Summary and Reviews of The High Divide by Lin Enger

The High Divide by Lin Enger

The High Divide

by Lin Enger
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  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • First Published:
  • Sep 23, 2014, 352 pages
  • Paperback:
  • May 2015, 368 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

Breathtaking portrait of the vast Plains landscape are matched by the rich expanse of characters' emotional terrain, as pivotal historical events blend seamlessly in this story of a family's sacrifice and devotion.

In 1886, Gretta Pope wakes one morning to discover that her husband is gone. Ulysses Pope has left his family behind on the far edge of Minnesota's western prairie, with only the briefest of notes and no explanation for why he left or where he's headed. It doesn't take long for Gretta's young sons, Eli and Danny, to set off after him, following the scant clues they can find, jumping trains to get where they need to go, and ending up in the rugged badlands of Montana.

Short on money and beleaguered by a treacherous landlord, Gretta has no choice but to seek out her sons and her husband as well, leading her to the doorstep of a woman who seems intent on making Ulysses her own. While out in the wilderness, the boys find that the closer they come to Ulysses's trail, the greater the perils that confront them.

Enger's breathtaking portrait of the vast Plains landscape is matched by the rich expanse of his characters' emotional terrain, as pivotal historical events - the turmoil of expansionism, the near total demise of the bison herds, and the subjugation of the Plains Indians - blend seamlessly with the story of a family's sacrifice and devotion. 

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Reviews

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Overall, this makes for something of a thin plot – none of the strands are epic enough to make this the lasting, Great American novel it might be seeking to emulate – but the book is strong on atmosphere and themes. It works very well as a snapshot of a particular time and place. Sacrifice, family loyalty, remorse, and being or treating a stranger are all topics under consideration. Enger also captures a dying way of life: the buffalo have been hunted to near-extinction, and Native Americans are being driven from the Plains onto reservations...continued

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(Reviewed by Rebecca Foster).

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Beyond the Book



Montana's Journey To Statehood

Much of Lin Enger's novel, The High Divide, is set in the Montana Territory of the late 1880s. ("The High Divide" is an area of mountain ranges that crosses the Continental Divide between eastern Idaho and western Montana. It includes a small portion of the Badlands.) The Lewis and Clark expedition passed through what is now Montana in 1805-6, and fur traders, missionaries, and explorers set up various outposts over the following decades. The 1860s saw increased settlement due to the discovery of gold deposits.

Miles City, Montana, 1881 President Abraham Lincoln oversaw the establishment of the Montana Territory in May 1864. The land, borrowed from the Idaho and Dakota Territories, was originally acquired through the Louisiana Purchase and the Oregon Treaty. ...

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