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    Claiming Ground
    Claiming Ground
    Claiming Ground
    Audiobook7 hours

    Claiming Ground

    Written by Laura Bell

    Narrated by Laurie Birmingham

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A transcendent memoir from an author of rare talent, Laura Bell's Claiming Ground recounts Bell's time living mostly alone in the hills of Wyoming, where she herded sheep and cattle and battled isolation. A journey to the heart of self, Bell's work sparkles with shimmering prose and remarkable insight. "Bell's extraordinary ability to impart a true sense of place on each page reveals a stark and stunning landscape populated with a playbill of peculiar personalities."-Publishers Weekly, starred review
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJan 4, 2011
    ISBN9781449839826
    Claiming Ground

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    Reviews for Claiming Ground

    4/5

    24 ratings4 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I set the book down as I finished it thinking it was a gift to have read it. This kind of memoir leaves one in the one down position of having made a great new friend who doesn't know you. Bell showed me a side of Wyoming I don't see. I see the belligerent rancher and outfitter and have a hard time imaging much in the literary way. Bell avoids talking much about conservation even though she ends up working for the Nature Conservancy. There may be an interesting nonfiction piece in that to explore.I am nuts about the cover. We may have to gain some inspiration on this one.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this memoir. Laura Bell is a somewhere between a lost soul and a free spirit when she goes to live in the mountains of Wyoming as a sheep herder. The telling of her life story takes the reader down unexpected, non-traditional paths. The reader is allowed to be witness to the joys and sorrows, loves and losses of this one woman's life. It is an incredible journey with the magnificent backdrop of the Wyoming landscape, rugged and unforgiving....like much of life!
    • 5/5
      This memoir packed punch after punch. Bell as a 24 yr old sheepherder in the Big Horns of Wyoming was fascinating. Then life throws her a curve when she finds herself married to an alcoholic. In the third part of the book, the reader suffers along with Bell through her poignant memories. Exquisite language...very lean, very poetic. A captivating read.
    • 4/5
      Laura Bell's Claiming Ground is a memoir of a wild, lonely, beautiful life lived in the mountains of Wyoming. When she took a job as a shepherd working for the Lewis Ranch Laura found the place she belonged. Among tough, hardworking people, many of them running from various demons she learns about love and loss the hard way. The language in this book is what strikes you first. Laura uses gorgeous prose to describe the landscape that she clearly loves. You really feel like you could be there in these truly wild and free places. She vividly conveys the feeling of being alone in the places with nothing but her dogs, horse, and sheep for company for long stretches of time. The story ends up being a slow, sad one, with only the Wyoming mountains offering redemption and solace. I wish it could have had a different ending, but I appreciate her honesty and refusal to sugar coat the hard facts of life. If you read western literature you will enjoy this memoir.