SALTHILL

Barnes's debut novel spans the years 1946 to 1957, chronicling the life of Garnet Harris and his struggle for acceptance in the rugged Canadian west. An African-American gifted at handling horses, Harris heads north to escape poverty, drug addiction and the savage, debilitating racism of the American South. Arriving hungry and penniless at Salthill, a ranch in British Columbia, he is befriended by Grey St. Oegger, the ranch's expatriate Englishman owner. Though both are guarded men, they bond over their love of horses and honest labor. Then St. Oegger's youngest daughter, free-spirited and passionate Elsa, falls in love with Harris, complicating life at Salthill. She and Harris begin a turbulent, clandestine affair that ends when Harris flees the ranch, knowing he has betrayed St. Oegger's trust. The story is already melodramatic enough, laden with overripe imagery and an excess of figurative language, but the passages about Harris's subsequent self-induced exile and wanderings take it over the top. Despite the often graphic scenes detailing intolerant attitudes toward blacks, Barnes's attempts to explore Harris's past and the insidious effects of racism are uneven and ambivalent: a fresher perspective on prejudice would have lent the novel greater depth. Barnes has talent—as evidenced by her sharp, informative descriptions of horses, ranch life and the natural wonders of the Canadian landscape—but her debut would've benefited from a tighter hand on the reins. (Oct. 7)