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Rest and Be Thankful
By mistake two aging American socialites, en route to California, wander into Crazy Creek, Wyoming where they decide to stay and buy a ranch
318 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1949
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198 people want to read
About the author
Helen MacInnes
61 books253 followersHelen MacInnes was a Scottish-American author of espionage novels. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in Scotland in 1928 with a degree in French and German. A librarian, she married Professor Gilbert Highet in 1932 and moved with her husband to New York in 1937 so he could teach classics at Columbia University. She wrote her first novel, Above Suspicion, in 1939. She wrote many bestselling suspense novels and became an American citizen in 1951.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
July 4, 2018
One and a half stars. The premise had potential for both humor and drama. Two women writers who traveled together for years in Europe set out to rediscover their homeland, get lost, fall in love with Wyoming and buy a ranch. Then they invite a bunch of East Coast literarati to spend a month communing with mountains and their Muses. All come face to face with Western cowboys and other no-nonsense Types, as well as their own Inner Demons. It sort of worked for the first hundred pages.
Sadly, the dozen or so characters did not improve on further acquaintance being seriously dumb and mostly unpleasant. The muddy, meandering plots petered out like creeks in a bad drought. Silly contrived problems, implausible scenes, leaden dialog, pseudo psychiatry, obnoxious class and ethnic stereotyping added to the fun.
Oh, and Helen MacInnes knows absolutely nothing about horses. Perfectly trained, well-behaved 16 year old horses, used to daily work, hanging out in a corral near the barn need to be lassoed by a professional wrangler before they can be saddled up? And another winner: A complete East Coast idiot, who also knows nothing about horses, ties her mount by the reins to a branch five miles from home. The dumb girl then goes off to sulk and leaves the horse by itself. On a hot summer day the horse is kept for hours and hours with its head raised so it's unable to graze and has no water. The horse is close enough to a stream to see and smell it. By evening it also has to know that its regular dinner time is nigh. And I'm supposed to believe this horse just stands there quietly and doesn't start kicking up an unholy din and trying to break free? Excuse me while I kick the sides of my loose box out of sheer annoyance.
Sadly, the dozen or so characters did not improve on further acquaintance being seriously dumb and mostly unpleasant. The muddy, meandering plots petered out like creeks in a bad drought. Silly contrived problems, implausible scenes, leaden dialog, pseudo psychiatry, obnoxious class and ethnic stereotyping added to the fun.
Oh, and Helen MacInnes knows absolutely nothing about horses. Perfectly trained, well-behaved 16 year old horses, used to daily work, hanging out in a corral near the barn need to be lassoed by a professional wrangler before they can be saddled up? And another winner: A complete East Coast idiot, who also knows nothing about horses, ties her mount by the reins to a branch five miles from home. The dumb girl then goes off to sulk and leaves the horse by itself. On a hot summer day the horse is kept for hours and hours with its head raised so it's unable to graze and has no water. The horse is close enough to a stream to see and smell it. By evening it also has to know that its regular dinner time is nigh. And I'm supposed to believe this horse just stands there quietly and doesn't start kicking up an unholy din and trying to break free? Excuse me while I kick the sides of my loose box out of sheer annoyance.
November 8, 2019
This is my book I reach for when I want to relax and probably my # one book.
It is nothing like her other books. Written during the cold war It touches on the subject of how thoughts and ideas can be effect by writing. No sex or violence.
Rest and Be Thankful is an ranch in the middle of Wyoming. Three Eastern stopped their car in the middle of the road. Unfortunately, the cowboys were driving a herd of horses though the road. Margaret ends up buying the ranch and host a group of unpublished authors for a month. The story is East meets West and how effects different individuals. I guard my copy as I had brought several and is hard to locate. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. I now have ebook
It is nothing like her other books. Written during the cold war It touches on the subject of how thoughts and ideas can be effect by writing. No sex or violence.
Rest and Be Thankful is an ranch in the middle of Wyoming. Three Eastern stopped their car in the middle of the road. Unfortunately, the cowboys were driving a herd of horses though the road. Margaret ends up buying the ranch and host a group of unpublished authors for a month. The story is East meets West and how effects different individuals. I guard my copy as I had brought several and is hard to locate. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. I now have ebook
May 24, 2016
What a great summer read "Rest and Be Thankful" is!
I have returned to this book over and over again since I first picked it up (eons ago!) in high school.
Helen MacInnes has invented a great plot. She uses the setting of post WW2 America during a time when the threat of Communism was at the forefront of some folk's minds, and conversely, ignorance of political issues was also widespread. This makes for an interesting twist when the characters from widely diverse perspectives meet and live together for a month in a ranch setting.
Sarah (Sally) Bly and Margaret Peel are veteran travelers who had experienced the hospitality of other countries for several years, and whom were now ready for a 'rest' and a new venture. They decide to purchase a ranch for the purpose of giving struggling writers a place to rest and be invigorated for their writing.
What happens when a widely diverse group of literary, highbrow (think snobby) and struggling (to be published) writers meet up (for a 'rest', mind you), on a ranch for a month's vacation, all funded by two well-meaning philanthropist middle-aged, (and used to their comforts), women?
For almost twenty years - and Margaret, in fact, could recall more than twenty - they had lived abroad. They had housekept in Paris, in Rapallo, in Dalmatia; they had collected people, paintings and recipes; they had given amusement with their American money and they had been amused, in turn, by the ideas and customs of foreign lands.
Margaret and Sally are ready now to settle down, and to offer their new home (the ranch) as a place for other writers to be refreshed. How their world intersects with that of real cowboys, a small Midwestern town (with it's challenging shopping venues that contrast with the New York's glittering retail world), and Wyoming's countryside and nature itself makes for an entertaining plot.
The author has done a superb job with her characters whom must have been based on real persons... (most novelists have to use real life to begin with!), but are so well done that the reader marvels at their idiosyncrasies.
"If you aren't having lecturers -" he looked at her unbelievingly. "What are you providing for my writers?"
"Wyoming," Sarah said. She was angry, now. He noticed the expression on her face. He counterattacked.
"You know, Sarah," he said with a smile, "it isn't exactly fair to ask writers to be your guests, so that you can have intelligent companions to brighten your evenings. Is it?"
She was silenced. He made it sound so painfully true. He had certainly succeeded in killing her enthusiasm. She wished she had never heard of these writers, never seen Wyoming. She wondered, suddenly, how someone like Jim Brent would handle this situation. And surprisingly, she regained courage."
There is romance, there is dialogue, there is growth in the characters (some of them), as they meet the challenges of life on a midwestern ranch. Sally becomes quite adept on horseback. Mrs. Peel hides a secret within a comfortable, old-maidey type exterior (and the reader discovers how easy it is to judge a person based on their outer person). Carla 'grows up'.
""Thank you," Carla said. She thought, how strange that I now feel so unmoved by his praise. Yesterday, Mrs. Peel had said, "It's good, Carla. I love it. Don't let anyone change one comma!" And Carla had hugged her with delight. She looked at Atherton Jones to see if he had noticed her coolness. But he was thinking over some problem of his own. I know what is wrong with him, Carla thought. He keeps shutting people out. He lets them in when he pleases, and he closes the door when he pleases. I don't believe he cares about any of us at all, certainly not as human beings. Then why does he bother with us?"
Highly recommended.
I have returned to this book over and over again since I first picked it up (eons ago!) in high school.
Helen MacInnes has invented a great plot. She uses the setting of post WW2 America during a time when the threat of Communism was at the forefront of some folk's minds, and conversely, ignorance of political issues was also widespread. This makes for an interesting twist when the characters from widely diverse perspectives meet and live together for a month in a ranch setting.
Sarah (Sally) Bly and Margaret Peel are veteran travelers who had experienced the hospitality of other countries for several years, and whom were now ready for a 'rest' and a new venture. They decide to purchase a ranch for the purpose of giving struggling writers a place to rest and be invigorated for their writing.
What happens when a widely diverse group of literary, highbrow (think snobby) and struggling (to be published) writers meet up (for a 'rest', mind you), on a ranch for a month's vacation, all funded by two well-meaning philanthropist middle-aged, (and used to their comforts), women?
For almost twenty years - and Margaret, in fact, could recall more than twenty - they had lived abroad. They had housekept in Paris, in Rapallo, in Dalmatia; they had collected people, paintings and recipes; they had given amusement with their American money and they had been amused, in turn, by the ideas and customs of foreign lands.
Margaret and Sally are ready now to settle down, and to offer their new home (the ranch) as a place for other writers to be refreshed. How their world intersects with that of real cowboys, a small Midwestern town (with it's challenging shopping venues that contrast with the New York's glittering retail world), and Wyoming's countryside and nature itself makes for an entertaining plot.
The author has done a superb job with her characters whom must have been based on real persons... (most novelists have to use real life to begin with!), but are so well done that the reader marvels at their idiosyncrasies.
"If you aren't having lecturers -" he looked at her unbelievingly. "What are you providing for my writers?"
"Wyoming," Sarah said. She was angry, now. He noticed the expression on her face. He counterattacked.
"You know, Sarah," he said with a smile, "it isn't exactly fair to ask writers to be your guests, so that you can have intelligent companions to brighten your evenings. Is it?"
She was silenced. He made it sound so painfully true. He had certainly succeeded in killing her enthusiasm. She wished she had never heard of these writers, never seen Wyoming. She wondered, suddenly, how someone like Jim Brent would handle this situation. And surprisingly, she regained courage."
There is romance, there is dialogue, there is growth in the characters (some of them), as they meet the challenges of life on a midwestern ranch. Sally becomes quite adept on horseback. Mrs. Peel hides a secret within a comfortable, old-maidey type exterior (and the reader discovers how easy it is to judge a person based on their outer person). Carla 'grows up'.
""Thank you," Carla said. She thought, how strange that I now feel so unmoved by his praise. Yesterday, Mrs. Peel had said, "It's good, Carla. I love it. Don't let anyone change one comma!" And Carla had hugged her with delight. She looked at Atherton Jones to see if he had noticed her coolness. But he was thinking over some problem of his own. I know what is wrong with him, Carla thought. He keeps shutting people out. He lets them in when he pleases, and he closes the door when he pleases. I don't believe he cares about any of us at all, certainly not as human beings. Then why does he bother with us?"
Highly recommended.
October 26, 2018
Sarah Bly and Margaret Peel, a pair of well-to-do American friends with literary tastes who have spent a number of years as expats in Europe, impulsively decide to host a retreat for struggling writers at a Wyoming ranch...which becomes slightly complicated when a couple of snobby literary critics of their acquaintance invite themselves along. The interactions of the outsiders with the more down-to-earth ranch hands and local townsfolk, plus the personal and creative struggles of the writers at the retreat, form the bulk of the story—during which Sarah and Margaret each take unexpected steps forward on their own personal journeys as well.
This is such a unique, unexpectedly pleasant book, especially surprising given that the English MacInnes' usual fare was Cold War-era spy thrillers. If I had to guess I'd say that this book was an author's just-for-fun project—a love letter to Wyoming, and a chance to air her opinions about literary trends and critics of the day. On my second reading, I wondered during the first few chapters if my recollection of the novel was a little rosier than it merited—MacInnes' writing can be a trifle clunky at times—but the further I got, I warmed to the story just as much as I had the first time. I mean—literature meets Wyoming, in 1948? That sounds like a book that was written to order for me.
I was also reminded of another reason I had liked the book the first time. MacInnes shrewdly nails a couple portrayals of narcissistic, manipulative behavior amongst her supporting characters; and it's thoroughly refreshing to watch Sarah and Margaret have their eyes opened to it and free themselves from the trammels of being manipulated—realizing that they've been tailoring their actions and opinions to retain the good opinion of people they don't even like or respect, and that they just don't have to do it anymore.
A perfect novel? No, of course not. As I mentioned, the writing style can be a bit uneven. MacInnes doesn't always have the surest hand with dialogue, sometimes making her characters express their ideas in a more stilted way than people really talk, even in books. And she cheerfully indulges in the technique today deplored as "head-hopping," sharing the thoughts of multiple characters on the same page or even paragraph. There are a lot of characters to keep sorted out and we get at least a few pages from the perspective of every single one. There's a bit of swearing by the cowboys and a few other male characters.
Still, Rest and Be Thankful somehow hits a sweet spot for me. It's not brilliant literature, but it's winningly unpretentious, and it deals with a setting, and an era, and themes that I'm fond of. The final chapters depicting the enthusiastic turnout of a small town for their annual parade and rodeo make a peculiarly satisfying, even heartwarming conclusion, just a touch bittersweet to read now as one looking back on a vanished era. And they contain an interestingly acute observation from an across-the-pond author: that American literary high-brows have largely ignored the culture of their own country's common people (especially the western half of the country), unless it's to look down their nose at it or twist it to their own interpretations.
Perhaps that's the idea at the heart of Rest and Be Thankful, and perhaps that's what makes it appeal to me.
This is such a unique, unexpectedly pleasant book, especially surprising given that the English MacInnes' usual fare was Cold War-era spy thrillers. If I had to guess I'd say that this book was an author's just-for-fun project—a love letter to Wyoming, and a chance to air her opinions about literary trends and critics of the day. On my second reading, I wondered during the first few chapters if my recollection of the novel was a little rosier than it merited—MacInnes' writing can be a trifle clunky at times—but the further I got, I warmed to the story just as much as I had the first time. I mean—literature meets Wyoming, in 1948? That sounds like a book that was written to order for me.
I was also reminded of another reason I had liked the book the first time. MacInnes shrewdly nails a couple portrayals of narcissistic, manipulative behavior amongst her supporting characters; and it's thoroughly refreshing to watch Sarah and Margaret have their eyes opened to it and free themselves from the trammels of being manipulated—realizing that they've been tailoring their actions and opinions to retain the good opinion of people they don't even like or respect, and that they just don't have to do it anymore.
A perfect novel? No, of course not. As I mentioned, the writing style can be a bit uneven. MacInnes doesn't always have the surest hand with dialogue, sometimes making her characters express their ideas in a more stilted way than people really talk, even in books. And she cheerfully indulges in the technique today deplored as "head-hopping," sharing the thoughts of multiple characters on the same page or even paragraph. There are a lot of characters to keep sorted out and we get at least a few pages from the perspective of every single one. There's a bit of swearing by the cowboys and a few other male characters.
Still, Rest and Be Thankful somehow hits a sweet spot for me. It's not brilliant literature, but it's winningly unpretentious, and it deals with a setting, and an era, and themes that I'm fond of. The final chapters depicting the enthusiastic turnout of a small town for their annual parade and rodeo make a peculiarly satisfying, even heartwarming conclusion, just a touch bittersweet to read now as one looking back on a vanished era. And they contain an interestingly acute observation from an across-the-pond author: that American literary high-brows have largely ignored the culture of their own country's common people (especially the western half of the country), unless it's to look down their nose at it or twist it to their own interpretations.
"If this had been the annual festival in a little town in Mexico, or the South of France, he would have stood for hours and applauded. He would have talked about it for months afterwards. Authentic folk art. The Color of the Soil...And he missed the whole point, why you and I are so happy...Doesn't he know the joy of seeing ordinary hard-working people looking so prosperous and proud of their lives? Doesn't that tell him anything?"
Perhaps that's the idea at the heart of Rest and Be Thankful, and perhaps that's what makes it appeal to me.
March 15, 2017
4 1/2 for the sheer 'suspension of disbelief'; every character felt like a could be known person. The scenery descriptions flowed cinematically. I just want to be part of the amazing month. What a wonderful writer.
Wonder how I was lucky enough to find this book?
Wonder how I was lucky enough to find this book?
March 28, 2009
I read this book probably ten years ago or more -- my husband recommended the author, and we were in a thrift-store phase (budget) with our book-buying, where I could always count on finding some Helen MacInnes -- so I picked up every one I could find. Most of her books are in the mystery/espionage genre, written in the 40s to 60s, so they're much tamer than most of what's out there now. That's part of what I enjoyed about them.
Rest and Be Thankful is not in that genre -- it's a romantic drama, I guess -- it felt like reading an old black-and-white movie from American Movie Classics. And the last book I read was so much darker, this one was a true pleasure to read. I actually felt rested and thankful when I finished it, with a sigh, tonight.
Rest and Be Thankful is not in that genre -- it's a romantic drama, I guess -- it felt like reading an old black-and-white movie from American Movie Classics. And the last book I read was so much darker, this one was a true pleasure to read. I actually felt rested and thankful when I finished it, with a sigh, tonight.
May 1, 2018
Somewhat dated but a wonderful look at life in Wyoming in 1949 when sophisticated New Yorkers host several struggling writers on a ranch. We get a dose of the authentic West, a romance or two, and several political viewpoints being argued (this is authentic post-war thinking being considered, though MacInnes' point of view is clear). By the end I always have fallen in love with most of the characters and the setting. MacInnes generally wrote spy novels but this is one of the few which is not of that genre.
I'm somewhat biased in my love for this book since I originally read it as a teenager and have revisited it periodically over the years. Decades later, I still love it.
I'm somewhat biased in my love for this book since I originally read it as a teenager and have revisited it periodically over the years. Decades later, I still love it.
August 23, 2013
Full of fun characters and neat satire of literary snobbery, with the added attraction of fine descriptions of the setting in the western USA. Only a modicum of suspense, which is the way I like 'em.
May 26, 2021
This is not the Helen MacInnes I know. Her thrillers are brilliant, this meandered a bit. I was very excited early in the book when Sally started to tell smug writer Dewey off. It seemed like it was going to be a tale of two women finding their voice and telling the a few people off in the process. But after that early scene it kind of morphed into a love story with much less bite.
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August 23, 2017I had Helen MacInnes pegged in my head as writer of spy novels, but this is one that is anything but. It's about two American friends, writers Sarah and Margaret, who are somewhat at loose ends after spending most of their adult lives in Europe, culminating in some very adventurous years during WW2. They've returned to the US, and since they are both well set up in terms of money, they have resorted to filling their time with long drives across the country.
It is while driving in Wyoming that a fortuitous automotive mishap leads them to finding the perfect ranch. It's love at first sight, and they end up purchasing the ranch house, which the owner of the land is quite happy to get rid of, as it's a bit of a white elephant to him. Margaret and Sarah's first project is to use the ranch as a literary retreat, and before too long a motley crew of mostly-unknown-to-them writers start to arrive.
It's a fun setup, but I just didn't like it. I found it extremely frustrating. The writing felt old fashioned and kind of arch and elliptical. But I could have got over that. Mainly, I got frustrated with the two main characters and how they allowed themselves to be treated by people who were guests into their own home. These guests are all nasty, self-absorbed arseholes, and I found it astounding that women who just a few years earlier were involved in the Resistance, so were clearly no pushovers, would allow themselves to be bullied in such a way. I was also frustrated by the preaching about politics. The book is very of its time in that area (it was published in 1949), and I got a really annoyed at the politics that were inserted when they had little to do with the plot. This wasn't so much that the characters had views, but that the book had views, and those views were pretty much McCarthyism. There's also a fair bit of how people from rural areas are so morally superior to people from the city (particularly New York!). Sorry, but I'm not here for that.
I was bored, as well as annoyed, so I gave up after about 100 pages.
MY GRADE: A DNF.
It is while driving in Wyoming that a fortuitous automotive mishap leads them to finding the perfect ranch. It's love at first sight, and they end up purchasing the ranch house, which the owner of the land is quite happy to get rid of, as it's a bit of a white elephant to him. Margaret and Sarah's first project is to use the ranch as a literary retreat, and before too long a motley crew of mostly-unknown-to-them writers start to arrive.
It's a fun setup, but I just didn't like it. I found it extremely frustrating. The writing felt old fashioned and kind of arch and elliptical. But I could have got over that. Mainly, I got frustrated with the two main characters and how they allowed themselves to be treated by people who were guests into their own home. These guests are all nasty, self-absorbed arseholes, and I found it astounding that women who just a few years earlier were involved in the Resistance, so were clearly no pushovers, would allow themselves to be bullied in such a way. I was also frustrated by the preaching about politics. The book is very of its time in that area (it was published in 1949), and I got a really annoyed at the politics that were inserted when they had little to do with the plot. This wasn't so much that the characters had views, but that the book had views, and those views were pretty much McCarthyism. There's also a fair bit of how people from rural areas are so morally superior to people from the city (particularly New York!). Sorry, but I'm not here for that.
I was bored, as well as annoyed, so I gave up after about 100 pages.
MY GRADE: A DNF.
September 8, 2009
I enjoyed this book, though at times it read dated and also seems to lack editing in some aspects. But the descriptions of a post WW 2 world are fantastic; even more so, MacInnes' depiction of the West and cowboy life (I've lived in Texas and can relate). The romance itself is a little less formulaic than modern plain romance stories but also more wooden in some ways, too.
July 5, 2010
I'm reading a vintage hardcover edition, but this cover art cracked me up.
Update: A fun find at the church book sale, and I was mentally casting the movie version as I read it. Most fascinating, though, was the vehement anti-Communist thread running throughout. The book was published in 1949 and I can just see Mrs. Joe McCarthy talking it up at bridge parties.
Update: A fun find at the church book sale, and I was mentally casting the movie version as I read it. Most fascinating, though, was the vehement anti-Communist thread running throughout. The book was published in 1949 and I can just see Mrs. Joe McCarthy talking it up at bridge parties.
May 21, 2016
I loved this book, it was like nothing I have ever read before. The characters were interesting and I became so involved with them that I wished the author had written a sequel. This is nothing like Mrs. MacInnes' other books, no spies, no sneaky communist conspiracy but there is a character with strong communist leanings. Read this on openlibrary.org
February 9, 2018
This was a fun find of a book published just after WWII. The author was Scottish but lived in the U.S. with her English husband, and I thought she did a good job capturing the American voice and the American west. It was interesting for the time in my life because the main characters spent time in Paris during the war, and since we just moved to Paris it bridges a gap for me.
October 1, 2008
Written while she was on vacation. Too slow and boring...the only one of her books I did not enjoy. I can't remember all the titles and this is not pulling them up. Mysteries without being dirty...
August 14, 2016
Picked this up for 25 cents from a book sale table. Fun to read an old-timey book that's well written, but without all the extemes that so many modern novels seem to go to. Enjoyed the western landscape and characters, but nothing remarkable.
May 9, 2018
Well written...but a little slow moving. MacInnes' books are usually very fast paced and interesting through out. This books was more about the "cultured" society in post WW2 U.S. The juxtaposition of East Coast civilization and the country folks of Wyoming are very interesting.
April 5, 2008
I read this book once when I was quite young and recently found it again. It's on my list of favorites with Pride and Prejudice and the Blue Castle.
September 29, 2010
Fun, easy reading that took me forever to finish :) I thought for sure I'd finish it on our camping trip ...
January 22, 2013
I find her espionage novels very entertaining in a retro kind of way but this has no spies is dreadful.
December 31, 2014
Bogs down abit but a good story if you take it to the end
June 8, 2016
This is hilarious. Western pragmatic work ethic meets Eastern intellectual selfishness.
Read
July 23, 2016published 1949
December 7, 2017
Loved this kind and gentle book.
February 24, 2021
In a post-Cold War, Wyoming environment, two city women who’d printed a controversial critical journal of writers and authors at the risk of losing their lives, attempt to grapple with the simple life, and the cowboys, natives, and less-is-more ethos of those that populate it - after breaking down and getting lost on a drive across the country for sight-seeing. While the class stereotyping that others have mentioned does make the plot slightly an effort-ful read for anyone not born into money or on the receiving end of some desirable big break, I loved the idea that two women obsessed with their networks, literary pursuits, image in the eyes of other authors and publishers who’d ‘made it’ would spontaneously buy a house and create a writer’s colony for zero pay and on the grounds of supporting the creativity of the unpublished. Characters from New York City strive with cynicism and vernacular the locals can’t possibly understand, and yet its interesting to see the way the two cultures blend together in place and the expression of individualities. In total the story spans maybe three months, and perhaps today it is unlikely a venture of this kind could be successfully begun and finished in so short a time, but having always longed to participate in some kind of unpublished-writers retreat and tremble at the thought of free exchange around words and history and plot and identity, I loved that aspect of it most.
The portrayal of the native Americans was problematic for me but representative of the attitude and prejudice that existed at the time, and being sandwiched between two tribes myself, I have seen the frightened looks on white people’s faces at the tribal dances and displays of cultural arts. Most of the character development lives in the main two characters, women who respectively come to terms with inner demons they had ignored and the value of their friendship and shared love of authentic authors, and this wraps both the ideal and the sub-ideal in this book into a nice, and worthwhile, conclusion worth learning from: take risks! Do for others! And you may find yourself once again in the process.
The portrayal of the native Americans was problematic for me but representative of the attitude and prejudice that existed at the time, and being sandwiched between two tribes myself, I have seen the frightened looks on white people’s faces at the tribal dances and displays of cultural arts. Most of the character development lives in the main two characters, women who respectively come to terms with inner demons they had ignored and the value of their friendship and shared love of authentic authors, and this wraps both the ideal and the sub-ideal in this book into a nice, and worthwhile, conclusion worth learning from: take risks! Do for others! And you may find yourself once again in the process.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2025
The setting for this Helen MacInnes novel is in Wyoming and quite different from the Cold War Spy thrillers that she is known for. Sally Bly and Margaret Peel are touring the country with their Hungarian driver, Jackson, when they accidentally get stuck on a country road where they are potentially blocking the ranchers who are trying to get a herd in. A storm is on the way, and they end up at the 'Rest and Be Thankful' ranch. Although Sally and Margaret appear to be over-monied East Coast socialites, there is quite a lot to their backgrounds.
This is more of a Western novel with romance thrown in. However, the post WWII and Cold War attributes are still there. No matter how far removed in an idyllic setting, the fallout and horrors of war are always there.
This is more of a Western novel with romance thrown in. However, the post WWII and Cold War attributes are still there. No matter how far removed in an idyllic setting, the fallout and horrors of war are always there.
July 13, 2025
Sarah Bly and Margaret Peel, along with their driver, Jackson, take a detour on the way to California, get caught in a rainstorm and end up at a home called Rest and be Thankful next to the Flying Tail Ranch. Margaret falls in love with the house and buys it from Jim Brent, who also owns the Ranch. Sarah and Margaret have spent the last twenty years traveling throughout Europe. They had started a printing press in Paris, hosted literary salons and supported new authors. They decided to to have a few unpublished authors come to EST and Be Thankful so they could write in peaceful and beautiful surroundings. Once the authors and one uninvited guest arrive, things begin to happen.
November 17, 2020
Entirely different from her spy thrillers. She puts a disparate group together on a Wyoming ranch, and then not very much happens. Horrible representations of Indians, likely not unusual for the time, are cringe-worthy. Her right-wing politics rises up from time to time. Kept reading in hopes that things would pick up, but they never did.
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August 3, 2022I really enjoyed reading this novel, published in 1949 and set in Wyoming. Next time, I’d like a list of its many characters to refer to, with a few words about each one, like we get at the beginning of a Shakespearean play. The observations about politics and human nature are still relevant, and the subtlety is refreshing.
November 15, 2023
This is not a MacInnes spy thriller. Rather, this is a elegantly written dinner party-esque type novel with a interesting cast of characters + a dash of romance. While the title is a bit trite, it lives up to its stated name of “rest and be thankful.” MacInnes has written a book meant to be consumed as one rests and reflects.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews