Book Summary and Reviews of The Untold by Courtney Collins

Book Summary

With shades of Water for Elephants and True Grit, a stunning debut novel set in the Australian outback about a female horse thief, her bid for freedom, and the two men trying to capture her.

It is 1921. In a mountain-locked valley, Jessie is on the run.

Born wild and brave, by twenty-six she has already lived life as a circus rider, horse and cattle rustler, and convict. But on this fateful night she is just a woman wanting to survive though there is barely any life left in her.

Two men crash through the bushland, desperate to claim the reward on her head: one her lover, the other the law.

But as it has always been for Jessie, it is death, not a man, who is her closest pursuer and companion. And while all odds are stacked against her, there is one who will never give up on her—her own child, who awaits her.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Who is the narrator of The Untold? Do you feel the narrator is reliable or unreliable? Does the novel represent the narrator's experience of Jessie, or Jessie's life as seen (or not seen) by the narrator?
2. What is the author's purpose in beginning the narration with the question "If the dirt could speak, whose story would it tell?"
3. What is the importance of Andrew Barlow's asking Jack Brown, "Are you black enough to be my tracker?"
4. What is the significance of Jack Brown's relationship with Lay Ping and the Seven Sisters?
5. In the "Prelude to Death" section at the beginning of the book, the author writes about Harry Houdini, the famous escape artist. Why did she choose to begin the book this way? Why is it ...