One Came Home is a beautiful, lyrical, poignant novel, told in the stark simple language of the American Frontier. Amy Timberlake channels True Grit, while delivering a fresh new story with unique characters and an original plot. 

Georgie Burkhardt is a thoroughly likable character, with whom the reader sympathizes from the first sentence. Her bravery, spunk, and unique talents are absolutely compatible with the setting of the story, which is no easy feat for a modern writer creating a historical female protagonist. 

The beautiful descriptions of nature that are interspersed between difficult and tragic scenes lend a quality to this book I’ve not often experienced. This book will remain with me for a long time. 

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  1 scatological word.

Violence/Gore:  A character is found dead in a badly decomposed state; a character shoots a person’s thumb off with some blood; a character is accidentally killed in a violent scuffle; a character is beaten severely (ribs are heard cracking); a character falls and sustains minor injuries; a character imagines in detail what would happen if she shot and killed another person.

Sex/Nudity:  A character undresses for bed in the view of a member of the opposite sex; a character bathes; a character fantasizes about another character’s body with no reference to intimacy; two characters kiss briefly; prostitution is vaguely referred to.

Mature Subject Matter:

Criminal activity, loss of family members through death and mysterious disappearance.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

None