My Calamity Jane Book Review

You've heard of westerns -- or have you? Because, in this case, there's more to it than sharp-shooting and wild characters. In fact, there's a bit of the supernatural involved, along with some show-biz. That way, the story of Calamity Jane is set straight, with a perfectly heartwarming ending. Hold on to your hats! The Lady Janies have given us yet another historical fantasy about one of history's forgotten Janes, and it's wilder than even the most wild of westerns. 

The authors of this novel fondly call themselves the Lady Janies, and are comprised of writers Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows. Ashton, author of the Everneath trilogy and Diplomatic Immunity, received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Utah and a master's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics, and currently lives in Utah. Hand, New York Times bestselling author of the Unearthly trilogy and The Last Time We Say Goodbye, studied literary fiction and earned an MFA and PhD in fiction writing, and currently lives in Idaho. Meadows, author of the Incarnate trilogy and the Orphan Queen duology, currently lives in rural Virginia. These authors met in Texas in 2012, became fast friends, and then New York Times bestselling co-authors. They can be found at ladyjanies.blogspot.com.

Welcome to 1876 and a rootin'-tootin' America bursting with gunslingers, outlaws, and garou. Jane (a genuine hero-eene): Calamity's her name, and garou hunting's her game -- when she's not starring in Wild Bill's Traveling Show, that is. She reckons that if a girl wants to be a legend, she should just go ahead and be one. Frank (*wolf whistle*): Frank "the Pistol Prince" Butler is the Wild West's #1 bachelor. He's also the best sharpshooter on both sides of the Mississippie, but he's about to meet his match . . . Annie (get your gun!): Annie Oakley (yep, that Annie) is lookin' for a job, not romance, but she can't deny there's something about Frank she likes. Really likes. Still, she's pretty sure that anything he can do, she can do better. A hairy situation: After a garou hunt goes south and Jane finds a suspicious-like bite on her arm, she turns tail for Deadwood, where there's been talk of a garou cure. But things ain't always what they seem -- meaning the gang better hightail it after her before they're a day late and a Jane short. 

In the style of its two predecessors, My Calamity Jane is narrated by the Lady Janies themselves, but equally split into three points of views: those of Jane, Frank, and Annie. I would be remiss not to start with our leading Jane. Jane is unapologetically herself: she knows she's a no one who's famous for her skill, and nothing else. I think that's such an interesting take on fame, especially because celebrities nowadays focus so much on looks, appearances, as well as talent/skill. That just wasn't on Jane's mind at all, maybe as a product of the times (1876), but also because Jane genuinely doesn't care about appearances if they interfere with who she is. That's always a fun character to read, because it causes any kind of reader to wonder, "How would people accept me if I was just always myself." The answer, of course, is that the group of people who did accept you would be your family. In essence, this is a story about family, Jane's journey to accepting all parts of herself (especially after her transformation), and her finding the people that accept all those parts. She's different than our other "Janes" because she feels less like a figurehead in this historical fiction novel and more like a character we can truly learn from. Fans of Calamity Jane as a historical figure would definitely be interested to see how the Lady Janies pull different known characteristics of her into the making of this character-version of her. 

Frank and Annie are also really fun characters, and much better supporting characters. In fact, I think Annie is one of my favorite characters across all the Lady Janie books. Annie's prejudice arc was so compelling, and relatable. Annie uses one specific experience from her own life to make generalizations about other people that are hurtful and wrong. She does this to protect herself from the people that could hurt her, which in turn just hurts the people who do care about her. This behavior isn't unfamiliar to anyone -- Annie's experience is valid, and her desire to protect herself is also valid, but the way she goes about it is hurtful to everyone around her. This common coping mechanism is a very timely behavior for the authors to comment on. I haven't really seen any other author(s) attack this prejudice arc before in a sensitive and powerful way, which is what made Annie's character stand out so much for me. I truly wish, though, that the ending of Annie's arc could have been fleshed out more, in a way that didn't make it seem cheesy, or like she just "changed her mind" -- I wish we could have seen her struggle further, and to struggle to admit all of this to Frank and Jane (which would have made the whole arc seem even more relatable and powerful than it already was). That being said, I did really enjoy how Frank and Annie actually seemed to parallel each other. Annie is trying to overcome the prejudice that "all garou are bad" because she realizes she knows some really good people who are garou; and Frank is trying to overcome the prejudice that "all people who don't like garou are bad" because he realizes that having that opinion is just as toxic as having a prejudice against all garou. And of course, they're both making this journey because Annie and Frank love each other, but realize they need to make personal belief changes before they could truly be together. 

The longest of the Janies books takes us back to 1876 America, and takes the style of a classic western. This time period has a specific texture, ones that the authors grapple with and implement well (as seen by the book itself, and their extensive list of sources). I enjoy how I can hear the dialogue and the narration in my head, like I'm watching and listening to a western rather than just reading it. The dialect of the time is well-implemented. One critique of the book that I found were that some readers found that some of the sharp commentaries about the current political and social climates felt almost out of place. Of course, that kind of commentary is necessary, but the contrast between such a well-painted old western with everything that's going on today felt strange, and diverted from the story the Lady Janies were trying to tell, in those readers' opinions. I looked for the commentary and tried to see if I agreed with that, and at first, I did. But when I reached the end of the book, I decided that while the commentary wasn't entirely necessary, there wasn't enough of it to truly throw me away from the story. Only two of the commentary bits stand out from the others, relating to the situations of gun violence and how American history portrays Native Americans. These two commentaries directly relate to the atmosphere of 1876 America, and I feel like it was good for the authors to make a stand surrounding those two things, to further set their story straight. Any of the other commentaries about the current political and social climates were clearly meant to be humorous and not read into too deep (unless, of course, a reader wanted to), which, in my opinion, helped make this Lady Janie book the most comedic of the series. I actually enjoyed how the narrators talked to us more and felt more like a character this time, even though it was a little jarring at first (since they weren't as forward in the other books). 

Within just the first few pages, you can tell that this third book is different than all of the previous Lady Janie books. The authors do a wonderful job implementing representation of all kind in the novel: that of prejudiced people who can change; that of Native Americans, would we need to see more of in fiction; that of LGBT+ characters in history; and so many more. I wish the narrators would have commented more, actually, on the LGBT+ situation and relationships that existed back in the late 1800s, and how Jane and Winnie would have continued their relationship. It felt strange to me that the narrators didn't have any witty or heartfelt commentary on the situation, because they commented on pretty much everything else (all the way down to the etymology of specific phrases). Nonetheless, there was still so much to learn from this novel, and so many nuggets of truth and wisdom to be found. I wondered if the book itself had to be 500+ pages, but I decided that I didn't mind the page length. The story was engaging; the characters compelling; and the mystery and plot really did need all that space to be as fleshed out as it was, so that readers could be drawn into it all. The ending could have been fleshed out more, but after 500+ pages, it was a very satisfying ending, truly. 

I enjoyed this series more than I could say, and was glad we could welcome My Calamity Jane into the world, no matter how late. I think these author's clearly worked well together. I'm glad I will always have these wonderful, hilarious, heartwarming, and adventurous books on my shelf. They will always serve as a reminder that no matter what, you can complete anything if you put your mind to it. 

*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*