Having received this from NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - many thanks - I honestly have to say that I found this story hard to engage with. While I got the premise of the story, I’m just not enjoying the book and that’s what I read for. It’s not bad writing, it’s simply a disconnect for me with its maundering pace. I’ve returned to it a few times, and sadly am resigned to add it to my did not finish list.

Thank you for not writing another novel set during WWII but a Western instead! A little confusing at times but the writing was excellent and kept me going. Ended up loving it.

Inland is a very well written book that nonetheless left me cold. I've struggled for weeks now to get past 40%, but I've found it too unrelentingly depressing to continue. The novel opens well, painting a clear picture of the landscapes and lives of the protagonists, but it was alternately too painful and too dull to continue. Obreht is a great technical writer and I hope to read more of her work someday, but not this one, alas.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC.

3.5
Ok. My mind was totally unprepared for this. Honestly, I didn't know what I was getting myself into except for the fact that the author is Obreht and that I quite enjoyed her debut, The Tiger's Wife.

On my first attempt, I just couldn't get into the story. But once again, it's her special way with words that I gave it another try. And I was sure glad I did. Second attempt was much better.

This novel was set in the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory in 1893. It revolved around Nora, an indomitable frontierswoman, who was waiting for the return of her husband who had gone in search of water and her sons who had left home after a rowdy dispute; and Lurie, an outlaw escaping from the authorities, turned cameleer for the Camel Corp, Both stories were told in different times - Nora's took place over one day, Lurie's over decades. When they finally 'met', I was blown away. That canteen...wow.. The canteen that held the water that held the past, the future, hopes, dreams, fears.

Lurie and Nora couldn't seem to let go of the past, although Lurie seemed to be making an attempt by moving farther away from it, and not letting the voices of his dead loved ones drown his thoughts; while Nora was trying hard to keep the memories of her daughter alive and continued to talk to her everyday, and did not want to move from Amargo, where she and her husband had started their family, no matter the circumstances.

My take? It felt almost as though Lurie was meant to make this journey for that tin canteen to be handed over to Nora, to give her hope and the strength that she needed, to move on.

If you have this book in your hands, step away from all distractions, clear your mind, take a deep breath, then dive in.

If you're reading this because you enjoyed The Tiger's Wife, all I can say is just don't expect the magical elements from her debut to be present here.

That said, I'd only recommend this to those who enjoy reading magical realism and (very) slow-paced, yet beautifully written novels.

Thank you #Netgalley and #RandomHouse for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This novel contains some of the most beautifully written sentences I've had the pleasure of reading. I'm looking forward to reading and discussing this book with one of my book clubs later this year.

Read this on a long car ride. As I am a huge fan of historical fiction and The Tigers Wife I had high expectations for this book. I have to admit it was very difficult to read, especially the beginning. I kept nodding off as I just didn’t connect with the characters or storyline, which was very chaotic and chopped up, with seemingly no flow. I committed to finishing it. Either the ending was better or I was less tired but it seemed somewhat more cohesive. Sadly to say, it definitely did not live up to my initial expectations. Thank you to Tea Obreht, Random House, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book to be published on August 13th.

Inland is a western, but a new and exciting kind (to me, anyway). Think News of the World or The Son, with non-stereotypical characters, exquisitely descriptive settings, and almost fantasy-like plot lines. Obreht writes beautiful sentences that you will marvel at, but her writing never fails to tell a terrific story.

In the midst of a drought in the Arizona Territories in 1893, we meet Nora, an independent frontierswoman, and Lurie, a former outlaw. Nora is waiting for her husband and sons to return to the parched homestead, while her youngest son is convinced that there is a mysterious beast prowling about. Lurie is haunted by the ghosts of his past who want him to take an epic journey. Nora’s story is told in one long, hot day, while Lurie’s takes place over decades. Their intersection is the perfect combination of magic and realism.

While the book is densely written, required my attention, and I had to start again from the beginning after I stopped reading for a few days, once I understood that both Nora and Lurie speak to the dead and read about the U.S. Army’s camel corps, it was one of the best books I’ve read in quite a while. Read to the very end and you will be rewarded.

Tiger's Wife was recommended to me, sounded intriguing - I thoroughly enjoyed the first 61% of book.
I was mesmerized by story...then it became more difficult to follow. But as I was in beginning of book I requested and received an ARC of Inland.

I started Inland taking notes to help me follow the story
then I became confused about The Missouri section .. who, who, who?
I thoroughly enjoyed the Amargo section
The San Antonio had me confused again... I had to reread it and study hard to follow storyline.
this continues for remainder of the book.

Tea is an excellent and talented writer, and I thoroughly enjoy how she describes- she is talented
Then she goes down the other path too deeply and I am confused and I do not enjoy it at all.
I am torn to say 5 stars or 2 stars...some of her writing I would be pushing the book in everyone's hands
Then her other writing has me asking somebody to read it
to explain to me the storyline because I cannot figure it out.

I had a really hard time getting into this book. The book was well written but I just couldn't engage with the plot.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

Immersive in a time and place we think is familiar, Inland joins and stands out from what seems to me to be a flourishing of the "Western" - think The News of the World, Outlander, The Sisters Brothers, The Heavenly Table and The Son. The focus is on characters who are anything but stereotypical but instead are outcasts in some way. Independent women, immigrants not far from their birth cultures, children with physical/mental differences. It is books like this that keep me enthusiastically reading.

Homeless and orphaned at age six, Lurie survived by working with "the Coachman" and sleeping in his stable. He helped collect "...lodgers who'd passed in their sleep, or had their throats cut by bunkmates." Grave robbing was included. Lurie developed a hunger. "A hunger that could not be satisfied...the want grew and grew." Apprehended by the law, he was sent away with other ruffians to the midwest. Securing a job at a mercantile and working with co-workers Donovan and Hobb Mattie, small robberies morphed into stagecoach robberies by the "Mattie Gang". Lurie was now a wanted man, on the run from Marshall John Berger.

Nora Lark felt "unbounded" by husband Emmett's move from town to town "to get away from all his mistakes and shortfalls." Nora was fiercely protective of their homestead in Amargo, Arizona territory. The year was 1893. Emmett, with sons Rob and Dolan, ran a small press, the Sentinel. Nora cared for youngest son Toby, blinded in one eye from a riding accident, wheelchair bound Gramma, and seventeen year old Josie, who communicated with the dead, a clairvoyant of sorts.

In order to create inner peace, both Lurie and Nora needed and found comfort in strange ways. Nora conversed with deceased daughter, Evelyn. This was comforting when Emmett journeyed to Cumberland for water. The family rain barrel was almost depleted. Rob and Dolan go to work at the print shop, or do they? Nora awaits the return of her husband and sons. Lurie's inner peace comes when working as a cameleer. He "talks" with Burke, his trusty camel, one of the pack animals for the U.S. cavalry.

"Inland" by Tea Obreht was filled with the struggles of frontier settlers living inland. The Camel Corps was instrumental in carrying salt, dry goods, even mail. Camels could bear heavier loads and in less time than horses. Author Obreht has taken two seemingly distinct storylines and masterfully connected them in a fascinating, poignant historical novel. Highly recommended.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group-Random House and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Inland".

“It’s not as cold as you would expect, the touch of the dead. The skin prickles like a dreaming limb. It’s not the strangeness of the feeling that terrifies you—it’s their want. It blows you open.”

A couple of weekends ago a friend asked me what my favorite book was so far this year and I said I hadn’t read any one novel that really blew me away yet in that can’t-stop-thinking-about-it, can’t-stop-talking-about-it, that-was-magnificent kind of way. Well, here it is. Inland by Téa Obreht is my favorite novel of the first half of 2019.

Set in the latter half of the 1800s in the Arizona Territory, Inland masterfully captures a sense of foreboding and doom that hums along ominously, growing chapter by chapter toward a gut-punch of a crescendo. Inland is the story of two characters - Nora, a homesteader and mother whose husband went for water and has not returned for days, and Lurie, the Turkish immigrant turned outlaw on the run from his past; it is also the story of the Arizona Territory, with Obreht painting it as formidable and unforgiving, a harsh, waterless landscape dotted with ghosts. Like one of these spirits, this book has stayed with me, and I haven’t been able to stop telling people about it since I finished it a few days ago. Inland is out this August and my only regret is that everyone has to wait until then to read it. Thanks Netgalley and Random House for the opportunity to read it early in exchange for this honest review.

Posted to Goodreads and Instagram on 5/22.

I loved The Tigers Wife by this author band Inland goes high on my list of magical reads Tea Obreht writes in a literary manner gorgeous images past& present a book to sink into, Highly recommend #netgalley#randomhouse

This is my first deep dive into writing by Téa Obreht and I simply cannot wait to get my hands on, The Tiger’s Wife next! This latest book by her is just stunning. Her descriptions of life, landscape and the characters in the novel are truly amazing. I felt like I was there, in the Arizona Territory right beside the characters of the book. I couldn’t put this book down and basically spent my whole weekend reading as opposed to doing anything else. I wanted to spend more time with the book but it was just so good, I couldn’t put it down. I loved this book! Thank you NetGalley!!

This book is sensational. I remember being so taken with The Tiger’s Wife, and anxiously waiting for another book. Now I know why it took so long. INLAND is a marvel. The book is vibrant and hard,and calls up the dust and hardship of the desert do beautifully, and then mixing in camels and magical realism, seals the deal for originality and verve. This book is destined for awards and massive sales. Bravo!

This was a good book that was well written and characterized but I found my mind wandering mid book. Overall a good book
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

I requested Inland after seeing it in a Netgalley feature. The story line appealed to me, and the author had a previous well-known work.. Sadly, I just could not get into it. I tried a few times to keep going, but it was like a chore. The writing was drawn out and I didn't feel a connection with the characters. This will be added to my did not finish list. Giving the remainder of the book the benefit of the doubt and giving an overall rating of 2 stars.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley for advanced copy of this book.

This book more than exceeded my expectations. Obreht and Inland had me at 1893, but a man who sees ghosts? WHERE DO I SIGN??? This one of those books that will grab you and hold you to the very end. Magic and myths in the land of the outlaws? Yes, please.

The first 10% of this book was a 5-star read for me. Then I spent the next week forcing myself to read at least 3% a day just so I could move on with my life—the story kept putting me to sleep, literally. I absolutely despised the ending and felt my fingers gripping the edges of my Kindle in anger but the final paragraphs were so beautiful and moving that I wept.

I won’t be surprised when Six Flags opens up their newest roller coaster attraction “Dea Reading Inland” but I will expect a share of the royalties, of course.

The prose was beautiful, I loved the setting, and the idea of the story is interesting, but I just feel like Obreht really mangled some promising material. Characters exist blatantly for plot development (not even development, more like “plot closure,” if that’s a thing?). The pacing is way off—this story takes place in a day but also, you know, we have decades of backstory to fill in the gaps, and both timelines are boring! I found myself constantly rereading passages because I nodded off, and sometimes I didn’t reread passages because I wanted to stay awake. This is not the sign of an enjoyable read.

There’s also the interesting hot take of depicting Native Americans and Mexicans as savages to fear because they will hunt and destroy white families and communities. And by “interesting” I mean “disturbing” and by “hot take” I mean “it’s 2019, I thought we were better than this by now but I guess not.”

I’d like to thank the author, publisher and Net Galley for an ARC of this book.
I was excited to read this book because I loved The Tiger’s Wife. Sad to say that about half way thru I had to put it aside in my DNF pile. I really tried to appreciate and understand what was going on but it all went over my head.
2.75