Don’t Forget Me, Little Bessie

Burke (Every Cloak Rolled in Blood) continues his chronicles of the Holland family of Texas with this novel about Bessie Holland, who comes of age during the early 20th century. Bessie’s father, a former Texas Ranger, misses the old days of rough justice and disappears into a bottle or across the border. At the same time automobiles and oil derricks are popping up around south Texas, Bessie is haunted by the spirits of those who have died violently through the years on their land. Her brother leaves for New York as soon as he can. Bessie has to navigate social and political changes and a family with which hers has been at odds for generations. She follows her brother to the big city to escape the turmoil and finds different kinds as she befriends some young future gangsters. Bessie returns to Texas and invests in oil and the nascent film industry, but she finds conflict is inescapable.