FTC Disclosure - This book was provided in exchange for a review. No other compensation given.
Three very different women. One dangerous journey. And a future that seems just out of reach.
Letitia holds nothing more dear than the papers that prove she is no longer a slave. They may not cause most white folks to treat her like a human being, but at least they show she is free. She trusts in those words she cannot read--as she is beginning to trust in Davey Carson, an Irish immigrant cattleman who wants her to come west with him.
Nancy Hawkins is loathe to leave her settled life for the treacherous journey by wagon train, but she is so deeply in love with her husband and she knows she will follow him anywhere--even when the trek exacts a terrible cost.
Betsy is a Kalapuya Indian, the last remnant of a once proud tribe in the Willamette Valley in Oregon territory. She spends her time trying to impart the wisdom and ways of her people to her grandson. But she will soon have another person to care for.
As season turns to season, suspicion turns to friendship, and fear turns to courage, three spirited women will discover what it means to be truly free in a land that makes promises it cannot fulfill. This multilayered story from bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick will grip your heart and mind as you travel on the dusty and dangerous Oregon Trail into the boundless American West. Based on a true story.
Nancy Hawkins is loathe to leave her settled life for the treacherous journey by wagon train, but she is so deeply in love with her husband and she knows she will follow him anywhere--even when the trek exacts a terrible cost.
Betsy is a Kalapuya Indian, the last remnant of a once proud tribe in the Willamette Valley in Oregon territory. She spends her time trying to impart the wisdom and ways of her people to her grandson. But she will soon have another person to care for.
As season turns to season, suspicion turns to friendship, and fear turns to courage, three spirited women will discover what it means to be truly free in a land that makes promises it cannot fulfill. This multilayered story from bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick will grip your heart and mind as you travel on the dusty and dangerous Oregon Trail into the boundless American West. Based on a true story.
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Read an Excerpt:Download PDFAbout the Author:
Jane Kirkpatrick is the New York Times and CBA bestselling author of more than twenty-five books, including A Sweetness to the Soul, which won the coveted Wrangler Award from the Western Heritage Center.
Her works have been finalists for the Christy Award, Spur Award, Oregon Book Award, and Reader's Choice awards, and have won the WILLA Literary Award and Carol Award for Historical Fiction. Many of her titles have been Book of the Month and Literary Guild selections. Jane lives in Central Oregon with her husband, Jerry.
Learn more at www.jkbooks.com.
A big thank you to Revell for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
I want to thank my friend, Starr, for being our guest reviewer. Occasionally, she helps me out by reviewing a book of two for me.
Here are her thoughts on the book:
If you like historical fiction then you will
love A Light in the Wilderness. The main character Letitia gets her papers
that state she is no longer a slave. They are the only proof that she has, and with
some people even the papers did no good. She wants nothing more than to make a new
life for herself in a place where others will treat her like a person. She meets an Irish man who marries her “as
legally as they possibly could”.
They travel west and make many new friends and enemies along
the way. She hides her papers in a “safe” place for the journey, but ….okay,
I can’t say anything else or it will be a spoiler. You will just have to read the book and find out for yourself
all of the adventures, mishaps, and triumphs that they had.
Amy, I'm glad that Jane decided to write about Letitia because she was a remarkable woman for the times she lived in. I liked the author's note when Jane told how this story affected her: "I discovered the nature of freedom in the midst of chains and the strength of character it takes to persevere through the bondage of the spirit and the law. Safety is a state of mind, a matter of faith."
ReplyDeleteThat quote is quite impressive! And I needed to hear that. A friend of mine reviewed this book for me - but I cant wait to read it too! I was so drawn to the story.
ReplyDelete