George Getschow, Executive Director of the Larry McMurtry Literary Center
Far From Uncertain made me certain of one thing: I’ll never read another novel by Teddy Jones past my typical lights-out time: around midnight. The author’s all-engrossing saga of an indominable 15-year-old girl who overcomes sibling violence, poverty, criminality and all manner of cruelty and finds the courage to forgive her “tormentors” and start over, kept me reading until the sun broke out of the morning haze surrounding Dallas. Beyond the spellbinding story, the fast-paced narrative architecture Jones employed to tell it—toggling chapters between the unbridled Lone Star of the ‘20s and modern-day Texas—kept me in some weird hypnotic state, entirely untethered from my surroundings. So, if you can manage to miss a night of sleep, order Far From Uncertain. Sure, you’ll curse yourself in the morning for staying up with the stars. But in your heart of hearts, you’ll also realize that your life was enriched by this masterful work of fiction that, in so many ways, will seem as real as the flyspeck town of Uncertain on the shores of Caddo Lake."
John Dufresne, author of My Darling Boy
“Teddy Jones is a force of nature. I mean who writes seven critically acclaimed and award-winning books of fiction in thirteen years? And now she gives us her eighth, Far from Uncertain, arguably her most compelling and absorbing novel. You’re not going to read many novels as powerful, as honest, and as vivid and irresistible as this one.”
Robin Lippincott, Blue Territory: A Meditation on the Life and Art of Joan Mitchell
“A propulsive novel about a girl from Uncertain, Texas (yes, it’s a real place) who’s certain that she never wants to return there, and the 90-year-old woman who believes in the importance of not being too certain. With Far from Uncertain: One Woman’s Life of Crime and Other Righteous Deeds, Teddy Jones has written another bewitching page-turner.”
Helena Rho, author of Stone Angels
“What I know for certain is Far From Uncertain by Teddy Jones is a page-turner of a novel, suspenseful and gripping. At turns, a thriller, a romance, a mystery, it gives me what I want most from historical fiction—riveting stories about women with chaotic and difficult, joyous and memorable lives that still resonate today. Told from dual timelines—one in the lawless boomtowns of Texas in the 1920s and the other in twenty-first century aughts—the two main characters, Frankie and Margaret contend with unloving families and abusive men while striving to live true meaningful lives. But Far From Uncertain isn’t a narrative from a time gone by that is no longer relevant. It is the story of us in the present and ongoing: How do we live a good life? What happens when the strong prey on the weak? Who is the hero of our story? Jones answers these questions with profound compassion and wisdom in her masterfully crafted novel.”
David Norman, The Watershed Project
Far From Uncertain will certainly keep you up reading until the early hours. Teddy Jones forges an unforgettable story about the courage to start over and the strength to tell the truth at last. A moving, brilliantly rendered tale of survival, love, and the long road to forgiveness.
