A REVIEW - 5 STAR
When a road trip around the South-West of WA was planned, one of the first items packed were novels. I limited myself to four and repeatedly packed and repacked to ensure the right combination was found. However, as I entered numerous bookshops along the way, the quantity of books inside the car increased, so too did my reading options. By Yallingup, it was time to choose my next read. Glancing amongst the mass of accumulated covers, The Cowgirl lured me in with the intriguing line from the blurb, ‘there is a house buried on the property’. It was decided – I just had to know why and how the house was buried, and why the need to dig it up again.
I opened the first page surrounded by crisp morning air, coffee in hand and kookaburras in the trees. Over the next week I repeatedly retreated into the world of this incredible book and finished it during our stay at Nannup whilst overlooking a picturesque front yard edged by a quiet and quaint main street.
The story line kept me engaged and turning pages to find out what Deidre hoped to find from unburying her childhood home and why it was buried in the first place. The ‘why’, the ‘how’ and the hidden ‘who’, were revealed in a cleverly constructed dual timeline. My heart warmed to Deidre. Though soured by age and experience, she captured the very essence of an independent rural woman.
I adored the banter that Hodgson created between her leading characters. Teddy (Theodora) and Will never seemed to be on the same page, unless they were participating in a sparring match. The Cowgirl, although a stand-alone story, provided a glimpse of characters who were introduced as part of the Windstorm community alongside Cate and Henry in The Drifter.
When Teddy taught Will a lesson about keeping his word, the manner in which she achieved this was undeniably hilarious. I could picture the WTF look on Will’s face, I could feel the emotion hammering through Teddy, it was this singular moment that I couldn’t help laughing out loud. This is why I love rural romance books. The blurring of fiction and reality.
Anthea, please write more books to build upon the Windstorm community 😊
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