CAMPBELL’S BOY by Mary Kendall

This review originally appeared in the Historical Novel Society

Emmet Campbell reaches the town of Colusa in northern California with his father during the 1850s Gold Rush, but his mother has died on the journey. Emmet’s father works hard and acquires ranch land under the inspiring visage of the Sutter Buttes, which make Emmet “forget about whatever was gnawing on his mind.” With father always busy, Emmet has time to explore Colusa’s Chinatown, the landscape, and various local establishments, including the dry-goods store, the saloon, and the brothel.

Emmet isn’t afraid of work and demonstrates admirable qualities, but finding his place in the hardscrabble frontier town proves difficult. He can’t strike a chord with the local boys, and often retreats to Chinatown and a comfortable relationship with a wise Chinese elder. Emmet’s troubles compound when his father takes on a mail-order bride with her own baby to become his new mother. Emmet must find his place in the freshly made family and, more than that, must learn who he is. But when his father and his stepmother have their own son, Emmet’s situation becomes all the more precarious.

The prose conveys a heartfelt sincerity to Emmet’s story, which is inspired by a newspaper obituary and real-life court case. His yearnings for a place in the world and for love are given a sense of poignancy that is quite touching. Emmet’s journey in life is drawn with mountainous challenges and heartbreaks, and the author clearly has a passion to tell the tale of his battle against injustice as she impressively imagines the human costs of an actual court ruling that had been long lost to history. Campbell’s Boy is author Mary Kendall’s second historical novel.