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Carla Kelly wants to tell the truth, to discard myths about the U.S. 
Army during the Indian Wars. This collection of nine stories set in 
the era of the frontier army gives an entertaining and educational 
glimpse into a world not often explored in fiction.

    "Kathleen Flaherty’s Long Winter" weaves a tale of an Irish 
woman who has no choice but to marry a man she barely knows 
after the death of her husband leaves her penniless. She struggles 
with isolation and the cruelty of the others in the fort because of 
her rapid marriage. In the end, hers is a story of loss, love, and 
survival.

    But these are not all love stories. In "Mary Murphy" one soldier 
reflects about the hard life of a laundress. "A Season for Heroes" 
tells of a buffalo soldier named Ezra Freeman, a true hero to one 
officer’s family.

    The collection concludes with "Jesse MacGregor." The narrator, 
John, looks back on an Apache attack in the desert. After his 
detail’s captain is killed and John is injured, authority falls to 
surgeon Jesse MacGregor. The account of their struggle to fight 
hunger, thirst, the elements, and of course, the Apaches, is 
mesmerizing.
 
    Kelly does not leave comedy out of her collection. "Fille de 
Joie" is a charming story of a married couple reunited after an 
almost two-year separation. The wife is arrested after the two make 
too much noise during their afternoon tryst. She is charged with 
being a fille de joie, and the comedy ensues.
 
    Kelly’s work will find an audience among those interested in 
feminist literature, American history, fiction, and nonfiction.

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CARLA KELLY is the author of sixteen novels and works as a 
ranger for the National Park Service at Fort Union Trading Post 
National Historic Site, located on the Montana–North Dakota 
border.