Westering Women by Sandra Dallas

Westering Women by Sandra Dallas

Published:  January 2020 – St. Martin’s Press

Finished copy courtesy of the publisher

Description:

From the bestselling author of Prayers for Sale, Sandra Dallas’ Westering Women is an inspiring celebration of sisterhood on the perilous Overland Trail

“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?”

It’s February, 1852, and all around Chicago, Maggie sees postings soliciting “eligible women” to travel to the gold mines of Goosetown. A young seamstress with a small daughter, she has nothing to lose. She joins forty-three other women and two pious reverends on the dangerous 2,000-mile journey west.

None are prepared for the hardships they face on the trek or for the strengths they didn’t know they possessed. Maggie discovers she’s not the only one looking to leave dark secrets behind. And when her past catches up with her, it becomes clear a band of sisters will do whatever it takes to protect one of their own. (publisher)

My take:  Westering Women is the story of a group of women who left Chicago in 1852 and headed to California with the goal of finding a husband. They were warned by the ministers leading the group that it would be an arduous journey. Almost to a woman the challenges didn’t worry them as much as the hardships they left behind in Chicago. At least, that’s what they thought at first.

Sandra Dallas put me in the story as part of the group and it was easy to feel the harsh environment of the experience. She brought to life several women who assumed leadership roles and faced obstacles head on. I appreciated the Acknowledgements that included her sources for the Overland Trail. Westering Women is a good story and I recommend it to fans of historical fiction about the American West.

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