From Publishers Weekly
Deriving her narrative from actual accounts of pioneer women, first-time author Sandifer tells an engaging adventure story of two unmarried women who make the arduous covered-wagon trek across country in the mid-1840s. Twenty-six-year-old Nancy Maguire's proper Massachusetts family strenuously argues against her leaving home to follow her dream of raising horses in the Mexican province of California. Nancy is reluctantly accepted by the Joseph Ballinger Chiles company to travel with them to California?but only if she can find a traveling companion. Fiery Lottie England, meanwhile, having decided that she has seen enough of Independence, Mo., the trip's starting point, joins up with Nancy and, in time, becomes her best friend. Anticipation builds as the wagons roll west: "the canvas tops swayed with the motion, and from a distance, the train resembled a long white scarf rippling in the faintest of breezes." Drenching her story in authentic detail, Sandifer vivifies the terrible hazards faced by these pioneers. While the author doesn't sustain the sense of drama as vigorously once the party reaches California, readers will remain involved with her appealing characters.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Booklist
Nancy Maguire, a spirited young woman determined to escape the stifling society of New England, sets off for California in this near mythic tale of a quest for freedom and independence on the American frontier. After joining a wagon train, Nancy makes two friends: Lottie England, a feisty widow with a mouth that could make even the most hardened frontiersman blush, and Hart Daniels, a handsome man with a spirit as fiercely individualistic as Nancy's. While the two women quickly develop a deep and lasting friendship, Nancy's relationship with Hart becomes romantic, and she begins to realize that her desire for freedom does not have to be forfeited by falling in love. Although Sandifer's dialogue is a bit strained and her descriptions are too flowery, her story is well developed; and her use of diaries and historical facts results in a gritty, realistic drama of early trailblazers crossing the Sierras to settle in California on the eve of its annexation by the U.S.
Catherine Sias
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
