Product Description

A debut novelist who "writes with insight, humor, and complete control. If they ever make compassion an Olympic sport, Tina will have a room full of gold."-Tim Sandlin

It is an argument over pineapple pizza that finally prompts jewelry-maker Suzannah to leave her stale marriage for a ramshackle cabin in the foothills of Wyoming's majestic Teton Range. As she strings necklaces, she untangles her complicated relationships with the mother she's losing to Alzheimer's, and with the adopted son who's spent his life chasing after his birth mother. But it's her new home's previous owner, easygoing "Marlboro Man" Bo Garrett, who threatens the satisfying life Suzannah is building for herself-and inspires her to explore more fully what it means to truly stand on her own...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1025405 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Suzannah Perry, the narrator of Welling's life-affirming debut, is a junior high English teacher who is stuck in an unhappy marriage and struggling with the realization that her mother has Alzheimer's. After years of putting up with her husband's passive-aggressive behavior, Suzannah finally decides to leave him and pursue her dream of turning her jewelry-making hobby into a vocation. To that end, she buys a small piece of land and a crumbling cabin from Bo Garrett, a cowboy with his own artistic goals and his own personal issues holding him back. Suzannah begins to fall for him, but she's unable to fully pursue the relationship as she tries to reconnect with her stepson, help her father take care of her increasingly failing mother and find emotional stability as she moves on from her 17-year marriage. Suzannah's happy ending is a well-earned one that readers of inspirational fiction will appreciate. (Jan.)
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Review
"The writing is vivid and will hold you through to the end-bringing home fresh answers to old questions about strength and weakness."
-Clyde Edgerton, author of Solo: My Adventures in the Air

"Like a cliff diver, Tina Welling's fiction flies, tucks, and slices into the dark depths of her characters."
-Tim Sandlin, author of Jimi Hendrix Turns Eighty

"A more winning heroine than Suzannah...would be hard to imagine."
-Sarah Bird, author of The Flamenco Academy

About the Author
Tina Welling lives and writes in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Her essays have been published in magazines and several anthologies. She is at work on her second novel.

Customer Reviews

Illuminating and entertaining
Cry Baby Ranch is both entertaining and insightful. The unique characters are fascinating, and their interactions offer sophisticated insights into human nature. The beautifully described settings illuminate the cultural differences found in various parts of the United States. Above all, I enjoy meeting the female heroine, Suzannah. Suzannah is humorous, insightful, wise, and full of human flaws. I admire her break from the past and daring move into a new life. I understand her struggle for balance between personal independence and loving relationship, between responsibilities to family and the need to realize a fuller vision of herself. I love meeting the Wyoming characters that she meets and learning from her as she navigates the abyss of her mother's senility. Thank you, Tina Welling, for taking me on this journey!

Crybaby Ranch
Ms. Welling is an amazing writer who uses her descriptive powers to bring the story alive. The characters are real, the setting - incredibly well drawn. The story is filled with tenderness, love and soul. She perfectly explains what it is like to have an elderly parent who is having health issues. It's a great read!