The USA Today bestseller!

'A good old-fashioned freight train of an adventure story' Sara Novic

A feminist coming-of-age tale from a debut author - playful, feminist historical fiction for readers of Sarah Waters, Charles Portis and Anna North

In the summer of 1877, Bridget is orphaned when her unreliable father succumbs to a snakebite as they're crossing the Kansas prairie. Arriving in Dodge City as a penniless orphan, she's quickly recruited for work at the Buffalo Queen brothel and befriends her bookish mentor Constance, securing her home and employment as the favourite of Sheriff's Deputy Jim Bonnie. As winter creeps in from the plains, female gunfighter Spartan Lee rides into town, and Bridget falls in love with her the moment their paths cross. Their affair threatens the balance of power at the Queen, but is interrupted when an old flame returns to the brothel, setting off a series of double-crosses that result in the destruction of the Buffalo Queen and a searing heartbreak for Bridget. Their lives in ruins, Bridget, Constance and Lila resolve to take revenge on those who wronged them - but will they succeed in their mission? In a misogynistic world of outlaws and gunfights, nothing is certain . . .

A sharply realised, caustically witty and often moving revisionist depiction of frontier life that explores through its feminist heroine queer love, female friendships and the idea of a 'found' family in a page-turning romp of a female revenge thriller.

'This is storytelling that grinds its characters in its grip, then throws them into the air to take wondrous flight. I loved it to bits.' Shelley Parker-Chan

'Lucky Red made for such cinematic reading that I forgot it was a book!' Frances Cha

About the Author
Claudia Cravens grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has a BA in Literature from Bard College and lives in New York City. Lucky Red is her first novel.

Reviews
Claudia Cravens is a masterful new talent and her debut is a breath of fresh air. Red is Cravens' subversive take on western fiction: it's a deftly told, absorbing coming-of-age story about a young woman's life in a Dodge City brothel, and one of the most heartfelt and thrilling books I've read in ages. -- Lauren Wilkinson * Lauren Wilkinson *
I dare anyone not to thrill to this book! Lucky Red takes the western genre and shakes the life back into it. Explosive and intimate, dense with human connection, and above all seized with the need for freedom of the queer self: this is storytelling that grinds its characters in its grip, then throws them into the air to take wondrous flight. I loved it to bits. -- Shelley Parker-Chan, author of SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN
A renegade Western alternating between lonely darkness, feverish desire and thrilling action. Lucky Red made for such cinematic reading that I forgot it was a book! -- Frances Cha, author of IF I HAD YOUR FACE
A thrilling and surprising story of deep human hunger and desire, of the ache that lives in all of us, and the sometimes violent lengths that we will go to feel seen and loved and understood. -- Lynn Steger Strong, author of WANT
Lucky Red is the Western I never knew I needed-where all the most fascinating misfit characters usually pushed to the fringe take their rightful places center stage. Cravens strikes the perfect balance here-queer, feminist, subversive, and a good old-fashioned freight train of an adventure story. -- Sara Novic, author of TRUE BIZ
...an exceptional historical tale of sex work and queer desire on the American frontier [...] Cravens peppers the thrilling plot with delicious language [...] and her sensitive portrayal of Bridget's uncertainty over her sexuality resonates. This is a knockout. -- Publishers Weekly * Publishers Weekly *
Claudia Cravens' debut novel, Lucky Red, is an exceptional historical tale of sex work and queer desire on the American frontier. Recently orphaned Bridget Shaughnessy, 16, lands in Dodge City, Kans., in 1877. Her innocent look and flaming red hair catch the attention of Lila and Kate, madams of the refined Buffalo Queen brothel. There, Bridget discovers unlikely romance with Spartan Lee, a gender-bending outlaw chaser. Spartan, meanwhile, is working a con that sweeps up Bridget and the rest of her colleagues at the Buffalo Queen. Cravens peppers the thrilling plot with delicious language (Bridget's clients are "a series of hats and mustaches") and her sensitive portrayal of Bridget's uncertainty over her sexuality resonates. It's a western for the modern era. * Publishers Weekly *
The fierce feminist Western that I didn't know I needed. Immersive, exciting and brilliantly written, Lucky Red captured me from the first page and didn't let go. I loved it. -- Sophie Keetch, author of MORGAN IS MY NAME



Book Information
ISBN 9781838956738
Author Claudia Cravens
Format Hardback
Page Count 304
Imprint Atlantic Books
Publisher Atlantic Books
Weight(grams) 460g
Dimensions(mm) 223mm * 146mm * 26mm