From Publishers Weekly
The year is 1941. For the Weeks family on their frontier farm in Western Canada, life is brutally hard, with moments of joy few and far between. Fifteen-year-old Beth Weeks narrates this coming-of-age story, which is sprinkled with recipes, home remedies and useful homesteading advice (e.g., how to kill and clean a chicken: keep it calm, since "there's nothing as frustrating as trying to kill a panicked chicken"). Though the inventory of authentic period detail is evocative, make no mistake: this is no warmhearted tale of pioneer life. Forget square dances and barn raisings; think bestiality and incest. Beth's tortured, demanding father, mentally ill following a traumatic bear attack and the lingering effects of a head injury he received in WWI, goes on one rampage after another. Beth, meanwhile, does her best to fight off various sexual predators, finding solace of sorts in a tentative love affair with Nora, a troubled half-Indian girl. But Coyote, a sinister shape-changing spirit, stalks them and others, infusing the plot with a weird mystical aura at odds with the hardscrabble realism of the descriptions of day-to-day life. A dysfunctional Little House on the Prairie, this bleak, violent saga is a disturbing mixture of period minutiae and grim supernatural phenomena. (May) FYI: The Cure for Death by Lightning is based on a short story that won the Canadian Broadcasting Company's literary competition in 1993.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA?Beth Weeks turns 15 during the early 1940s, when most of the eligible men in rural British Columbia have enlisted. Her older brother remains to help with the farm and to protect her from their father, who received a head injury in World War I and is a violent and unpredictable man. Beth's mother talks aloud, regularly, with her own long-dead mother. Beth comes of age under great obstacles. Her mother refuses to believe her when she tells how other kids torment her, so she stops going to school. She is sexually innocent but instinctively fears her father, and when he rapes her, she withdraws, knowing she can say nothing to her mother. It is her friendship with Bertha Moses, a Native American, and her extended family that sustains her. The community is wrestling with several problems, and it is Bertha who explains that all the bad things that are happening are caused by Coyote, the notorious shape-shifter, who is present, though disguised, and wreaking havoc. The characters are brilliantly portrayed. The writing is spare and powerful: the rape scene is brief and wrenching; the loneliness of Beth and her mother is painful. The writing is wonderful, and the details are just right, but this book is not easy to read. Mature YAs who seek to challenge and stretch their minds will find this a memorable novel.?Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VACopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Evil lurks just below the bucolic surface of life on a farm in western Canada in the early days of World War II. Along with the arduous tasks that fill a typical farm day in the Forties are the added stresses of blackouts, rationing, and labor shortages. Fourteen-year-old Beth Weeks also has to contend with an erratic father who, after an encounter in the bush with a grizzly, becomes violent and abusive. She retreats for comfort into an intimate relationship with a girl from the neighboring reserve and into the well-worn pages of her mother's scrapbook, which contains family memorabilia, wonderful recipes (all included here), and folk remedies such as the title cure for death by lightning. Woven into this evocative coming-of-age novel are Indian legends, ghost tales, and mystical happenings in a manner that recalls Louise Erdrich at her best. Powerful and moving, this is highly recommended.Barbara Love, Kingston P.L., OntarioCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Set in 1941, this evocative first novel tells of the hardscrabble life of 15-year-old Beth Weeks, who lives on a farm in western Canada. Suffering from mental illness brought on by a bear attack, her father has sullied the family's reputation, and Beth is tormented by her schoolmates and the townsfolk. Faced with endless farm chores and her father's abusiveness, and continually haunted by the fear that something is following her, she starts an affair with Nora, an emotionally disturbed half-Indian girl. Woven throughout the narrative are recipes from her mother's scrapbook, which also contains folk remedies, such as the cure for death by lightning: "Dunk the dead by lightning in a cold water bath for two hours and if still dead, add vinegar and soak for an hour more." With a strong dose of Native American mysticism, detailed descriptions of the harsh work required to run a farm, and a gripping sense of place, Anderson-Dargatz combines disparate elements to create a most unusual coming-of-age tale. Joanne Wilkinson

From Kirkus Reviews
A gritty but homespun debut that renders farm life as a mixed bag of vibrant colors, bad smells, and uncontained sexuality. It's 1941, and 15-year-old Beth's days--between milking cows, shoveling manure, and rambling through the menacing wilderness near her family's dairy farm in western Canada--are very full. Her father is a tyrant who's both sexually and physically abusive. Her mother, a healer and a wonderful cook, seems badly cowed: Her attempts to protect her daughter are ineffectual, and she'd rather deny than confront the fact that Beth's muscular beauty is setting everyone in the vicinity on edge. Two young farmhands from the nearby Indian reservation harbor crushes, and a schoolmate's interest culminates in a violent assault. Nora, a young half-Indian woman, also lusts after Beth, and the pair's sex-tinged friendship allows Beth access to the reservation world that is usually off- limits to outsiders. The playmate/lovers listen to the ominous warnings of Nora's grandmother about a murderous coyote spirit that may be behind several mysterious deaths. Finally, Beth's father carries one of his vendettas too far and is carted off to an institution. Her mother, meantime, buckles down and copes, while Beth taps into the power of her anger and confronts a malignant stranger (or is he a coyote spirit?) head on. Atmospherics are the real strength here: There's lots of raw down-on-the-farm unpleasantness, such as a bloody, bungled operation on a cow. Nature weighs in with showy effects. And there's a bracing vision of female strength: Kitchen wizardry (recipes are included) is complemented by less traditional virtues, such as the ability to clean the barn, patch up quarrels, and use a firm clear voice to challenge and scare off potential assailants. A robust but richly observed coming-of-age story, then, of a complex young woman whose growth and resilience are celebrated without an iota of sentimentality. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
“Engaging…a rich stew of a book.”–The Observer

“Haunting, stunning…. Anderson-Dargatz creates a multi-layered tale of power and suspense.”–Toronto Star

“Superlative.… Flowers rain from the sky in this book.”–Toronto Globe and Mail

“Brilliant. . . . A wonderful and challenging, truly bewitching novel.” – Edmonton Journal



Review
?Engaging?a rich stew of a book.??The Observer

?Haunting, stunning?. Anderson-Dargatz creates a multi-layered tale of power and suspense.??Toronto Star

?Superlative.? Flowers rain from the sky in this book.??Toronto Globe and Mail

?Brilliant. . . . A wonderful and challenging, truly bewitching novel.? ? Edmonton Journal



Book Description
When fifteen-year-old Beth Week’s family is attacked by a grizzly, her father becomes increasingly violent, making him a danger to his neighbors, his family, and especially Beth. Meanwhile, several young children from the nearby Indian reservation have gone missing, and Beth fears that something is pursuing her in the bush. But friendship with an Indian girl connects her to a mythology that enriches her landscape; and an unexpected protector shores up her world.
Set on an isolated Canadian farm in the midst of World War II, The Cure for Death by Lightning evokes a life at once harshly demanding and rich in sensory pleasures: the deafening chatter of starlings, the sight of thousands of painted turtles crossing a road, the smell of baking that fills the Weeks’s kitchen. The novel is sprinkled throughout with recipes and remedies from the scrapbook Beth’s mother keeps, a boon to Beth as she learns to face down her demons--and one of many elements that give The Cure for Death by Lightning its enchanting vitality.

From the Inside Flap
When fifteen-year-old Beth Week’s family is attacked by a grizzly, her father becomes increasingly violent, making him a danger to his neighbors, his family, and especially Beth. Meanwhile, several young children from the nearby Indian reservation have gone missing, and Beth fears that something is pursuing her in the bush. But friendship with an Indian girl connects her to a mythology that enriches her landscape; and an unexpected protector shores up her world.
Set on an isolated Canadian farm in the midst of World War II, The Cure for Death by Lightning evokes a life at once harshly demanding and rich in sensory pleasures: the deafening chatter of starlings, the sight of thousands of painted turtles crossing a road, the smell of baking that fills the Weeks’s kitchen. The novel is sprinkled throughout with recipes and remedies from the scrapbook Beth’s mother keeps, a boon to Beth as she learns to face down her demons--and one of many elements that give The Cure for Death by Lightning its enchanting vitality.

From the Back Cover
“Engaging…a rich stew of a book.”–The Observer

“Haunting, stunning…. Anderson-Dargatz creates a multi-layered tale of power and suspense.”–Toronto Star

“Superlative.… Flowers rain from the sky in this book.”–Toronto Globe and Mail

“Brilliant. . . . A wonderful and challenging, truly bewitching novel.” – Edmonton Journal



About the Author
Gail Anderson-Dargatz is the author of A Recipe for Bees. She lives on a farm on Vancouver Island.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Gail Anderson-Dargatz's story takes place against the backdrop of daily life on a farm in remote Turtle Valley, British Columbia, during World War II Beth Weeks is fifteen years old and lives with her family. Strange things are happening: a classmate of Beth's is mauled to death; children go missing on a nearby reservation; and Beth herself is being hunted by an unseen predator. The valley is home to a host of eccentric but familiar characters - Nora, an Indian girl in whose friendship Beth takes refuge; Filthy Billy, the hired hand who is thought to be possessed; Nora's mother, who has a man's voice and an extra little finger; and Beth's haunted mother. Her recipes are laced throughout the novel, giving us luscious descriptions of food, gardening, fruit picking and preserving, and remedies, both practical and bizarre ("The Cure for Death by Lightning: Dunk the dead by lightning in a cold water bath for two hours and if still dead, add vinegar"). An index of more than forty remedies and recipes is included.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The year is 1941. For the Weeks family on their frontier farm in Western Canada, life is brutally hard, with moments of joy few and far between. Fifteen-year-old Beth Weeks narrates this coming-of-age story, which is sprinkled with recipes, home remedies and useful homesteading advice (e.g., how to kill and clean a chicken: keep it calm, since "there's nothing as frustrating as trying to kill a panicked chicken"). Though the inventory of authentic period detail is evocative, make no mistake: this is no warmhearted tale of pioneer life. Forget square dances and barn raisings; think bestiality and incest. Beth's tortured, demanding father, mentally ill following a traumatic bear attack and the lingering effects of a head injury he received in WWI, goes on one rampage after another. Beth, meanwhile, does her best to fight off various sexual predators, finding solace of sorts in a tentative love affair with Nora, a troubled half-Indian girl. But Coyote, a sinister shape-changing spirit, stalks them and others, infusing the plot with a weird mystical aura at odds with the hardscrabble realism of the descriptions of day-to-day life. A dysfunctional Little House on the Prairie, this bleak, violent saga is a disturbing mixture of period minutiae and grim supernatural phenomena. (May) FYI: The Cure for Death by Lightning is based on a short story that won the Canadian Broadcasting Company's literary competition in 1993.

Library Journal

Evil lurks just below the bucolic surface of life on a farm in western Canada in the early days of World War II. Along with the arduous tasks that fill a typical farm day in the Forties are the added stresses of blackouts, rationing, and labor shortages. Fourteen-year-old Beth Weeks also has to contend with an erratic father who, after an encounter in the bush with a grizzly, becomes violent and abusive. She retreats for comfort into an intimate relationship with a girl from the neighboring reserve and into the well-worn pages of her mother's scrapbook, which contains family memorabilia, wonderful recipes (all included here), and folk remedies such as the title cure for death by lightning. Woven into this evocative coming-of-age novel are Indian legends, ghost tales, and mystical happenings in a manner that recalls Louise Erdrich at her best. Powerful and moving, this is highly recommended.-Barbara Love, Kingston P.L., Ontario

School Library Journal

YABeth Weeks turns 15 during the early 1940s, when most of the eligible men in rural British Columbia have enlisted. Her older brother remains to help with the farm and to protect her from their father, who received a head injury in World War I and is a violent and unpredictable man. Beth's mother talks aloud, regularly, with her own long-dead mother. Beth comes of age under great obstacles. Her mother refuses to believe her when she tells how other kids torment her, so she stops going to school. She is sexually innocent but instinctively fears her father, and when he rapes her, she withdraws, knowing she can say nothing to her mother. It is her friendship with Bertha Moses, a Native American, and her extended family that sustains her. The community is wrestling with several problems, and it is Bertha who explains that all the bad things that are happening are caused by Coyote, the notorious shape-shifter, who is present, though disguised, and wreaking havoc. The characters are brilliantly portrayed. The writing is spare and powerful: the rape scene is brief and wrenching; the loneliness of Beth and her mother is painful. The writing is wonderful, and the details are just right, but this book is not easy to read. Mature YAs who seek to challenge and stretch their minds will find this a memorable novel.Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

Kirkus Reviews

A gritty but homespun debut that renders farm life as a mixed bag of vibrant colors, bad smells, and uncontained sexuality.

It's 1941, and 15-year-old Beth's days—between milking cows, shoveling manure, and rambling through the menacing wilderness near her family's dairy farm in western Canada—are very full. Her father is a tyrant who's both sexually and physically abusive. Her mother, a healer and a wonderful cook, seems badly cowed: Her attempts to protect her daughter are ineffectual, and she'd rather deny than confront the fact that Beth's muscular beauty is setting everyone in the vicinity on edge. Two young farmhands from the nearby Indian reservation harbor crushes, and a schoolmate's interest culminates in a violent assault. Nora, a young half-Indian woman, also lusts after Beth, and the pair's sex-tinged friendship allows Beth access to the reservation world that is usually off- limits to outsiders. The playmate/lovers listen to the ominous warnings of Nora's grandmother about a murderous coyote spirit that may be behind several mysterious deaths. Finally, Beth's father carries one of his vendettas too far and is carted off to an institution. Her mother, meantime, buckles down and copes, while Beth taps into the power of her anger and confronts a malignant stranger (or is he a coyote spirit?) head on. Atmospherics are the real strength here: There's lots of raw down-on-the-farm unpleasantness, such as a bloody, bungled operation on a cow. Nature weighs in with showy effects. And there's a bracing vision of female strength: Kitchen wizardry (recipes are included) is complemented by less traditional virtues, such as the ability to clean the barn, patch up quarrels, and use a firm clear voice to challenge and scare off potential assailants.

A robust but richly observed coming-of-age story, then, of a complex young woman whose growth and resilience are celebrated without an iota of sentimentality.