Norah Griggs

No Going Back Norah Griggs

In Omaha, Nebraska, the year 1900, the world revolves around Henry Taylor. No Going Back follows him on his mission to reclaim what (he considers) is rightfully his. He believes his wife, Rachel, ran off to Nevada with a gambling man, and he believes his twelve-year-old daughter, Tess, ran away four days later to find them. In Cheyenne, Wyoming he meets up with silver-tongued Joshua Baker, a minister who befriends, counsels and then swindles him. The story also follows Rachel and Tess as they each face agonizing hardships but also find true integrity in others. For Rachel, it's in Janey Walker, a wise and gracious woman in her fifties. For Tess, it's the Coles, a family full of love and spirit. Day by day, mother and daughter subconsciously experience each other's emotions, keeping them close at heart until they find their way back to each other. With unexpected twists and turns, this book flows with happenstance and circumstance. It explores Native American life from a distinct perspective. It looks at organized religion, from the practical and honorable to the misuse and disgrace than can occur within it. These issues, which are just as pertinent in our world today, are put forward in this era often misconstrued as naïve and sometimes even archaic.