BARBED

A debut memoir recounts how a woman and her husband relocated to her family’s ranch in hopes of turning their lives around.

When Morrison’s father casually suggested that she and her husband, Brent, should move to Flagstaff, Arizona, to work on the family’s horse and cattle ranch, the couple jumped at the opportunity. In her mid-30s, the author held a job at a transportation consulting firm yet, despite her achievements, “woke up each day feeling more like a fool with errands.” She also found that the romance had drained from her marriage. Uprooting their lives, Morrison and Brent discovered that life on the ranch, which was in financial difficulty, was far from idyllic. Brent struggled to be accepted by the cowboys, and the couple felt that their “togetherness had grayed” further. Meanwhile, Morrison became wracked with self-doubt, sobbing to her mother: “I’m doing everything wrong. I am a disaster.” Yet as the author’s understanding of horses and ranch life developed, she was able to envisage a brighter future. The memoir ends with the emergence of Covid-19, resulting in the ranchers facing new challenges. Morrison’s love of horses is palpable throughout, and her writing captures the deep sense of satisfaction that comes from being in the saddle: “I forgot the healing sway of her gait—she ripples. I can’t help grinning as I feel the miraculous sensation of power and grace in the fluid motion beneath me.” The book also contains some keenly observant prose, capable of transporting readers directly to the trail: “We spiral our way up the hill through scrub oak, juniper, and ponderosa with the occasional prickly pear sticking out from behind a boulder or clump of cliffrose.” Disappointingly, such passages are all too scarce. When describing her life and relationships, Morrison often adopts a sterile, quasi-academic tone: “None of the structural components of a life or relationship can operate without affecting the whole; pain in one place will eventually spread.” Although the author shares her emotions, this stiff formality will make readers feel as though they are being kept at arm’s length. Morrison also repeats certain anecdotes, including how cowboys tie themselves to trees during a storm. Horse lovers will relate to the author’s writing immediately, but the prose is a bit flawed.

An intriguing but uneven ranch account that demonstrates some descriptive flair.