The Brittle Star

If a man beats you, you never let your anger show, never at the time. You wait, until he least expects it, until nobody remembers that you were angry at all . . . In 1860s Southern California, life on the Burn ranch has been peaceful for fifteen-year-old John Evert since the death of his father. But recently there have been violent raids on nearby properties, where it's not just cattle and horses that are taken, but women too. And when the white-painted men arrive at Burn ranch on horses in the dead of night, John Evert is near-fatally injured, his beloved mother spirited away, and their house torched to the ground. Setting out on a journey to find his mother and reclaim his land from their contemptible neighbour, John Evert will fight in the Civil War and befriend an outlaw, challenge his assumptions and fall in love, before returning to fledgling Los Angeles older, sager and set on revenge . . . 'Langdale is excellent at delineating landscapes both natural and human.' Jane Smiley, Guardian