Little Miss Sure Shot tells the story of Annie Oakley, a famous American markswoman in the 1880s. It relates her life from her birth in Ohio in 1860 to her rise to fame in Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show, until her death in 1922. In the process, we learn about the beautiful love story between Annie and her husband, Frank Butler. Frank gave up shooting for her and became her manager. They were married for 50 years.
This is Jeffrey Marshall’s first novel, a historical fiction based on real-life Annie Oakley, a remarkable woman well ahead of her time. She lead an incredible life, traveling all over the US and Europe. In the process, she met Queen Victoria in London and Prince Wilhelm in Germany. Back home, she rubbed shoulders with the likes of Mark Twain and Thomas Edison. She shot like no other woman before her, yet managed to keep her feminity intact. The book is well written and fascinating. I only wish it had been longer and more detailed, as it has only 148 pages. In particular, I would have liked to know more about her childhood and her travels. In addition, I thought there was no need for the prologue and that its content could have been integrated into the chronological story. In the end though, the book was fun to read and really interesting.
Little Miss Sure Shot was sent to me for free in exchange for an honest review.
Fun facts about the book and the author:
- Jeffrey Marshall wrote a business book on community reinvestment and also a collection of poetry.
- The author originally wanted to write a book about Buffalo Bill Cody but when he heard about Annie Oakley, he decided to tell her story instead.
- He started to write in the first person, but it didn’t feel authentic, so he switched to the third person.
About the author and his work: Jeffrey Marshall’s Website.
If you liked this book, you might also like:
