In the Great Quiet opens with the Oklahoma land rush of 1893. An independent young woman, Minnie Hoopes, plans to stake a claim, hoping for land to call her own. When her claim is challenged by two outlaws, Minnie soon has their blood on her hands. She choses to isolate herself, even from her brothers who staked claims nearby. Eventually, she finds that she does need others and begins an uneasy friendship with another outlaw known as the Lawman—with unexpected results.
The prose is gorgeous. I particularly liked Vogt’s use of color to richly describe the flora and fauna of the Great Plains with which she seems well-acquainted. The sexual tension between the Lawman and Minnie is prime reading for romance lovers in this slow-burn novel. What was less successful was Vogt’s attempts to tie Minnie to the past and future of Oklahoma through her “visions” of characters in the past. These paranormal touches seem out of place in a character who is solidly down-to-earth and slowed the progression of the actual story. My own grandparents settled in West Texas in the 1870s, and many of their stories about those days are echoed in Vogt’s book, so the pioneer details felt appropriate.
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In the Great Quiet (Lake Union Publishing, April 1, 2026) is available through:
Your local independent bookseller | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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