Winter Reading 2016 Girl Waits with Gun

My friend Anne loaned me this book and I am very glad that she did. I enjoy historical fiction, especially when it features strong female protagonists as this one does. Based on actual events, this story features the Kopp sisters and their troubles with Henry Kaufman, spoiled rich boy. On a trip to town in their horse and wagon, the sisters wind up trapped in the wreckage of their wagon after Kaufman crashes into it with his automobile. Angered by their attempts to get him to pay for the damages, Kaufman and his drunken and sleazy friends begin a campaign of terror against the girls. While all this is going on, the oldest sister (Constance) also gets involved in the hunt for a missing baby that belongs to one of Kaufman's factory girls.

The characters are so much fun - determined Constance, taciturn Norma, dramatic Fleurette, their exasperated brother Francis, the dependable Sheriff Heath, and all the unsavory group of Kaufman and friends. The setting outside Paterson, New Jersey and the time period of the early twentieth century with its Black Hand gangs, fear of Bolsheviks, union strikes, and the country's new obsession with automobiles seems so foreign to us. There is plenty of suspense, tense confrontations, family support, and laughs.

If you enjoy historical fiction, this is a great read.