8/3/2019 St. Agnes' Stand Sinopsis

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Set in New Mexico, St Agnes' Stand is a classic story of the American West. Nat Swanson is on the run

from a mob of Texas cowboys. He has killed a man in a fair fight, but the man's friends believe he was

shot in the back and set out to string Swanson up for murder. A bullet in his leg slows him down and

with the posse closing in, his chances of survival look dim. Trying desperately to get to sanctuary in

California, he comes upon two freight wagons besieged by Apaches, and, against his better judgment,

stops to help. He kills one of the Indians with his grandfather's antique crossbow, buying time for

whoever survives behind the wagons. Thinking he's done his good deed, he continues his flight. One of

those trapped, however, is 76-year-old Sister Agnes, who prays to God for a man to deliver her, her

fellow nuns and the seven orphans they are transporting. Sister Agnes is convinced that Nat Swanson

has been sent by God to rescue them. Swanson is equally convinced that the best they can hope for is

not to be taken alive. And for five gruesome days in the blazing heat and dust, faith fights with humanity

for the simple right to exist.

St. Agnes' Stand

From his prose style, it is evident Eidson is a fan of Hemingway; his prose is taut, well-muscled,

and walks with a testosterone-laden swagger.

The story is best described as a contemporary western. It opens with a man on the run with his

dog who comes across a group under siege from a band of Apaches. The group consists of three

nuns, lead by the eponymous Sister St. Agnes, together with seven orphaned children they have

recently rescued. The Apaches have already caught and horribly tortured one nun and her

Mexican wagon driver who were attempting to make a run for help. Against his better

judgement, Swanson, for that is the man's name, decides to assist. To the Catholic sister,

Swanson is literally the answer to her prayers and she never doubts for an instant his ability to

save them for, as she constantly reminds him, he was sent by God.

The story tells of the increasingly personalised battle between Swanson and Locan, the giant

leader of the Apaches, who is rapidly losing face with his party of braves. In some respects St.

Agnes' Stand may be regarded as a conventional western. The characters are personalities you

would expect to meet. It is no surprise, for instance, to discover the good Sister St. Agnes turns

out to be a whisky-drinking, poker-player, thigh-slapping (OK, I made the last up) nun-of-a-gun.

What is surprising, even questionable, is the underlying theme, which is one of faith, specifically

Catholic faith versus savage superstition, and I do not employ the term savage lightly, because

Eidson absolutely demonises Locan and his followers in a surprising manner given the date of

publication, 1994. There is an argument to be made that Eidson is thoroughly contemporary in

that he is the literary equivalent of Quentin Tarantino or the Coen brothers in his exploration ofviolence but where the latter comment, in their different ways, on attitudes today, St. Agnes'

Standreads like a good, ol' fashioned parable of good versus bad. And the bad are still Injuns

and those of that ilk.

That said, it is still a good read and worthy of your own appraisal.

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8/3/2019 St. Agnes' Stand Sinopsis

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July 1858: Nat Swanson, a bullet in his leg and bone-weary, flees across the New Mexico desert from a

vengeful posse. Back in west Texas, he killed a man over a woman whose name he never knew, and now

hes on the run to California, his only hope for a new life the ranch deed in his pocket.

In a dry riverbed, Nat spots two overturned wagons surrounded by Apaches. The only sign of a survivor

is his quick glimpse of an old womans facea face that forces a stark decision. Nat can ride on and save

himself, or stay and try to save the stranded and doomed party. Sister St. Agnes, huddled between the

wagons with her fellow nuns and the orphans in their care, somehow knows that God will answer her

prayers and send a savior to deliver them from evil.

As death shadows the dusty arroyo, the forsaken canyon becomes a place of destiny where a

courageous nun and an embattled man confront their fates together.

Taut, spare, visual prose reminiscent of Larry McMurtry.

Publishers Weekly

This debut is highly recommended . . . so alive, so exciting . . . heart-wrenching and heartwarming.

Library Journal

Compelling . . . a powerful feat of storytelling.

The Irish Times

Eidson has emerged as a major contemporary voice . . . [His] novels are set in the Old West, but his

characters are scraping for a foothold on the frontier of the soul.

The Advocate & Greenwich Time

Winner of the Golden Spur Award and the W. H. Smith Thumping Good Read Award