THIS was the first time I’d read anything by Nicholas Evans. His previous books have been massive (15 million sales and counting for his first smash, The Horse Whisperer), but I thought they were pseudo-Western weepies aimed at the Mills and Boons crowd.
I sat down to read The Brave on a grey, featureless day – turning the last page about five hours later.
It was a cracking tale; compelling, thought-provoking and with a real power to move. The book centres around Tom Bedford and his journey from English suburbia and a brutal boarding school to Hollywood and the open spaces of Montana and his rendering of the American landscape will have you checking out flight prices.
With another huge Montana-fuelled hit on his hands, if the state tourist board isn’t already building statues of the author, it should start now.
Matt Dickinson
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