The Buffalo Butcher operates in a register I don’t often encounter — a historical thriller that takes seriously the lives of women society had determined to be unworthy of attention. Robert Brighton’s 1901 Buffalo is rendered with the kind of period precision I admire, and his five protagonists are drawn with genuine respect for their humanity and circumstance.
Brighton is interested in character as much as event, in social texture as much as plot mechanics. The Pan-American Exposition provides a setting at once festive and menacing, and Brighton uses that contrast to considerable effect.
This is not a comfortable read. It is, however, a genuinely significant one. I recommend it without reservation.
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