Once I passed page 300, I enjoyed THE WIDOW NASH. Up to that point, it interested me, only. I kept thinking that something was going to happen to grab my attention. And something did. It just took too long.

Dulcy was engaged to her father’s handsome business partner. But she found in time that he was a creep so broke off the engagement. He didn’t like that. He needed her to help figure out where her father hid their business earnings.

Rather than get stuck with this horrid man, Dulcy decides to disappear. She travels west and becomes the widow Nash.

This was an enticing enough storyline to keep me reading. But I had to put up with paragraph upon paragraph of unnecessary detail until I passed page 300. ( )

This is a very quirky historical novel set in the very early 1900,'s and it is definitely not staid! I ended up liking the main character for her determination to find happiness and not settle for a horrible marriage. Her father was a completely unique character too, in every sense of the word. ( )

unique setting and story. very engaging characters and good plotting. you really get a sense of who the characters are. ( )

A little slow to start, but great writing and a look at life in Montana in the early 1900s. This is about a young woman dealing with the death of her eccentric father and running from an abusive ex-fiancé. There is a lot about her deceased father and his prolonged illness with syphilis. Also, a lot about people suffering from malaria contracted in foreign wars. Thank goodness for modern medicine! A good look at a strong, intelligent woman trying to escape her past. ( )

The Widow Nash is wonderful historical fiction. The characters are unforgettable: there is Walton Remfrey, a kind of ore whisperer who is dying from syphilis; Victor, his psycho business partner and daughter's ex-fianceé; Dulcy, Walton's daughter who has traveled the world with him; Henning, Victor's bodyguard/fixer, whose dream is to making moving pictures; not to mention several memorable characters from the Montana town where Dulcy settles.

Set at the turn of the twentieth century, when Dulcy is in her early twenties, the novel mostly takes place in the West. Dulcy is summoned to Seattle to care for her dying father; the syphilis is finally winning. The problem is that Walton seems to have forgotten what he did with a million dollars from the sales of some South African mines. Victor, her father's business partner, won't let either Dulcy or her father go until Walton remembers where the money is.

As Dulcy travels East with her father's body, she decides to fake her suicide and start a new life, to escape. Victor wants to renew the engagement and Dulcy refuses. Instead, "She daydreamed about his end; it was like counting sheep. Sometimes she imagined the smug look on his face just before he was hit by a train, by lava, by falling rocks (it was important, in this vaporous revenge, for Victor to have moments of understanding that some pieces of the world moved without his approval; hideous pain and public shaming were included..." She has reason to feel this way.

So, is it possible to leave everything behind and start a new life? We've probably all fantasized about it at some point, but Dulcy finds it harder than she expected. Lying, she discovers, is exhausting. She chooses a small town in Montana and tries to figure out what she wants to be and where she wants to go. Of course, as we watch Dulcy settle into her new life, there are many questions. Where is the money? Will Victor find her? The journey to find the answers is immensely satisfactory.

Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction, especially that set in the West. ( )