“E.W. Cole is easily the next great writer in the western genre. He has a keen eye and a unique, strong voice for the bygone days of the old west that is rarely seen in new writers today. It is not an unfathomable stretch to consider him a future Elmer Kelton,  Jack Schaefer, or Will James. Keep an eye on this young writer.”

—Jeffree Wyn Itrich, author of The Mercy Quilt

“A story of hardship, resilience, and whether a man can love a life that doesn’t unfold as planned.”

— Liberty Hill Independent

“Cole draws us into a world alive with dread and beauty, where the land has a long memory and the past casts a heavy shadow over the living. Here there is no redemption, only the hard work of forging purpose from what cannot be undone.”

–-Brandon Melendez, author of Gold that Frames the Mirror

Can you love a life that ruins you?

This is the meditation at the heart of E.W. Cole’s break out novel, Lady of the House. It tells the story of Maurey McCarthy, a nineteenth century Texas horse rancher who comes home to find his wife murdered and his life’s work ruined, setting him up to make a choice that may destroy everything that’s left. Cole blends sweeping western landscapes with profound psychological insight, crafting a story of moral struggle and human fallibility.

Weaving dark natural realism and timeless mediations on the choices we make, Lady of the House is a powerful re-imagination of the Texas frontier, and man’s capacity to endure his fate.