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Bleeding Kansas cover art

Bleeding Kansas

By: Sara Paretsky
Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
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Summary

The Grelliers and the Schapens are two families who have been farming in the Kaw River Valley for over 150 years, their lives connected through the generations by history and geography.

Then Gina Haring, bringing with her the liberal air of the big city, moves into a dilapidated house near both farms. Gina has secrets, her own reasons for being in the Kansas countryside, and they're not necessarily what the people around her imagine.

Almost every one of the Grelliers is drawn to her, but it is Susan Grellier, a woman of ephemeral passions, who stirs up the wrath of the Schapen clan by getting involved. The results for her own family will be cataclysmic.

©2008 Sara Paretsky (P)2008 Isis Publishing Ltd

Critic reviews

"Paretsky always forces her readers to think." ( Val McDermid)
"It's hard not to get caught up in her passion." ( Daily Mail)

What listeners say about Bleeding Kansas

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  • 01-05-14

Totally engrossing!

Where does Bleeding Kansas rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It ranks as one of the best.

Any additional comments?

I had only read a couple Sarah Paretsky's lady detective novels prior to listening to Bleeding Kansas and I wasn't sure what I was going to get when I downloaded it. I was bowled over by the story line, the characters, the plot and the intelligence of the whole. Hoping she's written more like this.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Paretsky but not as you know her

I got this, assuming that this was the latest in the series of Chicago based crime novels. But instead got one of the best pieces of American writing I have read. In fact I will listen again very soon. Set in a farming community this is a modern story which tells the intertwined tales of farmers and their families. Gently the stories unravel leaving a stark contrast between the gentle Grellier family and some of their violent and bigoted neighbours. Mixing humour and tragedy in setting far away from cities Paretsky has demonstrated that she is a writer of much wider ability. While I love her other work, I do hope that we will hear more from Kansas. A long book, beautifully read, and I was so sorry when it came to the end.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Disapointing

The ONLY audiobook I've ever skipped to the end to put myself out of my misery.
I was hoping for the wit of VI Warshawski and got stereotypes instead.

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