The Tie That Binds
Kent Haruf
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
4.10
· 20 ratings · 257 pages · Published: 01 Jan 1984
Colorado, January 1977. Eighty-year-old Edith Goodnough lies in a hospital bed, IV taped to the back of her hand, police officer at her door. She is charged with murder. The clues: a sack of chicken feed slit with a knife, a milky-eyed dog tied outdoors one cold afternoon. The motives: the brutal business of farming and a family code of ethics as unforgiving as the winter prairie itself. Here, Kent Haruf delivers the sweeping tale of a woman of the American High Plains, as told by her neighbor, Sanders Roscoe. As Roscoe shares what he knows, Edith's tragedies unfold: a childhood of pre-dawn chores, a mother's death, a violence that leaves a father dependent on his children, forever enraged. Here is the story of a woman who sacrifices her happiness in the name of family--and then, in one gesture, reclaims her freedom.
Tagged as:
- north america 3
- usa 3
- colorado 3
- city/urban 3
- historical 3
- historical fiction 3
- literary fiction 3
- family 3
- friendship 3
- realistic 3
- rural 2
- western 2
- 20th century 2
- mystery 2
- domestic drama 2
- drama 2
- classics 2
- psychological 1
- coming of age 1
- indigenous mc 1
- epic 1
- industrial era 1
- protagonists of colour 1
- Add topics
- format - reader age
- audiobook 2
- anthology 1
- adult fiction 1
- content warnings
- death / grief 2