A Light in the Wilderness
September 8th, 2014. Filed under: Monday's Musings.A Light in the Wilderness
By Jane Kirkpatrick
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.
ISLAND BREEZES
All kinds of people made the journey through the American West to Oregon. Not all of them wanted to be on this journey.
Three very different women bond in the Oregon Territory. A freed slave and a doctor’s wife become good friends during the rugged and heartbreaking journey. It’s not until they reach Oregon that the third woman, a Kalapuya Indian becomes the third unlikely friend.
Life isn’t easy on the journey or even after they reach Oregon. This novel, based on a true story, will hold your heart through to the end. In fact, I didn’t want it to end.
Thank you, Ms Kirkpatrick, for sharing this adventure with us. I’m looking forward to your next book.
***A special thank you to Lanette Haskins for providing a review copy.***
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.