It is the 1870s. Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross pitches up in the dusty town of Fort Smith, where her father has been killed by a coward known as Tom Chaney. Now on the run in Indian Territory, Chaney has all but escaped Scott free.

But Mattie is having none of it. Adamant that she’ll see justice be served, the driven, headstrong teenager sets about hiring US Marshal Rooster Cogburn to track down and apprehend Chaney. But Texas Ranger LaBoeuf is also on Chaney’s trail, and could get in the way of Ross’ mission.

First published in 1968 as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post, Charles Portis’ coming-of-age story is one of redemption, revenge and hardship. Once published in novel form, it quickly became a ‘buttonhole book’, one of those popular works of fiction that gains a reputation as word of mouth stretches its renown.

“I find True Grit to be one of the very best American novels: it is a rousing adventure story and deeply perceptive about the makeup of the American character,” says George Pelecanos, a Washington D.C writer of contemporary noir fiction.

Not surprisingly, the movie rights were quickly snatched up…