Finally finished. This was woeful.


- All the speech was stilted and awkward.
- Couldn't tell the difference between any of the Wade men OR Philomena's descendents
- A whole family of women who make men fall in love with them instantly, for no reason (except the one who looked too much like a Native American, who was killed off immediately without even being given a name)
- Over the course of her trip to Australia (which the reader see none of), Abelena goes from a hard nosed bitch rejecting all her Native heritage to gross caricature talking in dreamy riddles and randomly hugging trees and grabbing handfuls of earth.
- The only characters I actually cared about (the Todd family) get no conclusion.
- Abelena decides she's going to make her own decisions for once (yay)... so she walks into an Aboriginal camp where the dying elder tells his son to take her to their ceremonial spot and fuck a son into her. Abelena goes along with this. (what. the. fuck.)


I could find more to criticise but I've already wasted enough of my life on this drivel.

Do not recommend.
( )

A sweeping saga spanning three generations, and two continents, Nicole Alexander’s fifth novel, The Great Plains, is an absorbing tale of love, loss, betrayal, belonging and freedom.

The story begins in Dallas, Texas in 1886, before moving to the plains of Oklahoma, and then to the Queensland bush, nearly fifty years later. It follows the trials of three generations of beautiful and strong willed women, Philomena Wade, abducted and raised by Apache Indians, her granddaughter Serena, claimed by her wealthy uncle, successful Texan business man Aloysius Wade, and Serena’s eldest daughter, Abelena, whose fates are inextricably entwined with the obsessions of three generations of Wade men.

The Great Plains is a multi-layered novel with complex characters believable for both their virtues and their flaws. The major theme of the novel is the notion of belonging with Alexander exploring the bonds created by family, and within that the debate of ‘nature versus nurture’, the spiritual attachment to the land felt so deeply by the indigenous peoples in both North America and Australia, and finally the idea of belonging to oneself.

The story references some of the historical events of the time including the development of the Wild West, the abolition of slavery, the Great Depression and World War 1, as well as key figures, most notably the legendary Apache Indian, Geronimo. Alexander also explores several social issues and beliefs raised by both time and place.

The Great Plains is grand and involving fiction blending history and family drama, skillfully crafted by a consummate storyteller. ( )