Western Annotation

Author: Anna North

Title: Outlawed

Genre: Western

Publication Date: January 5, 2021

Number of Pages: 261 pages

Geographical Setting: The Old West

Time Period: 1894

Plot Summary:  

The year is 1894, and 18-year-old Ada has been married for a year and unsuccessfully birthed a child. In her town, infertile women or women that do not produce children are labeled as outcasts and barron and often hanged as witches. Ada decides to fight for her survival, but that means leaving behind everything she has come to know. She joins up with the Hole in the Wall Gang, which is a group of outlaws led by “The Kid”. The Kid is a previous preacher that turned into a robber and now leads an outlaw group aimed to create safety for women who do not produce children. Ada has to determine if she wants to risk everything she knows in order to help The Kid and the gang formulate and implement their plan to save the future for women in the West. 

Subject Headings: None

Western appeal:
Characterization  

North creates a cast of characters that have labeled themselves “outlaws” in this alternate-old-west-American novel. They represent the ideals of “western gunslingers” that appeal to readers seeking that western feel.

Adventure 

Ada and the gang she joins represent the notions of adventure in this novel. There is law-breaking and devious behavior from the female characters in this novel. Ada is a determined heroine who is set on creating her own sexual foundation instead of the one placed on her by societal expectations. 

Setting

The novel is set in the old west, but in an alternate America where there is emphasis on fertility and not chastity. Ada and the “Hole in the Wall Gang” aim to set a plan in motion for the future of the women in the old west. The setting is in a barron town in the old-west, which creates that “old-west” nature that readers might look for when searching the Western genre. 

3 Terms that describe the book: Inclusive, Feminist, pulse-racing

Western Read-alikes: 

Three-Inch Teeth by C.j. Box 

Box, C. (2024). Three-Inch Teeth. G.P. Putnam Sons. 

Common Appeals: Western, Adventure, Outlaws, Character development

True Grit by Charles Portis

Portis, C. (1968). True Grit. Overlook Press. 

Common Appeals: Female main characters, outlaws, vengeance, agents of change

The Gunslinger by Stephen King 

King, S. (1982). The Gunslinger. Plume. 

Common Appeals: Gunslinging, Outlaws, Western, character development 

 Non-Fiction Read-alikes:

The Lost Cause: The Trials of Frank and Jesse James by James P. Muehlberger

Muehlberger, James P. (2013). The Lost Cause: The Trials of Frank and Jesse James. Westholme

Common Appeals: The West, Outlaws, 19th Century

Guardians of the Valley: John Muir and the Friendship that Saved Yosemite by Dean King

King, D. (2023). Guardians of the Valley: John Muir and the Friendship that Saved Yosemite. Scribner.

Common Appeals: History, The West, 19th Century

Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West by Hampton Sides

Sides, H. (2006). Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West. Doubleday.

Common Appeals: The West, 19th Century, History, Frontier and Pioneer Life