reviews

articles about Dyson

Reviews

"This is not an Alaska forged of Jack London fantasies and Sidney Lawrence imagery, and thank God for that. It's an Alaska remarkably true to the way it was, and in some cases, the way it still is. It's also a hell of a story. I found myself thinking about Dyson's book for days. Like the Talking Heads song, it's just that sticky."
— Lynne Snifka, Anchorage Press

"Dyson gets all the details of life in the 80's in that remote place — the already faded Billy Idol poster in the outhouse, the too tight jeans worn with high heeled boots even if you're going hiking in the woods — man, I know I did that — and the endless rounds of drinking and partying, the difficult and rough life and sudden violence, and casual hookups ... And the carefully researched glimpses of the vanished tribal life — Aya and her daughters — was fascinating and sad. My one complaint of this otherwise excellent book is the very end — Dyson wraps it up in two pages, more like she didn't want to give anything else away rather than that she ran out of story. I guess that saying tell me more makes this a successful story. The question of the title remains — and she was — what was she? This book says the answer is up to her."
— Kim Alexander, Fiction Nation

"At once intimate and epic, the story is told by various voices, the haunted Aleut women and the smart, smart-mouthed waitress, across time and place. But the parts are woven together as gracefully as an Aleut grass basket.... [Dyson] ended up with a fascinating, well-written book unlike anything I've read in quite a while."
—Susan Swagler, The Birmingham News

"...an impressive adult debut that focuses on a woman on the edge who finds her life eerily altered while working as a cocktail waitress in a notorious bar in Alaska's Aleutian Islands."
— Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"By turns somber and surreal, Dyson's prose make for an intriguing read."
— Jason A. Ziker, Charleston Post & Courier

"And She Was conquers the odds to be the beautifully written, soulfully instructive novel that it is.
The odds against it: The book is Cindy Dyson's first adult novel; it is somewhat autobiographical; the plot alternates between a long-ago past and its history lessons, and 1986; its title comes from a song.
But it all works – and fabulously well."
— Claudie Smith Brinson ( appeared in: San Diego Union Tribune, Detriot Free Press, The Olympian, South Carolina's The State)

"...as you turn the pages, you come to realize that, in the person of this blonde bombshell, Dyson has created a character of improbable and artful complexity.... About the highest complement you can pay to a novel: Once you start reading you can’t stop."
— Allen M. Jones, New West

"The resulting novel is far more complex than it first appears, and its impact sneaks up on the reader. What starts out feeling like a light story ends up packing a walloping punch."
— Robin Vidimos, The Denver Post

"Cindy Dyson, part cocktail waitress, part Arctic explorer, grew up in Alaska. Her rough, working-class voice is perfect for a novel set in Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians, a "reckless, shameless place" populated by fishermen and Aleuts."
— Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times

"Cindy Dyson clearly handles the difficult task of blending the past and the present into a seamless novel. She carries the reader with her on a slow but breathless journey into discovery of the uncertain role morality plays in our lives and our history. A journey all women should take."
— Barb Radmore, The Compulsive Reader

"Two story lines -- one, a centuries-old Aleutian native secret passed down from woman to woman, the other of a contemporary young woman from the Lower 48 -- converge in the remote fishing village of Dutch Harbor. Asides, like a brief history of graffiti, make it entertaining; Dyson's consideration of the deepest moral questions makes it compelling."
—American Booksellers Association, March Top Ten Pick

"... imaginative fish-out-of-water tale. Dyson skillfully interconnects Brandy's eerie personal journey with the history of the region (both actual and supernatural), culminating in a ghostly lesson in self-discovery." —Entertainment Weekly

"... Dyson has created such a mesmerizing group of female characters that it’s disappointing to bid them farewell. Like the song the book is named after, it’s tough to get these women out of your head." —Portland Tribune

"... Dyson's evocation of human and natural landscapes often stun with their clarity."
— StarTribune

"haunting"
— Cleavland Plain Dealer

"... a tightly plotted, multi-layered book: not only a chronicle of a young woman's awakening, but also a fascinating primer on Aleutian life, past and present."
—Rocky Mountian News

"Dyson deftly peels back the layers of Brandy’s persona to reveal the woman behind the blond hair and high-heeled boots while revealing the layers of tradition, suppression, and mystery shrouding Dutch Harbor. As the story shifts back and forth from the present day through 250 years of Aleutian history, the reader becomes immersed in Aleutian culture and the loss of that culture at the hands of Russian traders, early missionaries, social workers, and World War II relocators…Combining her memories … and meticulous research into Aleutian anthropology, (Dyson) has created an unforgettable first novel for adults. Highly recommended."
—Library Journal, starred review.

"In an impressive first novel that echoes Kingston’s The Woman Warrior (1976) and Proulx’s The Shipping News (1993), the tragic conquest of a little-discussed ethnic group is filtered through an unlikely point of view. Thirty-one-year-old Brandy is a blond drifter who impulsively follows her boyfriend to a fishing port in the Aleutian Islands... The first-person narrative alternates with chapters set in catastrophic periods of Aleut history, tracing several generations of women whose grim resolve left a daunting, bloody legacy to their daughters and granddaughters: “In your hands you hold your fate, and in no one’s hands but your own does your future rest.” Insertions of scholarly information distract from the drama of Brandy’s personal transformation, but Dyson’s talent is overwhelmingly evident in her nimble balancing of tribal perspectives and those of her canny, questing protagonist."
—Jennifer Mattson, Booklist

"Dyson expertly interlaces Brandy's story, set in 1986, with the vibrant history of the Aleuts, hundreds of years earlier. While relishing the smart prose, bawdy humor and '80s references, readers will find themselves rooting for the hard-as-nails blonde as she wrestles her demons and begins to redirect her fate. Dyson delivers an original and provocative first novel."
—Publishers Weekly

"Just when it started to feel like bookstores were vomiting chick-lit novels like college girls puking shots after a night at Feruqi’s, a book comes along that proves you can actually have a female protagonist without rehashing everything ever written by Candace Bushnell...
And She Was tackles age-old conflicts and personal battles in an ancient and troublesome setting. Digging in with both hands, Dyson has turned up a richly complex story that lingers."
—Azita Osanloo, Missoula Independent

“…a spunky voice and a strange landscape…”
—Kirkus Review

"AND SHE WAS is a mysterious and soul-searching journey that takes us to a place we’ve never been in order to reveal a side of ourselves, the side that tells us we can’t go it alone, the side that waits for the firm nudge of a man’s hand, the side that chants, alone we’re not enough. It leaves us full."
—Maria T. Lennon, author of MAKING IT UP AS I GO ALONG

"It’s the greatest book ever written. I hope it’s not too autobiographical. I’m sure it’s not. It couldn’t be. I’m really impressed. My daughter did this."
— Jane Dyson, the author’s mother.