Montana 1948

Montana 1948
Author(s)	Larry Watson
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Western novel
Publisher	Milkweed Editions
Publication date	1993
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	169
ISBN	1571310614
OCLC Number	148649293
Followed by	Justice

Montana 1948 is a 1993 novel by Larry Watson. The novel focuses on the life of young Montanan David Hayden, his family and the fictional town of Bentrock, Montana, and focuses on the struggles of a family torn between loyalty and justice. It was awarded the Milkweed National Fiction Prize.

When David's family's Native American housekeeper Marie Little Soldier falls ill, Frank Hayden, the local doctor and David's uncle, is called. When Marie refuses medical treatment, David's parents, Wes, the local sheriff, and Gail discover that Frank has been preying on the local native American women, molesting them. Wes confronts Frank at a dinner at their father's house. Wes and Gail reach a compromise.

When Marie is found dead, Frank convinces the family it is pneumonia which has killed her. Not long after Marie's death, David decides to tell his father what he had seen. He had witnessed Frank leaving the house around the same time Marie had died. Initially, Wes begins investigating the molestation accusations against Frank.

Wes goes to work investigating this and eventually arrests his own brother and holds him captive in the basement to avoid the embarrassment Frank would experience by going to the local jail. Eventually this all gets too much for Gail and she wishes for Frank to be released out of her home. When Wes talks to his brother, Frank doesn't deny killing Marie and molesting numerous other Indian women. Wes's moral values override his family loyalty and he is obliged to take his brother to be locked up in the local jail the next day. Later that night the family wake to the sound of jars smashing in the basement. In the morning Wes finds that Frank has committed suicide by slitting his wrists with the broken glass.

The family's problems are essentially solved, letting the rest of the town believe Frank died by accident. Soon after, the family moves out of Bentrock, Montana, as the secrets they kept become too much to bear.

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