Page last revised March 26, 2019
Copyright 2014-19 Sunnycroft Books. All rights reserved.
Ardyth Kennelly at home in Portland, Oregon, in the 1990s
(photo courtesy of Scott & Julie Fisher)
Publishing the late-life works of Oregon author Ardyth Kennelly
What people are saying about Variation West:
"Found treasure: Ardyth Kennelly's unique voice—
wry, compassionate, evocative—is back! With telling detail, her memorable characters invite readers into a life that is both 'other' and familiar. Her powerful, highly original writing rewards those who come looking for literary gold."
Rosalie Maggio, author of How to Say It
"Every one of the 760 pages is worth savoring."
Ann Chamberlin, Historical Novel Society review
"Kennelly's style is offbeat, but it's richly rewarding. . . . Anyone interested in Western or Mormon history, fans of family sagas, or readers tired of lightweight genre fiction and wanting something to sink their teeth into will enjoy Variation West."
B. J. Sedlock, Metadata and Archives Librarian, Defiance College / Feature writer and reviewer for the Historical Novel Society
"Vastly enjoyable . . . fascinating . . . wonderful characters."
Peggy, Goodreads reviewer
"The Gone with the Wind of the West!"
Marquita Olsen Fisher, writer and radio host (and Ardyth's cousin)
Sixty years after Ardyth Kennelly delighted readers with her best-selling books of the 1950s, Sunnycroft Books is pleased to be publishing the works that she wrote later in her life.
Her crowning literary achievement, Variation West, was published in 2014, and her memoirs are being prepared for publication.
Variation West is a sweeping novel that covers not only a century of Western life and history, but also the vast territory of the human heart. It's an immense literary collage, with dozens of engaging characters and a wealth of both comic and tragic stories to tell. We see not only the humor and heartaches of domestic life under Mormon polygamy, but also the sacrifices—including death and disfigurement—that women make in trying to fulfill society's expectations of female beauty; the unspeakable violence that men do; and how patterns laid down in the distant past resurface again and again.
Bodies Adjacent is Ardyth Kennelly's story of her life with her husband, the Viennese physician Egon V. Ullman. A second memoir, New York on Five Dollars a Day, is an account of the two years she spent in New York in the mid-1960s.
• For more about Variation West, including where to purchase it, please click here.
• For more about Ardyth Kennelly's life and work, please click here.