Coyote Cowgirl
by Kim Antieau
(Forge, $24.95, 284 pages, hardcover; published in June 2003.)
Kim Antieau's Coyote Cowgirl has all the right ingredients for
a fun, breezy summer  read:
a vacationing protagonist, an "on the road" adventure, exotic locales,
steamy romance, and lots of great food.
Jeanne is the youngest child of the Les Flambeaux clan, the famously
gifted restauranteurs who own the Oui & Sí. The alarmingly thin Jeanne,
however, can't cook; she never even eats in front of her family. She
thinks of herself as the family screwup. Her siblings tease her by calling
her Jeanne d'Arc, because, like the famous heroine, she hears voices.
A crystal skull belonging to her father speaks to Jeanne. It calls
itself Crane. It also used to speak to her long-estranged and notoriously
insane grandmother. Everyone's worried that Jeanne might be a bit too
much like her grandmother.
After the family's annual Day of the Dead celebration, Jeanne carelessly
allows a precious family heirloom to be stolen by her roguishly charming
cousin Johnny, who's desperately trying to repay his gambling debts.
Jeanne and Crane set off in pursuit of Johnny. On the road, Jeanne
fears for her life: the news is filled with alarming reports of a serial
kidnapper.
Jeanne's trek through the American Southwest turns into an odyssey
of self-discovery, as she uncovers truths about herself and her family
that transform her life and her relationships to food, Crane, and her
grandmother.
Coyote Cowgirl may ultimately be a bit light and predictable,
but its quirky cast of characters is charmingly drawn and there's an
infectious sense of fun that permeates the whole book. Crane, especially,
is a wickedly incorrigible wisecracker.
There's a political edge to the book as well -- Coyote Cowgirl
is an engaged novel that wears its politics of environmental and social
responsibility on its sleeve -- and that gives the story some bite.
Originally published, in slightly different form, in
The Montreal Gazette, Saturday, 26 July 2003.
Claude Lalumière's Fantastic Fiction
is a series of
capsule reviews first published in the Saturday Books
section of The Montreal Gazette.
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