WINNER: Journey Grand Prize for Narrative Nonfiction from Chanticleer International Book Awards
“Julie Morrison’s persistence and drive teach us how to let go of what doesn’t work and develop what does. An extraordinary memoir and one we highly recommend!” –Chanticleer Reviews
“… keenly observant prose, capable of transporting readers directly to the trail.” –Kirkus Reviews
Standing at a professional crossroads, Julie Morrison decides to saddle up and start over. Her family’s ranch is on the brink of bankruptcy. While fighting for its future, she simultaneously seeks to salvage her marriage and rediscover her best self.
When you ride across the rock-strewn terrain of a family-owned horse and cattle business though, a gritty challenge awaits along the trail to every panoramic view. Entangled in the barbs of ranching and relationships, Julie will meet cold-hearted cowboys and funny farriers, learn how to ranch one-handed, and become an expert in assessing what’s essential.
This is a love story in which the objects of devotion are hard-working horses and iconic western vistas, where hope and horseshoes harmonize and help arrives from the most unlikely places. Julie’s journey of personal discovery will inspire readers to blaze their own trails to a future only they can create.
Barbed: A Memoir is available as a paperback right here from Soulstice and as both a paperback and an ebook wherever books are sold. Click “ADD TO CART” above and we’ll send yours right away! To learn more about Barbed, read the five-star review from Chanticleer Reviews here.
LIBRARY GROUPS ARE READING BARBED: The Flagstaff public library selected Barbed as their September 2022 book for “Southwest Reads.” Coronado Library Memoir and Biography book club chose Barbed as their March 2022 selection. One of their librarians interviewed Julie Morrison: listen here.
BARBED IN THE NEWS: Read the Flagstaff Business News article here (published October 9, 2022). The Arizona Daily Sun newspaper reviewed the book on February 13, 2022.
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JULIE MORRISON is an Arizonan, horsewoman, dog person, and award-winning writer of both poetry and prose. Barbed is her first book.
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“In language alternately gritty and gossamer, first-time author Julie Morrison puts us in her boots. A brave, bewildered would-be rancher, Morrison weaves a tale from filaments both fragile and tough as leather. Gulp this down!” –LISA SCHNEBLY HEIDINGER, author of The Journal of Sedona Schnebly
“Morrison’s love of horses is palpable throughout, and her writing captures the deep sense of satisfaction that comes from being in the saddle: ‘I forgot the healing sway of her gait—she ripples. I can’t help grinning as I feel the miraculous sensation of power and grace in the fluid motion beneath me.’” –Kirkus Reviews
“I would recommend this book to anyone who has longed to leave the shackles of city life and run cows instead. The author isn’t afraid to tell the hard parts of how running the ranch strained her marriage, finances and bones.” –Rancher and reader Angel T., reviewing the book on NetGalley
“The author writes with honesty and insight into her marriage, the good and bad of farming including dealing with cowboys, broken equipment and horses. This is an entertaining and enlightening read to be enjoyed by a wide range of readers. Like the author, I too can relate to the feel of power and grace in the fluid motion that being on a horse gives the rider. The horse side of this book gave it a head start in my eyes and I enjoyed every part of it.” –Reader Ivory T., reviewing the book on NetGalley
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