American writer Claudia Cravens tells a powerful story of freedom and emancipation set in a Dodge City brothel in the 1800s

A remarkable writer, the American Claudia Cravens took the literary world by surprise with the release of her first novel, Lucky Red. Propelled to the sales charts of USA Todaynoticed in several media, the novel became a bestseller, and it is now translated into French. The freed woman tells the story of Bridget, a young girl who didn’t have much going for her, but who decides to forge her own destiny in the Wild West, in the late 1800s.

The novel “L’affranchie”, French translation of the bestseller “Lucky Red”, is published by Les Escales.

Bridget, born in a cabin in Arkansas, had no aces in her game: her mother died giving birth to her and her devastated father sank into alcoholism and a deep depression. One day, he tells her that he has exchanged his cabin for a property title in Kansas and they hit the road. Bad luck strikes again: the father is bitten by a snake and dies along the way.

Bridget, in rags, finds herself in Dodge City. When she no longer has a coin in her pockets, she wanders the streets. Her long red hair attracts attention… and she agrees to work at the Buffalo Queen, a brothel run by women. She meets other beautiful ladies who, like her, didn’t have much choice: Kate, Lila, Constance, Sallie, Spartan Lee, a heartbreaker. Men too, including Jim, the local sheriff.

The western plains, the sky of Kansas and the dusty streets of Dodge City, an iconic city of the time, will see its transformation and its emancipation, in a harsh and merciless world.

Spartan Lee et Bridget

“The character of Spartan Lee came to me first. I wanted to describe the coolest, sexiest, most bad ass possible,” said Claudia Cravens, in an interview.

“Imagine the female version of Hans Solo! Then I wondered whose life she could absolutely ruin. Because that’s what these sexy villains do: they ruin lives. The character of Bridget came to me and the story built from there.”

Claudia Cravens therefore had Spartan and Bridget to launch into literary creation. “I wanted to write a story with a queer character, but not only that. I really wanted to portray how Bridget would rediscover her own power and become the whole, incredible version of herself.”

Women’s lives in 1877

Stating that she set the novel in 1877, the writer explains that she wanted to explore the lives of women, and in particular, that of sex workers of the time, without preaching. “In historical fiction, they are often described as very sad women or very free and very happy. I wanted to describe them as ordinary working people, the way I would have described lawyers or doctors.”

The West, a pragmatic place

She describes the condition of women at the time very well: there weren’t hundreds of options… “I researched a lot on the subject, reading historical sources. The West was a practical, pragmatic place.”

“Bridget made a practical choice in becoming a sex worker: she had no money, no special skills and she was illiterate. Her choices in life were: be a servant, get married or be a sex worker. She chose what allowed her to have the most freedom, and the most control over her own life.

Dodge City, a hub of the cattle trade at the time, was a perfect setting for this story. “He’s such an icon of the literary genre and the place!”

The freed woman

Claudia Cravens

Editions Les Escales

Environ 350 pages

Claudia Cravens grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.
She studied at Bard College and participated in Catapult’s Twelve-Month Novel Generator program.
Son roman Freedwoman (in English, Lucky Red) found himself on the list of USA Todayfrom Good Morning America and was named Best New Novel of 2023 by Kirkus Reviews.
She lives in the Hudson Valley in UpState New York.
She dreams of visiting Montreal.

“All along the trail that the herds took, Kate and Lila’s brothel was known because it was there that the most beautiful girls in Dodge were found, but the two madam mothers made sure that no one went up there. ‘have fun without having had a drink or a game of cards before or after – preferably both.’