Etta: A Novel

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Amazon.com Review Book Description Beautiful, elusive, and refined, Etta Place captivated the nation at the turn of the last century as she dodged the law with the Wild Bunch, led by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Her true identity and fate have remained a mystery that has tantalized historians for decades. Now, for the first time, Gerald Kolpan envisions this remarkable woman’s life in a stunning debut novel. Kolpan imagines that Etta Place was born Lorinda Jameson, the daughter of a prominent financier, who becomes known as the loveliest of the city’s debutantes when she makes her entrance into Philadelphia society. Though her position in life is already assured, her true calling is on horseback. She can ride as well as any man and handle a rifle even better. But when a tragedy leads to a dramatic reversal of fortune, Lorinda is left orphaned, penniless, homeless, and pursued by the ruthless Black Hand mafia. Rechristened “Etta Place” to ensure her safety, the young woman travels to the farthest reaches of civilization, working as a “Harvey Girl” waitress in Grand Junction, Colorado. There, fate intervenes once more and she again finds herself on the run from the ruthless Pinkerton Detective Agency. But this time she has company. She soon finds herself at the legendary hideout at Hole-in- the-Wall, Wyoming, where she meets the charismatic Butch Cassidy and the handsome, troubled Harry Longbaugh, a.k.a. the Sundance Kid. Through a series of holdups and heists, Etta and Harry begin an epic and ultimately tragic romance, which will be the greatest of Etta’s life. Then, when Etta meets the young and idealistic Eleanor Roosevelt, her life is changed forever. Blending a compelling love story, high adventure, and thrilling historical drama, Etta is an electrifying novel. With a sweeping 1900s setting, colorful storytelling, and larger-than-life characters, Etta is a debut that is both captivating and unforgettable. Amazon Exclusive: Gerald Kolpan on Etta Until I actually wrote a novel of my own, I thought all those authors were lying. I would read interviews with them in newspapers and magazines. I would hear them on NPR and see them on television; and they always seemed to say the same thing: "I really had to follow the characters where they wanted to go. At some point, they developed minds of their own." Yeah, right. These seasoned scribes sat down at their PCs and Macs, and after having composed outlines, drawn diagrams, attended workshops and generally obsessed about a plot, sometimes for years, they were now prepared to stand by and watch the creatures they'd created stand up, stretch, and light off for literary parts unknown. Sounded like a lot of pretentious nonsense to me. Well, I'm here to tell you that those writers were as truthful as Lincoln. All anyone has to do is take a look at the initial outline of my novel, Etta, and then read the finished work to realize that once those heroes and villains start moving around on a page, they're apt to end up anywhere. A few examples: Kid Curry, one of the two primary evildoers of Etta, is only mentioned twice in the outline. By page 100 of the first draft, he's the book's biggest bogeyman. Surprise, surprise. In the outline, Etta challenges the notorious (and historical) outlaw Harry Tracey to a gunfight and kills him. By the time I got to page 61 of draft one, Tracey had morphed into the entirely fictional Earl Charmichael Dixon. Etta offs him, instead. Who knew? Etta's husband, Ralph Worthington Carr, never appears in the outline at all. In the first draft, he is mentioned only once. But by page 294 of draft five, he's a full-fledged cast member, even saving my leading lady from a bottle of vitriol aimed at her face. The original plan called for Etta to develop a mystical relationship with the Indian chief Sitting Bull while they are both cast members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Somehow, the Chief failed to show up for the book. Draft six contained a mini-epic detailing the first meeting of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid during a murderous range war. It was never in the initial plan, but I had to write it. I slaved over this deathless prose for weeks only to see my editor, Robin Rolewicz, cut all thirteen pages from the manuscript. Maybe authors can't control characters, but sometimes editors can control authors: especially when they're right. Trotsky appeared out of nowhere! Sundance became a socialist! Eleanor Roosevelt hijacked Hyde Park! Did I foresee any of this? Hell, no. So not only do people in books have minds of their own, it's a good idea for their creators to hotfoot it after them when they stray into uncharted territory; you never know what wonders they'll find. Besides, it gives you a great comeback when readers and critics question why your main character did one thing instead of another. "Hey... it was her idea, not mine." --Gerald Kolpan (Photo © Jonathan Rubin) From Publishers Weekly The sketchy details of the life of Etta Place, outlaw and paramour of William Sundance Kid Longabaugh, are imaginatively filled in by first-time novelist Kolpan in this winning tale of the Wild West. After her wealthy father's disgrace and demise, Etta departs Philadelphia society and heads west to become a Harvey Girl on the railroad in Colorado, where a series of misadventures leads her to the Hole-in-the-Wall gang. Romanced by Longabaugh and the fugitive lifestyle, Place earns an integral part in the gang through her shooting and riding skills as well as her beauty and sophistication. Pursued by the police, Pinkertons, the Black Hand and rival desperado Kid Curry, Etta and the Sundance Kid make their way across the country, diving from one daring adventure to another. The novel is not without its flaws: Etta's friendship with a young Eleanor Roosevelt and her encounters with other luminaries can seem precious, and her proto-feminism feels too canned. But the wide-screen drama of Etta's life makes these choices forgivable, and Kolpan's snappy storytelling makes it impossible not to want to ride along as the characters careen toward their tragic ends. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.