The Crucible meets True Grit in this riveting adventure story of a fugitive girl, a mysterious gang of robbers, and their dangerous mission to transform the Wild West.
On the day of her wedding, 17-year-old Ada believes that her life is moving on the right path. She loves her husband and loves working as an apprentice to her mother, a midwife. After a year of marriage and no pregnancy, her survival depends on leaving behind everything that is familiar.
In the year 1894 and in Anna North's universe, barren women are routinely hanged as witches resulting in women having to find a place for themselves elsewhere. Ada relocates to a convent where she tries to research what makes a woman barren, after learning of a woman who does tests and research on this topic Ada makes it her mission to embark on a dangerous and precarious journey to help solve the problem of barren women.
Ada joins the notorious Hole in the Wall Gang, a band of outlaws led by a preacher-turned-robber known as The Kid. The Kid is charismatic and grandiose but determined to create a safe haven for outcast women. To make this dream a reality, the Kid hatches a treacherous plan that might get the whole gang killed. Ada must decide whether she is willing to risk her life for the possibility of a new future for them all.
Ada is irresistibly no-nonsense, courageous, and determined, the perfect heroine for the old West. This story gives a new and fresh retelling of the Wild West by giving the promise of the frontier with a new set of feminist stakes. It is reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' because of the strong religious context and the need for more children in a world with a smaller population. In the case of Outlawed, it was a sickness, tying into the current day pandemic that has resulted in lower numbers in the population. The book is a page-turner in its search for hope and truth through the wake of death, small-mindedness, and fear.
