By Sorrow's River - (Berrybender Narratives) by Larry McMurtry (Paperback)

About the Book

McMurtry continues the compelling saga of the Berrybender family, who made their debut in his phenomenal "New York Times" bestseller, "Sin Killer," as they make their way across the endless Great Plains of the West towards Santa Fe.

Book Synopsis

In this tale of high-spirited and terrifying adventure, set against the background of the West that Larry McMurtry has made his own, By Sorrow's River is an epic in its own right with the return of the formidable, young Tasmin Berrybender.

At the heart of this third volume of his Western saga remains the beautiful and determined Tasmin Berrybender, now married to the "Sin Killer" and mother to their young son, Monty. By Sorrow's River continues the Berrybender party's trail across the endless Great Plains of the West toward Santa Fe, where they intend, those who are lucky enough to survive the journey, to spend the winter. They meet up with a vast array of characters from the history of the West: Kit Carson, the famous scout; Le Partezon, the fearsome Sioux war chief; two aristocratic Frenchmen, whose eccentric aim is to cross the Great Plains by hot air balloon; a party of slavers; a band of raiding Pawnee; and many other astonishing characters who prove, once again, that the rolling, grassy plains are not, in fact, nearly as empty of life as they look. Most of what is there is dangerous and hostile, even when faced with Tasmin's remarkable, frosty sangfroid. She is one of the strongest and most interesting of Larry McMurtry's characters, and she stands at the center of this powerful and ambitious novel of the West.

Review Quotes

"By Sorrow's River is a brilliant combination of adventure and plainspoken storytelling with a bittersweet love story and a richly imagined long-gone America."
-- The Seattle Times

"From the Missouri Breaks to the Rocky Mountains, and the Canadian border to Mexico, no novelist since Wallace Stegner has written as well about the American West as Larry McMurtry. By Sorrow's River is no exception. It's lively, funny, historically illuminating and, best of all, full of unforgettable individualists."
-- The Washington Post Book World

"In this tale of the exploration, and exploitation, of the West, McMurtry is telling us something about our checkered past -- and perhaps about our uncertain present."
-- People

About the Author

Larry McMurtry (1936-2021) was the author of twenty-nine novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove, three memoirs, two collections of essays, and more than thirty screenplays. He lived in Archer City, Texas.