Waterbrook Press (Paperback), ISBN: 1-57856-232-5
What an incredible book!  

In previous centuries wives, regardless of their own wants and needs, went where they commanded by their husbands. In 1852, if their husbands wanted to travel west to Oregon, so did they. Does the plot sound tired? Well, it might, but Kirkpatrick's novel, told from the viewpoint of the various women on the wagon train, women of faith and courage, evolves into an inspirational tale of their fortitude 

Kirkpatrick's lyric prose celebrates the feats of these women. Large and strong, Mazy wants boundaries and a place of her own, but she goes where her husband leads. But when her husband dies she, in turn, must lead. And the others -- one blind, one scarcely more than a child, one taking brides (known as the Celestials) to the west -- must grow and work together. The journey leaves them no other choice if they wish to survive. 

I wish I could toss in an extra crescent or a shiny star or something because this book deserves it. The words flow. The pictures build. The women become people -- flawed, groping toward something, becoming more and more familiar until they seem like friends -- friends you grow to love despite their faults. 

The book remains vivid in my mind. I want to whistle for the great-hearted dog, Pig. I want to cow the brute that hurt Mazy. I want to sit down with Mazy's mother and learn the secrets of joyful living. But most of all, I want to thank Kirkpatrick for doing the incredible research and writing a great book of so much heart and soul.  

Patricia White

Patricia White is the Sapphire Award-winning author of A Wizard Scorned. Her current book, the contemporary PS, I've Taken a Lover, is available from Lionhearted Books . The Wandering Troll, an electronic magazine, began serializing her novel Prophecy Be Damned in April 2000.

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