The Bookworm Sez

The growl came from beneath your ribs. Rather than some ordinary

The pantry’s empty and so is your belly. gun-slingin’, rootin’-tooter, Now what do you do? In the absence of this story of Pearl Hart is family, welfare and church, how do you much wider: author John plan to stay alive? In the Old West, and Boessenecker likewise in “Wildcat” by John Boessenecker, the includes lengthy passages answer wasn’t a happy one. about Pearl’s sister, Katy, and By all accounts, Albert Davy was “a monster.” A rather violent man, he never met a bottle or a brawl he didn’t like. And By that time, Lillie and her sisters were sleeping with men in her escapades, as well as tales of the mostly-lawless Davy siblings and others. These so it’s somewhat surprising that he mar- exchange for sustenance, wearing ried a respectable young French- boys’ clothing so they weren’t Canadian woman who lived nearby. He harassed, lying about their ages, and Anna Duval started a family almost immediate- and repeatedly running away from home to ly, as folks did in the latter 1800s. Their third child escape their violent father. As young teens, was a girl born in April 1871, and they named her Lillie and the younger Katy rode the rails to Ohio Lillie Naomi. to Chicago to Minnesota; Lillie also served a stint at

Growing up, Lillie and her siblings were close a reform institution. because they had to be: there was never any food in Once released, she moved to Buffalo, N.Y. where, the house and the Davy children took to thieving to calling herself Pearl Hart, she operated her own survive. It didn’t help that Albert moved his family brothel for a time and hooked up with petty crimiconstantly from shack to shanty. Eventually, some of nals and outlaws one after the next. the Davys had made their way across the border to New York. In 1893, at the age of 22 years, Pearl went to Colorado and Arizona — the latter in which she eventually birthed two children that she probably sent to her sister to raise. No doubt, that was hard; but Pearl had done some hard things before and had committed many wrongs. And on May 30, 1899, this alcoholic, addicted, thieving prostitute and gunslinger made truecrime history with yet another very bad decision... When it comes to westerns, “Wildcat” is extremely good, but it’s also not what you might think.

THE BOOKWORM SEZ By Terri Schlichenmeyer

“Wildcat: The Untold Story of Pearl Hart, The Wild West’s Most Notorious Woman Bandit” by John Boessenecker c.2021, Hanover Square Press $28.99 / $34.99 Canada 336 pages yarns are interesting, though they often supersede Pearl’s story. More than anything, however, readers will notice tale after tale about what it was like for desperate young ladies without familial support, at a time when women were basically second-class citizens. Inside those eye-opening parts, there’s heroism and feminism, and though Boessenecker avoids any whiff of sentimentalism in his storytelling, those hard-luck tales still suck every shred of romance out of any Old West works. “Wildcat” is a true story, recommended for western fans and for anyone who reads women’s history. It’s a yeee-haw with a sad streak, and missing it’ll Form takes two make you growl. Look for the reviewed book at a bookstore or a minutes (honest) library near you. You may also find the book at online book retailers. The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. Terri has been reading since she was 3 years old and never

The on-going New Year’s resolution at The Land is goes anywhere without a book. She lives in to keep these topics alive in the public eye — so we Wisconsin with three dogs and 10,000 books. v can be proactive in agriculture’s future instead of scrambling to survive the next embargo or virus. We gladly print letters to the editor and if there is a subject we need to be paying attention to, we want to know. And we want to have fun too (mental health?). I’m happy to say our writers are on board for another year to share their words, wisdom and pictures.

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