Roorbach draws a compelling portrait of Cindra and the other wayward teenagers — both too tough and too vulnerable for their own good. But Cindra’s constant attention to skin color threatens to undermine this otherwise authentic treatment of racial and cultural conflict in America. Still, fans of Roorbach’s prolific work will appreciate his signature lyricism and sense of place, his sweeping narrative, humor and romance. New readers are walking into the hands of a skilled storyteller who’s not afraid to take on a big, messy tale of love, privilege and abuse.
Roorbach is a consummate raconteur skilled in breathing life into his characters. His prose is well-suited to the Montana landscape, capacious yet created with poetic economy, evoking the splendor of nature in language that sparkles like crystal clear mountain water ... Roorbach’s understated, luminescent novel beautifully evokes an idyllic world created when two hearts are braided together.
Just how Roorbach dovetails Cindra’s two disparate lives gives her story intensity and shows the power of love from many sources. An engrossing novel with standout characters.
... a new kind of romance. Dark, dangerous, and threaded with beauty and possibility, it’s the story of the whirlwind affair of two young lovers and the decades they were kept apart ... Roorbach has penned a love letter to the beauty and power of Montana, but he contrasts it with the greed and avarice of those who have tried to tame it, and oppress or eradicate its indigenous people. The characters in Lucky Turtle can be understood as symbols for that conflict, but it is a delight to read them just as Roorbach pens them. His style is lovely and lyrical, with interesting turns of phrase and keen observations. The tensions don’t simmer here but roil, making for an emotionally challenging, worthwhile and truly special read.
A story of love and heartbreak in a world of breathtaking splendor and deep injustice, Bill Roorbach's Lucky Turtle is a novel of perseverance, brimming with entertaining dialogue and rich details of the flora and fauna of the West ... Readers also remain optimistic, following these sympathetic characters to an ultimately happy ending
Sprawling ... Roorbach disturbingly writes Lucky as a noble savage type ... Though the author has a knack for describing the natural beauty of the landscape, the mess of episodic scenes and backstories drags this down. This has its moments, but there isn’t much in the way of staying power.
Fans of Roorbach's work...have been waiting five years for this book and will not be disappointed. Again, the man has cooked up a completely captivating world, just a touch more magical and interesting than the real one ... It's a slowly unfolding, complicated, suspenseful plot ... An epic love story and love letter to the West. No greater reading pleasure to be had anywhere.
