GREY, Zane - Under the Tonto Rim - (1949 Hardcover )

Red book still in a great condition - Sadly no wrapper   >>>   Well, apparently Zane Grey didn't just write Westerns. This book definitely had a western-pioneer-type setting, yet it was a Romance, through and through. Told from the POV of a young woman, the story is about a middle-class idealist who is sent to teach home and social skills to the backwoods families living in the mountains. Right from the get-go I suspected that there wouldn't be much a 20-year-old could teach those seasoned pioneers who lived life to the fullest on the edge of civilization -- and that's pretty much how it turned out. Lucy Watson had much more to learn about being a decent human than her target families needed to know about indoor plumbing and social etiquette.   -   This is a really good, wholesome tale, and once I slowed my 21st-century brain down enough to appreciate the descriptive prose that is the earmark of a turn-of-the-20th-century novel, the main characters really captivated me. They were extremely well-drawn and each progressed through a very powerful character arc. The descriptions of the land goes beyond surface beauty to the way the soul is stirred by the glories of nature, and how we can attune ourselves to the Universe by being close to nature.   -   There is a very exciting action sequence at the climax of the story, as all the loose ends come together and some very dark secrets are revealed. The characters each are forced to go to the dark side in order to deal with a terrible situation, and that's where their make-or-break decisions demonstrate who and what they really are.   -   The quality that stands out the most about this story is the self-respect and morals that held men and women to a strict code of ethics when it came to dating. What a far and distant cry from today's apparent lack of standards of any kind. I felt a deep yearning for a return to those values, which I believe are the foundation of the best sort of marriages.     (Goodreads)