The Return of Henry Starr

Wild West lore collides with a life of crime in this biographical novel of the legendary Cherokee outlaw.

Growing up on Indian Territory in Oklahoma, Henry Starr had an illustrious family lineage: half Cherokee warriors, half western outlaws. Inspired by dime-store novels and old family tales, he began robbing banks to avenge the bitter mistreatment of his people. But while Starr’s criminal career soon made him a legend, it also won him a death sentence.

That was years ago, before a lucky twist of fate sets Henry free. But while the world has changed around him, the myth of the outlaw Henry Starr lives on. Now his best chance at a new life is to work in Hollywood--depicting his former self in silent films. As Henry is drawn into a glamorized version of his own past, it becomes difficult to separate truth from fiction. And he soon finds himself returning to the life that made him a notorious icon.

A fictionalized tale of Henry Starr’s dramatic life, novelist and historian Richard Slotkin brings authentic period detail to this saga of the frontier.

Richard Slotkin, widely regarded as one of America’s leading cultural critics, is a two-time finalist for the National Book Award. In addition to his prize-winning trilogy on the myth of the frontier in America, Slotkin is the author of Lost Battalions, a New York Times Notable Book, and A Great Disorder, as well as three historical novels, including The Return of Henry Starr​. He is the Olin Professor of English and American Studies, Emeritus, at Wesleyan University.