The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Anna Keesey, author of "Little Century," will be reading at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters on July 6.

Keesey's debut novel landed on Oprah's Top 16 Best Books for June. "Little Century" was also selected for The Christian Science Monitor and Vogue Magazine summer reading lists. Although the story is set in the early 1900s, its land and water conflicts still resonate.

The coming-of-age story by the Linfield College writing professor follows a young orphan from Chicago who rides the rails west in search of her last living relative. Esther, the heroine, lays claim to land outside the lawless frontier town of Century, Oregon, where a bitter range war between cattle ranchers and sheepherders explodes in violence.

Esther finds her sympathies divided between a terse cattle rancher and a tender-hearted sheepherder who is a sworn enemy of local cattlemen. As her romantic feelings deepen and violence between the two groups escalates, she realizes she has to make a difficult decision, one that encompasses far more than personal passions. In this morality tale, where settlers are duped, politics are corrupted and land is stolen, the heroine develops a moral clarity that far outstrips her age.

"Dwindling resources, bribery, and corruption - issues as current as this morning's newspaper - mix with optimism in 'Little Century,' Anna Keesey's briskly romantic, nontraditional Western," said Liza Nelson, from O, The Oprah Magazine. "It's Willa Cather with a sense of humor."

Keesey will discuss her work at 6:30 p.m. at Paulina Springs Books, 252 W. Hood Ave. for more information call 541-549-0866.