Whatever it is, that girl put a spell on me

A review of Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (New York: Harper & Brother, 1912). Ebook.

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Jane Withersteen is a wealthy, young Mormon woman in Utah. The local Mormon churchmen harass her because she befriends Gentiles (non-Mormons), and because she refuses to marry an elder named Tull, who wants to make Jane his third wife so he can acquire the considerable property and cattle she inherited from her father.

Tull and his men grab one of Jane's cowboys, Bern Venters, a Gentile, intent on whipping him out of their territory. But a rider dressed in black arrives on the scene, frightening the Mormons into leaving. This new man is Lassiter, an infamous gunfighter and hater of Mormons. He is searching for the grave of his sister, who had been taken from her home and brought to Utah to become a Mormon wife. Jane resolves to use her kindness to influence Lassiter to give up his life of violence.

When cattle rustlers steal one of Jane's herds, Bern rides out in pursuit. He gets into a gunfight with two of the thieves, killing one and wounding the other. He is shocked to discover that the latter is a feared rustler known as the "Masked Rider"—and a young, unarmed woman named Bess. In remorse, they hide in a cave in a secluded valley while he nurses her back to health. After some time, they fall in love.

Riders of the Purple Sage is a seminal Western novel. Along with Owen Wister's The Virginian, it helped define the genre. So the usual tropes are evident: gunfights, cowboys, rustlers, virtuous women and unscrupulous land barons. If that feels like a list of clichés, keep in mind that in 1912, they weren't clichés yet.

I was quickly struck by the novel's open animosity towards Mormons. (Whether this represents Zane Grey's actual opinions on the sect, or is just a plot device, I don't know.) I think we tend to regard the Latter-day Saints as an oddball pseudo-Christian religion, albeit a bland and family-friendly one. But this novel is set in 1871. At that time, polygamy was still official church policy. Brigham Young, who had previously been the governor of Utah and governed the territory as a theocracy, still wielded considerable influence. The Mormons were frequently in armed conflict with the U.S. Army and nearby native tribes, into whose territories they were encroaching. Keeping the historical backdrop in mind, the anti-Mormon sentiment makes sense.

I found the writing style a bit twee and melodramatic. A brief example:" 'Oh! Don’t whip him! It would be dastardly!' implored Jane, with slow certainty of her failing courage." Tull, you dastard! You'll need to get used to Jane uttering the expletive "Oh!" as she uses it quite a bit. (As an alternative title, how about Writers of the Purple Prose?) By contrast, more modern Westerns like True Grit, All the Pretty Horses, and Shane use a more straightforward prose style, and I wonder whether Grey's more sentimental style is a reason why I prefer the newer novels.

I got over it, though. For the first two-thirds of the novel, I wasn't engaging with the story or most of the characters. The exception was the subplot concerning Bern Venters and Bess. It was the better narrative. When the action switched back to Jane and Lassiter, my attention wandered. By the time the action began to rise toward the climax, though, I was thoroughly engaged. Zane Grey redeemed himself in the end.

Riders of the Purple Sage is not a great story, but it is a good one. While I prefer more modern storytelling, this novel is still worth reading, and I recognize its historical importance to the Western genre. By the end, I had added the sequel, The Rainbow Trail, to my to-read list too. If a novel makes me wish for more story, that's not a bad thing.