"If you are an adventuresome young woman of high moral character and fine health, are you willing to travel to California in search of a good husband?"
Maggie has good reasons for leaving Chicago and attends the meeting explaining more about the trip. She joins forty-three other women "good Christian women" who are looking for husbands--or escape from their pasts--on the dangerous 2,000 mile journey.
An interesting historical novel about the hardships and heartbreak a group of courageous women were willing to endure in order to begin life anew. The reasons for these women to undertake such a hazardous journey varied, but were all based on hope for something better than the situations in which they were currently existing. One has to admire the courage and determination required to survive and the bonds the women forged.
Although I didn't feel a strong connection to any of the women, I admired them for the fortitude they exhibited and enjoyed the historical elements.
My interest in the Oregon Trail and westward journeys of the 1800's began when I was in my teens and read Jubilee Trail by Gwen Bristow.
Read in August; blog review scheduled for Jan. 2, 2020.
NetGalley/St. Martin's Press
Historical Fiction. Jan. 7, 2020. Print length: 336 pages.
