Introduction

She rode with the most famous outlaws of her time. Then she vanished.
 
In the fall of 1895, Etta Place falls in love with Harry Longabaugh, alias the Sundance Kid. She gives up everything to follow him and his partner-in-crime, Butch Cassidy, in their outlaw life across the continent and beyond. Breathtakingly beautiful and every inch a lady, Etta can also ride and shoot as well as any man. As their fugitive life begins to crumble, she finds herself alone and living in a convent with her newborn son. Knowing she can't hide away forever, she moves halfway across the country to begin anew. Etta prays her past won't catch up with her.
 
In 1911 Emily Pleasants steps onto the train station platform of Pine Creek, Minnesota with a teacher's contract in hand and a secret life she's fled. A young widow with a small son, she's searching for a safe place to raise her child where no one will recognize her. She meets Edward Sheridan, a successful merchant and bank owner, who quickly falls for her beauty, intelligence, and kindness. Still, she worries her notorious past will threaten the one thing dearest to her--her son.
 
From the deserts of Texas to the sweeping vistas of Wyoming, the refinement of New York City to the lush valleys of Argentina, Etta followed the outlaw men she loved so dearly. And then, she disappeared.
 
One woman, two separate lives. What became of the elusive Etta Place?

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Excerpt

Prologue

San Francisco, CA
1972


Susan Sheridan hurried out of her car and headed across the street to the assisted-living facility where her grandmother lived. She checked her watch as she waited for the cable car to pass. As a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle, Susan usually sprinted from place to place to catch a story for the paper. But today was different. Her grandmother had called and requested she come to see her. Susan loved her grandmother dearly, but she wished she could wait until the weekend to talk to her. But Grandma Em wasn’t normally an impatient woman, so Susan felt she should at least check on her. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. When Etta first meets Harry Longabaugh in San Antonio, she opens up to him about her father’s tragic death and how that experience, as well as her close relationship with the “Madame” Fannie Mae Porter, changed how she viewed the concepts of right and wrong. Do you think that her experiences in her younger years were what made her able to accept Harry’s outlaw life?

2. Both Butch and Sundance turned to a life of crime after having been wronged by being honest. Have you ever had an experience where being honest held you back and didn’t benefit you?

3. Wherever Etta went with Sundance, she always tried to make their dwelling, be it a rough cabin or a tent, as homey as possible. Do you think she was trying to make up for not having a stable home or did she really believe that her home was where Sundance was?

4. When Sheriff Ted Neilson confronted Emily about being Etta Place, she never admitted or denied she was her, she only said that she was no longer the woman in that picture. In what ways had Emily changed from her days with Sundance and Butch to make her statement true?

5. By the time Harry met Etta, he was already a known outlaw. Yet, he pursued a relationship with her, and stayed loyal to her for the twelve years we know they were together. Knowing that he’d been raised the youngest child in a Christian family and that his favorite sister was the sweet, kind Samanna, why do you think he was drawn to Etta and to having a lasting relationship?

6. Some historians believe that Etta was in love with Butch as well as with Sundance. In fact, some say she was Butch’s girlfriend first. What did you think about the close relationship she had with Butch? Do you think she may have loved him too? In what way?

7. Emily/Etta got her happily ever after, just not the one the reader may have expected she’d have. Were you satisfied with her choice at the end of the novel, or would you have wanted Emily/Etta to have a different ending? What would that ending be?

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