'Etta' by Gerald Kolpan: Author invents a lively 'bio' of the woman who partnered with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
History provided Gerald Kolpan a fascinating character for his first novel, Etta. Except for the fact that Etta Place was the beautiful, real-life companion of the notorious Sundance Kid, almost nothing was known about her. That allowed Kolpan to make up Etta's life story and to drop into it chance encounters with famous historical figures of the early 20th century.
His Etta meets photographers Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen, as well as Eleanor Roosevelt, Leon Trotsky, Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill, FDR and, much later, the blacklisted Texas humorist, John Henry Faulk.
Is it possible that Etta encountered 17-year-old Eleanor Roosevelt in New York City, and they became friends?
Well, maybe.
And granted the friendship, might Eleanor also have developed a crush on Etta?
Perhaps. But the novel is really the love story of Etta and the Sundance Kid, not Etta and Eleanor.
Kolpan, who was an Emmy-winning television reporter in Philadelphia, provides Etta with a rich history. He imagines her the privileged only daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia father who pours his money into gambling and liquor after his wife dies. He buys his debutante daughter Lorinda horses and teaches her to shoot and ride. When they have nothing left but debts, he kills himself. The criminals to whom he owes money vow vengeance against his daughter. Aided by the family attorney, she leaves town hurriedly and takes on a new identity. At that point Lorinda becomes Etta Place and begins a career as a Harvey Girl.
Kolpan gives interesting details about the lives of the Harvey Girls, the polite young women who wore special uniforms, lived in dormitories and served food at the hotels Fred Harvey established to serve railroad passengers going west.
Unforeseen events cause Etta to cut short her new career and wind up in jail. Rescued, she finds herself at a hideout with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. From that point on, her outlaw life takes shape as she joins her new friends in robbing trains.
Pursuit by members of Pinkerton Detective Agency and by the sadistic outlaw Kid Curry lead to Etta's immigration to South America with the Kid and Cassidy.
Kolpan has plenty of ideas for the girl whose history is such a blank slate. The author even goes so far as to give her an active social conscience and to turn the Sundance Kid into a socialist who cares deeply about the common man.
The form of Etta consists of old newspaper articles, diary entries, letters and simple narration, with many of the facts fabricated. It's mostly escapist reading, though you will pick up some real history, too. If you're going to the beach this spring, this might well be your book.
Anne Morris, a member of the National Book Critics Circle, lives in Austin.
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Etta
Gerald Kolpan
(Ballantine Books, $25) Gerald Kolpan will discuss Etta 7 p.m. Wednesday at The Studio Movie Grill, 1170 North Central Expressway. A screening of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid will follow.
