A 19th-century spinster joins a paleontological expedition as a scientific illustrator in this crisply intelligent and unsentimental novel. Smith's debut, Letters from Yellowstone, established its author as a skilled chronicler of the West more interested in intellectual advances than brute conquest; her second should cement her reputation. When the promise of a job at Yale lures Eleanor Peterson, then in her 30s, to join an expedition to the badlands of Montana, she brings along her friend and teacher, artist Augustus Starwood, an elderly Shakespeare-quoting eccentric who finds inspiration in the western landscape. Though he is the most flamboyant member of the expedition, Starwood is by no means its only memorable character. There is Patrick Lear, the group's leader, a stiff, secretive Yale professor; James Huntington, a boyishly enthusiastic gentleman collector; Little Bear, a white man who prefers to dress and pass as an Indian; hard-driving cook Maggie Hall and Maggie's son, Jeb. The Battle of Little Bighorn forces the motley crew to choose between digging up history and escaping to safety. The expedition does not last the summer, but Starwood's canvases survive to serve as the backbone of the novel, with Peterson in her old age sorting through them along with her memories. Smith layers her story like Montana rock, curious small fragments alternating with dramatic revelations. Her precise evocation of the stark western landscape matches her exacting portrayal of scientific debate and the assimilation of new theories. The end result is a very human picture of men and women puzzling out the past and the present as meticulously and artistically as Smith's remarkable heroine could wish. (Sept. 30)
Forecast:Rather than subvert western clichés like McMurtry does, Smith sidesteps them. Her novel will appeal to readers of feminist literature, though it resists easy classification. Three-city author tour.
