The Road We Traveled --by Jane Kirkpatrick

Fiction / Historical

362 Pages

5 Stars

Legalities: I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jane Kirkpatrick is the only Christian author I've found, whose books I consistently pick up, read, and enjoy. Normally her books are, for me, one-sit reads. I'm not sure why this one was easier to put down and wait a while before picking up again. Which does not detract from the story, just an observation. Sometimes it's nice to have a book one can read a chapter or two at a time, put it down for work, or sleep, and pick it up again later.

Kirkpatrick writes historical fiction, which I love, and she writes about the early women in the Oregon Country, which I also love. She is a Christian author, and her characters are, of course, also Christian (which they were in real life). She does not use the books to proselytize; she shows how important their faith was to the women. And trust me, to those early women—it was a lifesaver on more than one occasion!

The Road We Traveled tells the story of Tabitha Brown (Tabby), a grandmother, whose adult children were headed from Missouri to Oregon, and were going to leave her home with the one son who wasn't making the trek. The boys assumed (typical) she wouldn't want to go. Boy, Howdy were they ever wrong! Tabby (a widow), her husband's brother, and an orphan boy hired as driver, said they would be no problem, and would not slow them down, and made the trek.

This is a coming of age story for all characters involved, it is delightfully told, and gives marvelous insight into the lives of our early pioneers—especially the women. They often had no real choice in whether they made the trek or not, and it was wonderful to read a story about a real woman who, against all odds, made the trek on her own terms. With her usual style, she tells a detailed and rich story.

If you enjoy the history of early settlers to the Oregon Country (including what is now Washington State), read this book.

The Memory Weaver

Fiction / Historical

352 pages

5 Stars

Eliza Spalding Warren was a young girl of ten years, newly arrived at the Whitman mission from her home in Lapwai where her parents were missionaries to the Nez Perce, and where she grew up playing with children of The People, and loved and was loved in return, by The People. Shortly after her arrival at the Whitman's mission, a few of the Cayuse, cousins of the Nez Perce, attacked and killed several people, including the Whitmans. Young Eliza was the only one who spoke fluent Sahaptin and was called upon by both the Cayuse and the whites to act as interpreter. The nightmare of those days as a captive, of not knowing if she would live, if her parents lived, if her siblings lived, of being treated roughly by people she didn't know but had been raised to respect and even to love, affected her for the rest of her life.

Ms. Kirkpatrick, a lover of history of the Oregon Country and it's people, took the facts as she found them, filled in the gaps as she could, and wove a delightful story of a young girl who suffers from what today we'd call PTSD, as this child matures, marries against her father's will, questions herself, and eventually questions her memories of that fateful time and place known as Waiilatpu. As young Eliza says in one place, "I had returned to a time, a reunion, that didn't happen where I'd thought. I was discovering that the past I remembered wasn't always the past that was."

Because Eliza's parents were missionaries (Henry Harmon and Eliza Hart Spalding) there is much mention of faith in this book. It is necessary to the story, and beautifully done. Faith was important to those people who made the perilous journey across the mountains and deserts to a vast, unknown, and often unwelcoming, country called Oregon. Young Eliza is credited with being the first white child born and raised in the Oregon Country. Alice Clarissa was born first, but did not live. (Marie and Pierre Dorion's child, considered white at the time, was born even earlier, but again, did not live.)

This is an excellent book by an excellent author who knows how to weave a story into a gorgeous tapestry. I highly recommend this to any lover of history.

How important is a name?

A Name of Her Own –by Jane Kirkpatrick

Fiction, Historical

402 pages / 1435 KB

5 Stars

Ms. Kirkpatrick has written an engaging novel about the life of an extraordinary woman and Ioway Indian, Marie Dorion.

The author is a master storyteller, and will pull you into the story as you follow along in the footsteps of this courageous woman, as she journeys first by river boat, then across land by horseback and walking, and eventually by canoe.

You will easily and effortlessly become involved in this woman’s story as told by Kirkpatrick.

Although this is a novel, Marie Dorion was a real woman, and I think she would be extremely pleased at having her story told by Jane Kirkpatrick

Disclaimer: I should tell you that Ms. Kirkpatrick was kind enough to endorse my book:  Madame Dorion - Her Journey to the Oregon Country.