Set in the Kaw River Valley where Paretsky grew up,
Bleeding Kansas is the story of the Schapens and the
Grelliers, two farm families whose histories have been
entwined since the 1850s, when their ancestors settled the
valley as antislavery emigrants.
Today, the
Schapen family, terrified by the lawlessness of the
1970s-when Lawrence was the most violent college town in the
nation-has turned to that old- time religion for security.
The Schapens keep a close eye on all their neighbors, most
especially the Grelliers. They maintain careful track of
everyone's misdeeds, printing the most egregious on their
family website. When Gina Haring, a Wiccan, moves into an
empty farmhouse and starts practicing pagan rites, the
family members are so outraged that they begin an active
harassment campaign against the Wiccans.
The
Schapens worry, too, about who stands better with the Lord:
their family or the Grelliers. When a Schapen cow gives
birth to what may be a "Perfect Red Heifer"-needed if the
temple is ever rebuilt in Jerusalem-the Schapens feel
convinced that God is indeed smiling on them.
Despite parental cautions, the Grelliers' teenagers are
enraged by the Schapens. All their short lives, they and the
young Schapens have fought. One particularly angry
confrontation causes Chip Grellier to be expelled from
school and consequentlyto join the army. Chip's death in
Iraq is the catalyzing event for momentous changes in the
lives of not only both the Schapens and the Grelliers but of
all the families in the valley. The powerful, climactic
scene at Gina Haring's Samhain bonfire will forever haunt
the reader.
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