{"product_id":"the-madstone-9780316564342","title":"The Madstone","description":"\u003cb\u003eWith echoes of \u003ci\u003eLonesome Dove \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eNews of the World\u003c\/i\u003e, the riveting story of a pregnant young mother, her child, and the frontier tradesman who helps them flee across Texas from outlaws bent on revenge, even as an unlikely love blossoms.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Texas hill country, 1868. As nineteen-year-old Benjamin Shreve tends to business in his workshop, he witnesses a stagecoach strand a passenger. When the man, a treasure hunter, persuades Benjamin to help track down the vanished coach--and a mysterious fortune left aboard--Benjamin is drawn into a drama whose scope he could never have imagined, for they discover on reaching the coach that its passengers include Nell, a pregnant young woman, and her four-year-old son, Tot, who are fleeing Nell's brutal husband and his murderous brothers. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Having told the Freedmen's Bureau the whereabouts of her husband's gang--a sadistic group wanted for countless acts of harassment and violence against Black citizens--Nell is in grave danger. If her husband catches her, he will kill her and take their son. Learning of their plight, Benjamin offers to deliver Nell and Tot to a distant port on the Gulf of Mexico, where they can board a ship to safety. He is joined in this chivalrous act by two other companions: the treasure hunter whose stranding began this endeavor and a restless Black Seminole who is a veteran of wars on both sides of the Rio Grande and who has an escape plan of his own. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Fraught with jeopardy from the outset, the trek across Texas becomes still more dangerous as buried secrets, including a cursed necklace, emerge. And even as Benjamin falls in love with Nell and imagines a life as Tot's father, vengeful pursuers are never far behind. With its vivid characters and expansive canvas, \u003ci\u003eThe Madstone \u003c\/i\u003ecalls to mind \u003ci\u003eLonesome Dove\u003c\/i\u003e, yet Elizabeth Crook's new novel is a singular achievement. Told in Benjamin's resolute and unforgettable voice, it is full of eccentric action, unrelenting peril, and droll humor--a thrilling and beautifully rendered story of three people sharing a hazardous and defining journey that will forever bind them together.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Little Brown and Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/07\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780316564342\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/01\/2023\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Elizabeth Crook","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43124371554485,"sku":"9780316564342","price":24.65,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_f9aad35f-5b5a-401a-b6e4-7e44822092be.jpg?v=1694550719","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-madstone-9780316564342","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}