The Berrybender Narratives (Larry McMurtry, 2002-04)

I enjoyed "Lonesome Dove" enough (recent book club selection per Chris) to give this McMurtry book a try.  While I didn't like it nearly as much, I did it find it drawing me in.  It was four separate novels and I read the entire work in one shot. 

Things I especially liked - vignettes on the Plains; travel on the Missouri; scenes set in so many of the famous frontier towns, north to south; working in key figures such as Jim Bridger, Kit Carson and others; helping me imagine the lives of people in those times (though nobody lived like the Berrybenders). 

Sin Killer was a great character; he would have been tough to live with however. The Berrybinder women were weird, I kind of got tired of their schtick.

Gemini's 200-word summary:

"Set in the 1830s, the series follows the Berrybenders, a wealthy, eccentric, and hopelessly unprepared family of English aristocrats who embark on a grand hunting expedition across the American West. Led by the drunken and irresponsible Lord Berrybender, the family travels up the Missouri River and across the Great Plains, encountering the brutal realities of the frontier that their privilege cannot protect them from.

As they journey toward Santa Fe and eventually Texas, the narrative shifts from a dark comedy of manners to a harrowing tale of survival. The family faces starvation, Indian raids, and internal dysfunction. By the end of the saga, the "civilized" veneer of the Berrybenders is stripped away, leaving only a few survivors to reckon with the unforgiving landscape and the high cost of their father’s folly.

Main Characters

Tasmin Berrybender: The eldest daughter and the story’s true protagonist. Strong-willed, intelligent, and adaptable, she evolves from a sheltered aristocrat into a rugged survivor.

Jim Snow (The Sin Killer): A fierce frontiersman and part-time preacher who becomes Tasmin’s husband. He is a man of few words and sudden violence, representing the raw spirit of the West.

Lord Berrybender: The family patriarch. His obsession with hunting buffalo and his general incompetence serve as the catalyst for the family’s many disasters.

Pomp Charbonneau: The son of Sacagawea, he acts as a sophisticated guide who provides a bridge between the European travelers and the wilderness."