco, for the Digital Review Copy. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good fit for me.
Thanks, NetGalley and Ecco, for the Digital Review Copy. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good fit for me.
July 15, 2023
I liked the book despite the fact Kirkus did not. I rate books 5 when I know I will not forget them and this book fits into that category.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
The book is of the historical fiction genre. It is about Valentine Montgomery Welch III, a fictional character and artist, whom the WPA hires to paint a Post Ofiice Mural in the (once again) fictional town of Dawes, WY.
He is offered a place to stay on the ranch of John Long who has aspirations for political office and is married to a very alluring lady, Eve.
Eve leaves the ranch and John asks Val to track her. Ah... The Tracker!
Ironically Val's mural is also entitled The Tracker.
I was entranced by this book so rated it ...
5 stars
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
The book is of the historical fiction genre. It is about Valentine Montgomery Welch III, a fictional character and artist, whom the WPA hires to paint a Post Ofiice Mural in the (once again) fictional town of Dawes, WY.
He is offered a place to stay on the ranch of John Long who has aspirations for political office and is married to a very alluring lady, Eve.
Eve leaves the ranch and John asks Val to track her. Ah... The Tracker!
Ironically Val's mural is also entitled The Tracker.
I was entranced by this book so rated it ...
5 stars
December 29, 2022
This is a story about a young woman named Eve, and the three men who loved her. Frazier does a great job of creating the world of Wyoming in 1935 and the characters that lived there. Val is an artist painting a mural for WPA, and lodges with Long, Eve's older wealthy husband. Eve disappears and the story becomes a mystery as to why Eve left and where she went. Long has political ambitions, and wants Eve's background investigated including her marriage to the criminal Jake, one of Eve's earlier lovers. Eve is a county music singer, and also a grifter and she works each one of these men for whatever she can get from them. Frazier wrote the novel Cold Mountain, and his story arcs are an interesting form of storytelling. In Cold Mountain, which is both a romance and an adventure story, Inman journeys home from the Civil War to be with a young woman he hardly knows. In The Trackers, Val journeys across the country in search of a woman he loves but hardly knows as well. The journey and encounters along the way make up the plot of the story, each colorful and full of dangerous characters.
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