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    Let Him Go: A Novel
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    Let Him Go: A Novel
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    Let Him Go: A Novel
    Ebook274 pages4 hours

    Let Him Go: A Novel

    By Larry Watson

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    About this ebook

    A retired sheriff and his wife go after their young grandson in a riveting tale of familial love and its unexpected consequences. Let Him Go, Larry Watson’s ninth book, returns to big sky country in mid-century America but, with the pervasive menace of a small town family gone wrong and a shocking and deadly ending, this novel charts new territory for the author and provides a powerful dose of suspense for the reader. It's been years since George and Margaret Blackledge lost their son James and months since his widow Lorna took off with their only grandson and married Donnie Weboy. Margaret is resolved to find and retrieve the boy while George is none too eager to stir up trouble. Soon, the Blackledges find themselves entangled with the entire Weboy clan, who are determined not to give up the boy without a fight.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMilkweed Editions
    Release dateSep 3, 2013
    ISBN9781571318909
    Author

    Larry Watson

    Larry Watson was born in Rugby, North Dakota and raised in Bismarck. He is the recipient of the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, a National Endowment of the Arts award, and the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association Regional Book Award. Watson teachers English at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Points.

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    Reviews for Let Him Go

    4/5

    12 ratings33 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Slow, boring,
    • 4/5
      This novel tells a good story. Margaret and George Blackledge's only son had died in an accident and they are estranged from their only daughter. They have a grandson whose mother has re-married and moved away. They miss their grandchild and have trouble letting him go....so, they travel to his new home to retrieve him, hoping to convince his mother to give up custody. As you might imagine, things don't go exactly as planned.I liked the story and the writing style, but found the plot a bit forced. I would have preferred a more character-driven story.
    • 3/5
      A lean, dark and vivid tale.
    • 4/5
      How much of life is that. Right there. Trying not to land wrong. Page 41George and Margaret Blackledge set off on a journey from North Dakota to retrieve the grandson they lost after the death of their own son. Travelling through the American Midwest, encountering a land both strangely foreign and yet unsettlingly familiar at the same time, both are driven by a love so strong, yet so different from one another, it demands they forge ahead when accepting the loss would have been the sensible and safer choice. Watson's writing is so simple and serene that it casts a deceptive calm in your reading so that when you encounter the sudden violences in the story, it stands out glaringly in a landscape of peaceful monotony. It is both jarring, unexpected, but a point well made. You know an author is gifted when the character that you can't seem to shake off is the one who rarely appears in the story, barely uttering a single word. The Blackledge's grandson, Jimmy is that such character. A young boy caught between the complicated world of adult affairs, his appearances in the story are short and brief, but unforgettable and gut wrenching. If you are fan of thoughtful characterizations and writing that evokes a strong sense of place and time, Let Me Go is definitely a gem that shouldn't be passed up. Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      I picked up a copy of this at The Book Expo and it was on the top of one of my piles and not too long so I picked it up for a quick read. This book moved very fast and I liked the writing style and lack of quotation marks. The story held my interest and I was engaged in the story however I wasn't quite able to connect to or like any of the characters. There just wasn't enough character building for me. The basic premise of the story is that Martha goes off to try and find and "take back" the son of her dead son whose mother re-married and moved away. Along for the ride is her husband George. Her justification for trying to take her grandson away from his mother was never fully fleshed out for me to go along with Martha's quest and contributed to me not really liking the character. Overall well written and enjoyable enough for me to recommend if you happen to come across it and want a quick read.
    • 5/5
      Awesome story that just takes your breath away.
    • 5/5
      Exquisite literary country noir piece centering on poor families, clans and kin, what extent they will go to to keep kin with kin and the hierarchy such families have in place. This is a devastating story and while short, a slow read, a piece that deserves to be lingered over rather than devoured. This is not a happy story and if that is what you like to read it won't be for you. Gritty, bleak and oppressing even, at times, this is the kind of story that makes me think and appreciate the good in life. The Blackridges have suffered tragedy in their life but they are a family based on love, and love for each other drives them. On the other hand, the Weboys are a clan based on fear and control, though family always sticks up for family, no.matter.what. As the two families face off over the fate of a grandchild, the suspense slowly rises. One knows something is going to happen at some point but when it does it is a surprise and exactly what happens is a shock. The climax hit me hard! The ending is bittersweet but redeeming and left me satisfied. For reader's of tragedies or country noir set in the American West.
    • 4/5
      The Blackledges (George and Margaret) head from their home in North Dakota, to Montana to find their grandson. Their son died a few years ago, their daughter is all but estranged from them, living in Minnesota, and Margaret is heartbroken that her daughter in law has married another man and they left with little Jimmy in tow. George, a former sheriff and a man of few words, is not keen on the idea, but Margaret is going with or without him, and it seems he can never really say no to her. They meet interesting folks along the way, and find trouble when they get to Montana. Watson is an excellent writer who draws you into the story and the characters. The violence seems out of place with the calm, matter of fact writing style, but perhaps that is the point.
    • 5/5
      It has all the elements of a Larry Watson book- Montana in the 50s, a tight-lipped law man, tragedy. Yet this may be his best book. He sets a great tone, uses the exact word, and has made remarkable chaacters. The action was rivoting and kept me reading chapter after chapter.
    • 5/5
      If Shakespeare had been writing tragedies set on the American plains in the 1950s this would be the book he would have written. Forces bigger than the characters lead them on to the inevitable conclusion. Great stuff.George and Margaret Blackledge are an older couple living in Dalton, North Dakota. They have been married 40 years and those years haven't been particularly kind. Margaret gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, soon after marriage. The Blackledges lived on the ranch that Margaret's father homesteaded and that's never an easy life. Then George took a job as the sheriff which took him away from home a lot. Margaret did most of the ranch work although the son helped when he got older. James got married and his wife had a son, Jimmy. The daughter moved away to Minneapolis and seemed to want nothing more to do with the ranch. James stayed nearby and came often. On one of those trips home he saddled up a horse but when the horse came back riderless the Blackledges knew James was dead. His wife and son lived with them for a while; in fact, George and Margaret sold the ranch so they could move to town and provide more amenities for the grandson. But the widow remarried and she and her husband moved back to Montana where he was from. One morning in September of 1951 Margaret decides to go after them to bring Jimmy back and, although she gave George a choice about accompanying her, really there was no chance George wouldn't go. And so George runs up against the Weboys of Gladstone Montana, a family of thieves, fighters and possibly killers. There is no way they are going to let Jimmy go; the choice is how far George is prepared to take Margaret's quest.Larry Watson has a knack for describing the landscape and the people of the American west. See this example:With the rocky foothills and striated bluffs behind them, they walk west, across a sandy landscape whose only undulation is a long, subtle slope toward a silty creek. The tall cottonwoods near the water rustle even without the wind, and the lint from those trees snags in the sagebrush and gathers in the pebbly seams where, in another season, water runs.Read it for the story but enjoy the writing.
    • 4/5
      I'd read anything Larry Watson writes and was thrilled to receive this as an ER book. Unlike so (so!) many novels out today which need oodles of pages removed, this novel was spare and well written. Kudos to LW for another great read.
    • 5/5
      I first discovered Larry Watson when I read his stunning, beautiful, and stark novel, Montana, 1948, many years ago. That book still haunts me and I was hoping for a similar reaction to his latest. Let Him Go is another slight, Western set novel, with a plot so visceral and gripping that I wasn't disappointed. Another gorgeously exquisite, heartbreaking and masterful novel. It is 1951 and Margaret Blackledge is not content for her only grandson to disappear with his mother and new stepfather. Little Jimmy is the only link she and husband George, a retired sheriff in small Dalton, North Dakota, have to their late son James. Margaret knows that Jimmy's new stepfather, Donnie Weboy, is not a good person, abusive and mean to her beloved grandson and she is decided that she will follow Lorna and Donnie to the ends of the earth if need be in order to bring back her grandson. How she'll convince the boy's mother to give him up remains to be seen. And she has no idea of the resistance, ugliness, and simmering violence awaiting her in the form of Donnie's ruthless, morally bankrupt clan. But Margaret is driven by her love for her son and grandson and she is resolved not to come home without her boy. George is a much more stoic character than Margaret and more inclined to let things lie but when his choice is to watch Margaret leave on her quest or to accompany her, there is no choice really. And it is George who discovers that their journey into the Weboy underworld will cost them far more than they expected. As Margaret and George travel towards Gladstone, Montana, their relationship, its quiet endurance and its unspoken love and support, is laid bare in their conversations, the simple quiet, and the internal expectations each harbors. Margaret's fierce, driving determination becomes a shared thing so that once they encounter the sinister Blanche Weboy, matriarch of the lawless and vigilante clan, they are as one, even under the onslaught of a twisted and possessive evil. Watson's writing is spare, eloquent, and elegant, echoing the frozen wide open spaces of the landscape. There is a stillness and a sense of waiting about the novel and in the characters, Margaret and George in particular. The ending is shocking and yet the only way the novel could possibly end. A tour de force about justice, strength, sacrifice, and all the lengths to which people will go in order to rescue those they love, this is a powerful and deceptively simple book.
    • 4/5
      Set in 1951 North Dakota. Years after losing their son in a horseback riding accident, George and Margaret Blackledge have still not come to terms with his death. Their daughter-in-law has remarried and cut off all contact with the Blackledges, taking their grandson to Montana. Though Margaret wants to rescue the boy, her efforts are challenged by her reluctant husband and the boy's troublemaking stepfamily. Sumary HPLI received an advance reading copy of LET HIM GO from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer programme. Hadn't even heard of Larry Watson before but was impressed--as other readers will be--by the terse recommendation on the front cover from Alice LaPlante: "A brilliant achievement." Once I had read LET HIM GO, I understood that praise from this female author was like an icon of a hand pointing to a speech bubble with the words "This is a literary novel." Good to know.So if you like your female protagonists (in their 60s!) to be powerful, domineering bad asses who discount death as collateral damage, LET HIM GO will have you panting for a movie version. Too bad Sam Peckinpah is no longer with us--he would have known how to show us what Mr. Weston's laconic piece can only tell. The Tarantinos could do it....But me, I am the one in the audience who doesn't think that Lady Macbeth "made him do it". I still believe Margaret was more than right to try to rescue her dead son's son from that hillbilly camp of criminals. I think her husband George was too used to being a chief (sheriff) to follow her plan, thus causing the devastation at the end.Larry Watson's prose is vivid enough to make me avoid North Dakota!7 out 10 Recommended to above mentioned readers.
    • 4/5
      I received an ARC of Larry Watson's Let Him Go compliments of Library Thing Early Reviewers. I appreciated the opportunity and provide my unbiased review. The author takes us back to the 1950's, set in North Dakota, across the Badlands and into Montana. The novel centers around Margaret and George Blackledge, grandparents on the journey of their life in search for their only grandson whose absence has left a void in their hearts. Tragically, the Blackledge's only son James died far too young, the result of a horse riding accident. He left to mourn his parents, his only son Jimmy, his widow, Lorna and twin sister Jane. Not long after his death, Lorna finds herself involved with Donnie Weboy, whose family is infamous for trouble and a lack of regard for others and the law. Donnie and Lorna leave for his homestead in Montana, while keeping the Blackledges from seeing their grandson. The Matriarch of the Weboy clan soon stands in the way between the Blackledges and their plans to return their grandson to his roots. The novel is slow to start, however, the pace picks up as the Blackledges face their grief and use fear as their motivation to find their grandson. The relationship between husband and wife is established throughout the novel with the author sharing glimpses of their early marriage and how adversity and complicating circumstances influenced their deep-seeded love.Friendships are built along the way, adding new and enjoyable characters to the mix. The scenes created by the author are stunning, the description of the surroundings are written with intense detail and beautiful prose. The themes of justice, grief, commitment and a grandparent's love all play a role in sharing this deeply satisfying yet somber tale. This is the first novel that I have read by Larry Watson and I am a new fan.
    • 4/5
      As a grandmother of 10 grandchildren I can completely understand Margaret's devotion and dedication to her one and only grandson, the child of her recently deceased son. This kind of love can make someone go to the lengths she was willing to go to, in order to save Jimmy from a cruel existence with mental and physical abuse. The only way she could "let go" of her son's memory was to "not let go" of her grandson. Larry Watson's novel is a brutally honest in depth study of love in all its obsessive and twisted forms, mother son, husband wife, brother sister...I was thoroughly caught up in the narrative which helped me the language snob to get over or "let go" of all the quotation marks. I recommend the book to anyone with who has ever loved anyone.
    • 4/5
      I have not traveled across the Badlands but I can imagine the starkness of the prairie and the harshness of the rocky bluffs. It would be much like reading this book about Margaret and George's 1951 quest from South Dakota to Montana looking for the namesake of their dead son. How sad to lose one's only son in a freak accident and then have his child leave town with the bad boy his mother married. The resulting story about the harsh journey propelled by the headstrong Grandma Margaret accompanied by her reluctant husband made for some excellent reading. Grandma and Grandpa got more than they bargained for when they finally met up with the Weboy clan led by the petite bully, Blanche. Two matriarchs go head-to-head in this battle for a meek 4-year-old boy who would keep the family name going for another generation.The simple prose that can't even waste quotation marks on dialogue starts this account out slowly. But when the families clash, a shocking bit of brutality makes for suspenseful reading that continues right up to the end when George shows the depth of his devotion to Margaret. Another winner by a born storyteller!
    • 4/5
      The 1950's and North Dakota, not exactly the days of the old west but much of the attitude and history is still present. A hardy people, hardy stock and hard-working like Margaret and George. Unfortunately in places it is still the old west in that laws don't apply to everyone and fear can still have a huge impact. They take a journey with the hope of retrieving someone that has the utmost of importance, to Margaret more than George. They find more than they anticipated and will never be the same. This book is a wonder, beautifully written, spare language and in your face confrontations.It is hard not to be consumed by this novel it is so compelling. How far will we go for family? For justice? What will we sacrifice? All this is answered for Margaret and George and hats off to the author for the ending. Hard yes, real, yes, I can't see it ending any other way. I have already checked out his other two novels, only hope they are as good as this one. Brilliant!
    • 5/5
      George and Margaret have been married for decades and know each other in the way only those long-married couples can. Told mostly in narrative between the pair, their conversations are as stark and lean as the country they travel through. Before too many pages are turned, we know the Blackledges and understand their love and devotion to each other as well as the losses they've sustained. Love, loss, devotion, determination, regret, and redemption all play out with the clarity of a black and white movie. This book will stay with you long after you turn the last page.
    • 5/5
      Margaret Blackledge is determined to retrieve her grandson from her daughter-in-law who has moved with him to Montana after the death of Margaret's son. Margaret convinces her husband, George, to go with her. Once there, things take go in an unimaginable direction that leads to a shocking conclusion.I cannot praise this book enough. The writing is extraordinary and the characters are incredible. Everyone in this book is completely lifelike and flawed. Larry Watson is truly one of our greatest writers.
    • 5/5
      Now here is a book I can recommend enthusiastically to both men and women. It's a saga of a lost grandchild and of his grandparents' attempt to rescue him. Margaret and George Blackledge are truly amazingly drawn characters, and others in the book are vivid and striking. I had to reread the cover to find that it's set in 1951. Completely timeless, and I compare it to True Grit by Charles Portis, it's that good. Now I'll hit up Larry Watson's back catalogue, he is an author worth knowing and his North Dakota and Badlands are truly worth every minute you spend there. This one will linger. I'm buying it to adorn my shelves and to reread.
    • 5/5
      Let Him Go is the story of George and Margaret Blackledge, grandparents of a child who has been moved from their home in North Dakota to Montana, after his mother's remarriage. The Blackledges' son, the boy's father, is deceased. Margaret has seen a troubling interaction between her grandson and his new stepfather, Donnie Weboy, so she intends to travel to Montana to bring the boy and his mother home with them.During the journey, we learn the couple's background and get to know them as people. Once they reach Montana, they have a meeting with Donnie's coarse and vulgar family. The Weboys refuse to let the boy's grandparents visit with him, and subtly threaten the grandparents, who leave quietly.From this point, the feeling of apprehension builds and does not let up until the climax. It's amazing how Watson can weave such a seemingly homespun tale and simultaneously infuse it with suspense and dread. I was totally caught up in this universe until I turned the last page of the book.Beautiful language, powerful characterization, vivid descriptions, and a compelling plot with a huge emotional payoff made this book a complete winner for me. Larry Watson has long been one of my favorite authors, and this book was as good as I expected it to be. Highly recommended for all readers.
    • 5/5
      As a fan of Larry Watson's going back to Montana 1948, one of my all-time favorites, I looked forward to having early access to his latest book through the Early Reviewers program. Although it was a slow start for me, I was drawn to the characters and their relationships. I found the book thought-provoking, particularly about grandparents' rights and letting go. I think this would make a great choice for a book discussion group.
    • 3/5
      George and Margaret Blackledge had twins, a boy and a girl. They are estranged from their daughter. And their son was killed in a freaked horse-riding accident. Now, their son's widow has re-married and left town with the Blackledge's only grandchild, their only connection with their deceased son. One day, George comes home for lunch to find Margaret packing their car; she is determined to find and bring home their grandson. George is unable to talk his wife out of this venture and so joins her, travelling from Dalton, South Dakota to Gladstone, Montana.What Larry Watson does best is to convey the remoteness, the starkness, the aloneness of the northern Great Plains. His prose is remote and stark and alone. His characters are remote, stark and alone. And, unfortunately in Let Him Go, his characters are too remote and too alone. There was a huge lack of human connection and therefore the friendships Margaret makes seemed false, her relationship with her grandson felt false and George's sacrifice felt false. I am extremely disappointed because I think Larry Watson is an incredible writer and my disappointment won't prevent me from reading his next book.
    • 5/5
      A man comes home for lunch in a small North Dakota town and finds his wife packing up their car and tells him they are going to Montana to get their grandson. This begins the story of a grandmother who doesn't give up in her search for the little four year old grandson she loves so much. Larry Watson has written so many great novels and this one must be added to the list.
    • 4/5
      Larry Watson has once again delivered a finely crafted novel, this one telling the story of a ranch couple who have lost their only son and seek to reclaim their grandson. Beautifully written, spare yet eloquent, this book also delivers a very surprising denouement. As another reviewer has commented, this book would be an excellent book club pick.
    • 5/5
      It has all the elements of a Larry Watson book- Montana in the 50s, a tight-lipped law man, tragedy. Yet this may be his best book. He sets a great tone, uses the exact word, and has made remarkable chaacters. The action was rivoting and kept me reading chapter after chapter.
    • 5/5
      The Badlands of North Dakota. Autumn, 1951. George and Margaret Blackledge are an elderly couple, trying to find peace in their waning years but there is a family issue that continues to haunt. They lost their only son James, in a horse-riding accident and he left behind a pregnant wife. The widow, young and restless, takes her baby and hitches up with a fellow from Gladstone Montana. He belongs to the Weboy clan, a notorious and dangerous outfit, that most sane folks steer clear of.Margaret decides one day, that she wants her grandson back and convinces, George, a retired sheriff, to make the trek to their neighboring state and find the boy. The older couple have no idea what is in store for them in the wilds of Montana.Watson is a polished story-teller and a master at evoking images of the American West. His prose is lean and his characters come alive on the page. Here he describes Margaret:“Her neck is long, though its tendons often look taunt as the ropes that held their tent stakes. Yes, a regal profile. Yes, a woman willing to plunge into any water, no matter how icy or swift, if she has reason to get to the other side.”This is the author’s ninth book and he seems to be as strong and agile as ever. A perfect fall read. Seek it out.“Autumn has come to northeast Montana. The vapor of one’s breath, the clarity of the stars, the smell of wood smoke, the stones underfoot that even a full day of sunlight won’t warm- these all say there will be no more days that can be mistaken for summer.”
    • 4/5
      In 1950s North Dakota, George and Margaret Blackledge lose their only son to a horse riding accident. Left behind are their son’s widow and young child, Jimmy, adored by his grandparents. When Jimmy’s mother remarries a dark-haired charmer from Montana and relocates to that state, Margaret is determined she will go to any length to get her grandson back. She and George set out in their Hudson across the Badlands. Turns out the Weboys are known in various parts of Montana. They have a reputation which precedes them – cruel, dishonest, sinister, criminal. But the Blackledges truly have no idea what they’re headed for. How far will we go for family? Is there a line we will not cross? What about the lines blurring before our eyes – the ones we swore we’d never cross? Such are the questions addressed in Let Him Go, a novel propelled by superb writing and memorable matriarchs: Margaret Blackledge and Blanche Weboy. Watson’s suspense is unputdownable.
    • 5/5
      In Let Him Go by Larry Watson we are drawn into the world of George and Margaret Blackledge, who, knowing that their deceased son’s wife has married a man who will be a cruel stepfather, embark on a quest to recover their grandson, feeling strongly that he deserves to be raised as a Blackledge not as a Weboy. George, an ex-sheriff, knows that this won’t be an easy or sure thing, but Margaret is righteous in her belief that this child should be raised by people who love him.When they arrive at the small town in Montana and make their objective clear, they unleash upon themselves the might of the Weboys, with their controlling mother and evil uncle. I don’t think of myself as a vengeful person, but I was hoping that the Weboy clan would in turn suffer consequences for their brutality. This story of two families at war with each other was both gut-wrenching and real, and one that I could not put down.Written in almost classic western style this story of love, revenge and redemption is elevated by the author’s use of sparse yet poetic prose delivered by strong, well developed characters to create a timeless story that cuts right to the heart. Let Him Go is a fantastic read, and Larry Watson is a master at both the art of storytelling and the craft of writing. I highly recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      It has been years since I enjoyed “1948”, the only novel I’ve ever read by fellow Montanan, Larry Watson. I live in the mountains, a few miles from the Continental Divide, while Watson writes about the opposite corner of Montana, where North Dakota, Saskatchewan and Montana come together in a mixture of rolling plains and broken country.The book opens in western North Dakota as Margaret Blackledge is packing her car to go and find her grandson. The year is 1951 and despite protests from her retired sheriff husband, George, Margaret is determined to go with or without him. The writing is spare, the feeling of a small windblown prairie town authentic and the relationship between these two main characters is as deeply set as the wrinkles on their faces and the decades since their marriage. This feels like Kent Haruf territory, moved several hundred miles north of eastern Colorado, with an older couple ready to begin looking for the grandson that was taken away by their son’s widow when she remarried.The pace is slow, the writing comfortable and enveloping, bringing the reader along as George and Margaret begin their search for the Weboys, the extended family that now includes their grandson. Their search ends in fictional Gladstone, in eastern Montana, and with their discovery comes a subtle shift in mood and plotting. It will not be easy to convince their errant former daughter-in-law to leave the tight clutches of the trouble-making Weboy clan, and especially the matriarch, Blanche Weboy, who runs the family like a transplanted mafia clan.Larry Watson skillfully manages this unlikely transition from a feel good tale of a grandparents’ search to the portrayal of a graphic confrontation between families that catches the reader off guard and sends the plot spinning. This is a sort of prairie noir that is all the more accomplished for its unexpectedness. Watson masterfully maintains the original voice and tone from beginning to end, but the reader is stunned by the unfolding of events.I’ve always thought of Larry Watson as mostly a Montana author or at best a regional one. “Let Him Go” is proof that he deserves much wider attention and praise. It has also convinced me that I need to find the novels that I have missed and give myself the pleasure of getting re-acquainted with an old friend.