"This is an exquisitely written story of two families struggling to survive in the Great Plains of the 1960s. Swans and circumstances bring these families—one Native and one white—together in Washburn’s graceful and insightful prose."—Ms. Magazine
“Frances Washburn is a consummate storyteller. An Endangered Species, her newest book, is a poignant, tragic, and brilliant tale of two families, one Native and one white, trying to cope with changing times on the Northern Plains in the early 1960s. Washburn’s forte is character development. The reader gets to know not only the time and place of the story, but also what makes her characters tick. The book is a masterwork of prose, rich in simile and active in voice. The story moves artfully to its final, surprising conclusion. It is indeed difficult to put down.”—Tom Holm, author of Ira Hayes and The Osage Rose