Cody, the Medicine Man and Me

"Compelling story... It's a real prize winner." Rudolfo Anaya US National Humanities Medalist, author of Bless Me Ultima "Many of us - perhaps all of us - when we were young, had 'cowboy dreams'. Alan Wilkinson has re-made them afresh, without sentimentality or too much fantasy. This is a delightful book. I have been a fan of Alan Wilkinson's very distinctive writing for a long time and am so very happy to see this publication." Sara Maitland, author of A Book of Silence and Daughter of Jerusalem. From an austere 1950s Britain, enlivened by hilarious and bittersweet accounts of childhood escapades in the local woods, to his journey 30 years later in the real American West, Ray attempts to establish the truth of a baffling family history hinted at by great-Uncle Bill, erstwhile gambler and rodeo-circuit showman. Ray also struggles to prepare himself for a reunion after three decades with his estranged twin brother, Luke. Old sibling rivalries quickly resurface as our hero seeks to ensure their inheritance - a precious piece of American wilderness - is preserved in keeping with their heritage, not turned into a money-making scheme to line his brother's pocket. A showdown brews - but ultimately only one of the brothers can ride off into the sunset.