Novelist makes compelling debut with 'History'

"THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE," by Ann Weisgarber, Viking, 336 pages, $25.95 (f)

The South Dakota Badlands are a hard place to live in 1917. The summer has been hard, and there's more dirt growing than crops.

No one can remember when the last measurable rain fell, and the DuPree family has hit rock bottom.

Without water, the DuPree ranch, Circle D, is at a standstill. Nothing will grow, and the cattle are dying off fast.

It's desperation that sends Liz DuPree down the family well on a rope. The 6-year-old is the lightest family member who can still perform the task at hand — scraping the last drinkable water from the muddy bottom of the well.

The task is necessary, but heartbreaking nonetheless. And it's what starts Liz's mother, Rachel, down a different path.

Fourteen years ago, Rachel and Isaac DuPree left Chicago behind in hopes of getting their own land and a piece of the American Dream by utilizing the Homestead Act.

Life hasn't always been easy, but the DuPrees have been successful growing their ranch and their family. That is until now.

The drought has taken its toll. Rachel is heavy with child and is struggling to feed her family. She wants her children to have all the opportunities available, but living in the middle of nowhere makes that difficult.

Isaac has other ideas. He's one of the few black ranchers in the Badlands and sees owning land as an equalizing force with his neighbors.

The two used to have the same dreams, but now things are changing, they're growing apart. Rachel and Isaac see the world differently, with Isaac asking Rachel to carry burdens that are too heavy for one person to bear alone. Rachel must channel another kind of strength if she is to give her children a different life.

Written from Rachel's point of view, "The Personal History of Rachel DuPree" is an intimate look at a woman's life in Chicago and the Badlands during the early part of the 20th century.

Rachel's remembrances of life in Chicago are vivid and expressive as she conjures up tales from a different lifetime. But it's her experiences, particularly the opening sequence of sending her child down a well for water, that are so emotionally arresting.