Well-written, gripping historical fiction takes us back to another place and time and allows us to experience that setting through the eyes and usually meticulous research of the author.

THE HIRED MAN is set in 1937 Colorado during the Dust Bowl. Instead of rain falling from the sky, dirt blew in from neighboring states, blanketing the ground and covering everything with layers of dirt. Thanks to Sandra Dallas’ careful, detailed descriptions, we can almost feel the grit in our mouths and eyes during the storm.

It was a dark time, but darker still as we see the mistrust with which people viewed outsiders. Hobos, or vagrants, were unwelcome, perhaps because there were so many of them. Men and boys were driven to travel and look for work when their own farms were blown away. The town of Burke is so inhospitable to men passing through that they enact a vagrant law: "Penalty for being a vag's a month of hard labor."

"This story has a bit of everything --- from love to hate, kindness to extreme cruelty, generosity to callous greed, and maybe even a psychopath. Dallas' descriptions are detailed and help readers picture the desperate conditions, but there is also a touch of humor."

This is what the town's sheriff told Otis Hobbs after he rescued a six-year-old boy who had been missing all day following a storm. He found the child covered with dirt in a ditch, picked him up and carried him to the nearest farm. It was the Kessler farm, and Martha Helen Kessler is the first-person narrator. When the Kesslers rightly point out that Otis just saved the life of a child, the sheriff says that he feels bad, but Otis will have to move along unless he has a job. He adds that there is no work to be had.

That's when Martha Helen's mother tells the sheriff that Otis will be working for them. But when the sheriff leaves, they don't know how they can pay him when they barely have enough for themselves. It's decided that Otis will work for room and board, and the arrangement seems to be going well for everyone. Martha Helen's 15-year-old narration sounds pitch perfect as she relates the events of their small town. Through her eyes, we see the cruelty and abuse to which their neighbor subjects his wife and daughter.

And that's the thing about communities, both small and large. There are decent people with kind hearts who believe in giving everyone a chance. There are also those who are small-minded, jealous, selfish, and view everyone they don't know with suspicion and distrust. We encounter both kinds here.

Then there is a murder. Martha Helen's best friend, Frankie, disappears and is found dead by Martha Helen, her father and Otis. It's obvious from the description that she was raped before she was killed. Martha Helen is forced to grow up quickly after this tragedy as the sheriff is out of town and the deputy is inept. Otis is arrested because he's a stranger, and Martha Helen and her family support him.

It's important to remember that Martha Helen is only 15. Does being this age make a narrator unreliable? She has led a fairly sheltered life, and over the course of the novel, she learns a lot about the world and how hard life can be for those who may not have the gift of a loving family. We see that everyone (or almost everyone) has secrets. Even Martha Helen's mother has secrets that she has hidden from her children.

What Dallas does here is multifaceted. She creates a fascinating story that shows what life was like during this period of time when for almost a decade the ground turned brown instead of green and the skies rained dirt. It's horrifying to consider this time and how so many died from hunger, violence, disease and the poverty that engendered all of the foregoing. But read this book for more than just the historical facts. Dallas also creates a group of people whose values and morals are admirable, and we wonder if they are also naive. Martha Helen is a child at the start of THE HIRED MAN, but she is forced to mature. By the end, she makes a decision that is shocking. In fact, this twist is so surprising and jarring that readers will be tempted to reread the book to see what clues they might have missed.

This story has a bit of everything --- from love to hate, kindness to extreme cruelty, generosity to callous greed, and maybe even a psychopath. Dallas' descriptions are detailed and help readers picture the desperate conditions, but there is also a touch of humor. Martha's mom says that "First Kansas rolls by and now Texas." And Martha narrates, "It was Texas all right, because the dirt was red. Kansas sent yellow dirt. Oklahoma's dirt was brown."

Spring might be the perfect time to read this story of a decade of dry when we can look out the window and see the rain streaming down. But it's a cautionary tale of how Mother Nature can be as cruel as some of the characters in THE HIRED MAN. And there are those who will not live to tell the tale.