Tough Luck: A Novel

by Sandra Dallas

Overview

In this homage to True Grit, a young woman makes a perilous journey west in 1863 in search of her gold-mining father.

After their mother dies, Haidie Richards and her younger brother, Boots, are put to work in an orphanage. Their father left four years earlier to find a gold mine in Colorado Territory, and since then he’s sent only three letters. Still, Haidie is certain that he is alive, has struck gold, and will soon send for them.

But patience is not one of Haidie’s virtues, and soon she and her brother make a break for it. Boots and Haidie, disguised as a boy, embark on a dangerous journey deep into Western territory. Along the way, Haidie learns fast not only how to handle mules, oxen, and greedy men, but also that you are better off in a community. Hers includes a card shark, independent “spinster” sisters, and a very fierce dog. Once she arrives in Colorado and finds out the truth about her father, Haidie will need all her new friends for a get-even plot worthy of The Sting.

Filled with vivid period detail, colorful characters, and the irreverent voice of our scrappy heroine, Tough Luck celebrates both the tenacity of youth and the persistence of the heart in the great American West.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250352309
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/29/2025
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 5.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Sandra Dallas is a New York Times bestselling author of nearly twenty adult novels, several children's novels, and numerous works of non-fiction about Western subjects. Her work has won numerous awards and prizes including the Colorado Book Award and, in 2021, she was inducted into the Colorado Authors' Hall of Fame. A former bureau chief for Business Week magazine, Sandra lives in Denver and Georgetown, Colorado with her husband.

Editorial Reviews

02/17/2025

Dallas (Little Souls) serves up a lively if simplistic tale of a spirited 14-year-old girl’s journey by wagon train across the American West in 1863. After Haidie Richards’s mother dies, her conniving older brother sells the family farm in Illinois and puts her in an orphanage, their father having left years earlier in the gold rush and dropped out of contact. Desperate to find her father and set things right, Haidie escapes the orphanage and disguises herself as a boy to win a job on a mule team. On the way west, she faces dangers typical to the genre, including bandits who steal a mule and an attack on horseback by a band of “savages.” She also meets such colorful characters as a good-hearted gambler and a preacher’s wife who was forced into prostitution. After Haidie reaches Denver and discovers her father’s fate, she sets into motion a plan to redeem her family. Haidie, a self-confessed liar and sharp judge of character, is an entertaining narrator, and Dallas keeps the story moving at a brisk trot. Readers looking for an old-fashioned western will be satisfied. Agent: Danielle Egan-Miller, Browne and Miller. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Tough Luck

"Calling your novel an homage to True Grit is bold, but Dallas' work will humble the naysayers. Haidie Richards is every bit as smart, funny, capable, and cunning as True Grit's Mattie Ross... A rollicking western with an unforgettable heroine." —Booklist

"Haidie, a self-confessed liar and sharp judge of character, is an entertaining narrator, and Dallas keeps the story moving at a brisk trot. Readers in the mood for an old-fashioned western need look no further."

—Publishers Weekly

"Full of humor, heart, and hope, this novel is a delight."

—Library Journal, Starred review

"Another treat from Sandra Dallas, Tough Luck is a lighthearted story filled with adventure. I loved the tender hearted and quirky characters and I only hated that the story had to end."

—Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of The Kitchen House and Crow Mary

"Fourteen year-old Haidie is smarter than the men in her life, and she'll need every ounce of her wit and grit if she is to deliver her little brother Boots to the father who abandoned their family for the promise of gold. On prose that rides west at an easy canter, Tough Luck keeps its reader tight to the stirrups."

—John Larison, author of Whiskey When We're Dry

"Haidie’s unforgettable voice carries the reader along on a perilous adventure through Civil War-era America, into the untamed West, in search of Haidie’s absent father. A vibrant cast of characters—muleskinners and thieves, gamblers and fallen women—lace the story with atmosphere and charm. Fans of Charles Portis and Elmore Leonard will love Tough Luck" —Olivia Hawker, Washington Post bestselling author

Praise for Where Coyotes Howl

“Rich character development and memorable secondary plotlines.”

—The Denver Post

"A poignant love story that brings to life both the brutality and the beauty during the turn of the century in the rugged, American West."

—Lee Woodruff

"Dallas' blunt, brutal latest explores the mythic soul of the American West...through a female lens."

—Booklist (Starred Review)

"Immersive… Well-rounded characters, convincing period details, and a sumptuous setting make this sing. Readers will be hooked."

—Publisher's Weekly

From the Publisher

★ 01/01/2025

Dallas's 24th novel (after Where Coyotes Howl) is historical fiction that features familiar elements from her oeuvre: a family focus, a Western setting, and a determined woman lead. In 1863, Haidie Richards and her younger brother Boots are left in an orphanage by their older brother when their mother dies. Their father headed west to search for gold two years before, and Haidie is sure that he has since struck it rich and is waiting for his children to find him. She breaks them out of the orphanage and goes west, dressed as a boy for safety. She's so convincing as a young man that even readers may forget she's actually a girl. Haidie discovers the importance of a supportive community as she and Boots travel. They connect with an honest trail driver, befriend two tough spinster sisters, and encounter a loyal gambler—all of whose help they'll need once they arrive in Colorado and realize that their father is alive but down on his luck. VERDICT Full of humor, heart, and hope, this novel is a delight for anyone looking for a Western with a little less grit and a little more gentleness. Readers who like happy endings to their adventures will be drawn in by evocative period details, engaging characters, and strong narrative voice.—Melanie Kindrachuk

Library Journal