Enemy Women: chapter 25 - end

This section begins just as Adair has "escaped" from the Spencer home and is back on the road to Riley County.

My book is due back to the library, so I need to finish up my comments. In the end, I liked the outcome. I was becoming a little tired of all of Adair's adventures on the road. I think I would have preferred to hear a little more of William's journey and a little less of Adair's. I didn't like that Jessie was telling her to basically give up all her hopes for a life, but her health does seem to be getting worse. Meanwhile, William was making his way back to Missouri. I was glad that Tom Poth didn't survive, but what a gruesome way to die! Then when Adair finally got home, I thought everything might be OK. How sad for her to find other people in the house. I wanted her to yell and scream and demand that they leave. I was afraid she would go and die just before William came for her.

Things were just a little too neatly wrapped up - the traveling show people were gone, and William showed up with Adair's father's money so they can pay to get her home back, and live happily ever after. What I liked, though, was that Adair ignored all the advice that she would not be able to have a normal life because of her consumption. William ignored the advice to get his arm "fixed". They both seemed foolish at the time because of it. But now, they seem strong enough to overcome whatever obstacles they might face. They've both already overcome plenty of hardships. They might stay in Missouri and get the farm going again - or maybe they'll go ahead and go west like they'd talked about. Either way, I think they'll make a life together.

One thing that troubled me about the setting was the swamp that Tom Poth chased William through. Is there such a place in SE Missouri? That sounded like Louisana bayou to me.

I know around where I live (next to the Mearmac and Gasconade) it can get really swampy in areas especially places that aren't taken care of, but I do think there was a little exageration on Jiles part.

I thought the ending was a little to convenient and I'll be honest the whole way through I was convinced one of them was going to die so it would be a little more dramatic. HOwever, I'm glad that they both lived (for how long who knows) to see each other again.

I found the marsh scene pretty gruesome,especially since William didn't just kill him, he sat there and watched him drownd because he was paralyzed, but I guess he probably deserved it, I kept picturing Poth as the guy in the movie Cold Mountain that kills everyone. (anyone seen that movie)?

Another couple scenes that I found interesting were when Dolly was shot (I came close to tears), I was happy that guy got caught in the trap because I am sure he would have killed Whiskey and Adair both. The other scene was when she came upon the bear eating the guy and his wife seemed to think that was alright.....ewww. I do know there are bears around MO too because we had one go right though the middle of our town, the bear made the front page of the paper that week.

Overall, I loved this story. If anyone has any suggestions or recommendations that are similar I would be happy to hear them :)

Now that I've finished the book, I can say that overall I really liked it. I thought it got better as it went along - by the end I was tearing through it trying to find out what happened to Adair. I was almost certain she was going to die, and am so so glad that she didn't. I like happy endings. In fact, I think that in my head I'm going to make it so that her infection clears right up and William's arm heals nicely and they live happily ever after. I didn't see the ending as being too neatly wrapped up at all, but then again I didn't even think about William having Adair's father's money which would allow them to buy the farm until you mentioned it, sj.

Jiles has a fantastic and gruesome imagination when it comes to killing off her characters, doesn't she? The trap, what happened to Tim Poth (who had it coming, but ick), the bear eating the guy. Dolly's death really bothered me, too. I hate when authors kill pets.

I really like the way Jiles writes (although I didn't at the beginning). She doesn't have to tell us every little thing about the characters. So for example, standing there watching a man die is not something I would have expected William to do when we first met him, but he did, and Jiles didn't feel the need to tell us that the war changed William. I also thought that the choppiness of the narrative at the end was perfect considering Adair's state of mind. She would practically be in a state of shock, I'd imagine, and the lack of connectedness in the storyline toward the end reflected that.

I didn't think about Jiles' writing style as a deliberate way of telling this story - a reflection of Adair's state of mind. I know that it got easier to read as the book went on, but I just thought I had gotten used to the writing. But it was probably that I was better acquainted with Adair, and the strange style fitted her. I did notice, and appreciate, that she didn't tell us every detail - she allowed us to fill in the blanks ourselves. I hate it when an author feels they have to spell out every detail of every conclusion - just in case we aren't smart enough to figure it out ourselves.

I thought the scene where the horses got away from Adair, and she was chased by the guy who ended up in the trap was a little confusing. Just who was he? Union soldier? What was he doing in the cabin alone?

I agree with you sjm, at the begining I was so bothered by the way she wrote, but I got the hang of it towards the end.
I think what you've got written there about the soldier pretty much covers what I know about him too. He was a jerk and got what he deserved though!

On an interesting note, my community always has a a big celebration called "Old Iron Works" because Iron Working was a big deal in our community in the 1800's, when I went to that this weekend I couldn't stop thinking of Adair. They had old costumes, guns and bayonettes from the civil war, live music, it was so much fun. I felt like I could understand her so much more...lame I know. But if any of you ever have the chance stop by Mearamac Springs in St.James and go up the old historic route (civil war graveyard, I have relatives in it, old mines, etc.).