Review: One More River to Cross by Jane Kirkpatrick

In 1844, two years before the Donner Party, the Stevens-Murphy company left Missouri to be the first wagons into California through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mostly Irish Catholics, the party sought religious freedom and education in the mission-dominated land and enjoyed a safe journey--until October, when a heavy snowstorm forced difficult decisions. The first of many for young Mary Sullivan, newlywed Sarah Montgomery, the widow Ellen Murphy, and her pregnant sister-in-law Maolisa.

When the party separates in three directions, each risks losing those they loved and faces the prospect of learning that adversity can destroy or redefine. Two women and four men go overland around Lake Tahoe, three men stay to guard the heaviest wagons--and the rest of the party, including eight women and seventeen children, huddle in a makeshift cabin at the headwaters of the Yuba River waiting for rescue . . . or their deaths.

Award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick plunges you deep into a landscape of challenge where fear and courage go hand in hand for a story of friendship, family, and hope that will remind you of what truly matters in times of trial.

Kindle Edition, 344 pages

Published September 3rd 2019

by Revell

**** 

Jane Kirkpatrick is a relatively new author for me, I’ve already come to realize that she takes historical events and expounds on it. Drawing in real people she brings them to life.

That is exactly what happened with One More River to Cross, in 1844 some of the first wagons travel over the mountains from Missouri to California. My mind just can’t imagine what this journey would be like, horse and wagons all the way across just sounds so cold and discouraging. The author researched well and then wrote a story that put me right there. It isn’t fast-paced and I'll admit to being confused a few times due to the large cast of characters which sometimes had me stopping to remember the connections to each other.

The author notes were extensive and welcomed. Kirkpatrick drew on history with real people mentioned and even went a little further and told about their future.

One More River to Cross is a look at brave men, women, and children who endured so much for a new life.

Thanks to Revell for a complimentary digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Everything She Didn't Say by Jane Kirkpatrick

In 1911, Carrie Strahorn wrote a memoir entitled Fifteen Thousand Miles by Stage, which shared some of the most exciting events of 25 years of traveling and shaping the American West with her husband, Robert Strahorn, a railroad promoter, investor, and writer. That is all fact. Everything She Didn't Say imagines Carrie nearly ten years later as she decides to write down what was really on her mind during those adventurous nomadic years.

 Certain that her husband will not read it, and in fact that it will only be found after her death, Carrie is finally willing to explore the lessons she learned along the way, including the danger a woman faces of losing herself within a relationship with a strong-willed man and the courage it takes to accept her own God-given worth apart from him. Carrie discovers that wealth doesn't insulate a soul from pain and disappointment, family is essential, pioneering is a challenge, and western landscapes are both demanding and nourishing. Most of all, she discovers that home can be found, even in a rootless life.

With a deft hand, New York Times bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick draws out the emotions of living--the laughter and pain, the love and loss--to give readers a window not only into the past but into their own conflicted hearts. Based on a true story.

Paperback, 343 pages

Published September 4th, 2018

by Fleming H. Revell Company

***

 A life without a purpose is a story without an ending.

Based on a true story Everything She Didn’t Say is Carrie Strahorn’s story of her life traveling the American West. I enjoy reading about strong women of the past, especially ones I am unfamiliar with, such as the case here. Told from her point of view she tells her story of the struggles and hardships they encountered not just with the dangers of travel but within their marriage relationship, financial and the family Carrie left behind.

This is my first time reading Jane Kilpatrick, I was impressed with the research that went into this book, the endless traveling made me tired for Carrie. The chapter structure was something a little different with each one ending with a piece from Carrie's actual memoirs.

There wasn’t a lot of action to keep me glued to the pages and at times I felt things a little repetitive and slow. But I enjoyed learning of both Robert and Carrie Stratton and their lives from the past.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc."