“This Road We Traveled” by Jane Kirkpatrick
Fiction is short on protagonists who are, as my book club friend, Cindy, says, “women of a certain age”. That’s only one reason I like THIS ROAD WE TRAVELED, the latest of acclaimed, award winning Jane Kirkpatrick’s historical fiction novels.The book’s protagonist is based on a pioneer woman known as “The Mother of Oregon.” The story springs from Kirkpatrick’s fertile imagination.
Tabitha Moffatt Brown, the matriarch of the large Brown family, most of whom live in Missouri in 1845, is at sixty-six, too old and too lame, her son Orus says, to weather the Oregon trail. Tabby’s hurt turns to determination when she decides to make the trip to Oregon herself. Accompanied by her dead husband’s brother, John, she claims her place in the wagon train, tackling trouble when she finds it, finding strength when she needs it, and sharing that strength with her children, her grandchildren, and with John.
I enjoyed the book from the beginning, admired its gorgeous descriptions and complex characters. Jane is a master at conveying a lot with a little and at imparting wisdom without being preachy. Tabby’s inner voice is particularly compelling. “The past claimed her like a web, sticky across her face, and blurred any clarity for viewing the future,” she says about her daughter, Pherne. Thinking of hard-learned lessons and unanswered questions, Tabby wonders “who the teachers really were: those who had grown into their years, or those still making their way.”
My enjoyment turned intense when trouble hits the travelers hard, and promise turns to peril. I ached and despaired and hoped and longed along with the travelers. With the children lying dead still so the nearby rattlesnakes don’t strike. With the children and adults thirsty enough to cry, but knowing they can’t waste precious bodily fluids. With them all, sorting “to the nubbins” their few remaining possessions, and then having to sort again.
And all through the trials and tribulations, through the worst hard times, the best shines. These are strong characters, tough when they need to be, but tender too. Their faults are as human as the goodness they show, and Kirkpatrick paints them both gracefully and realistically, making them easy to relate to and care about. They not only face frightening things in the physical world, they face each other. They struggle. They heal.
I’m inspired by THIS ROAD WE TRAVELED. By the research it took for such authenticity and detail. By the similes and metaphors I’d like to steal. By how inspiring and uplifting the messages are without being overly sweet. Women of a certain age rock. Really.
And when I’m daunted by something, which will probably happen next week, I’ll remember what Tabby says when she’s deciding whether to take a new route or stick to the old one. “We gather facts, then listen to our hearts, and live with the results.” And, “Danger is everywhere. But fear? That’s a choice we make.”
Tabitha Moffatt Brown, the matriarch of the large Brown family, most of whom live in Missouri in 1845, is at sixty-six, too old and too lame, her son Orus says, to weather the Oregon trail. Tabby’s hurt turns to determination when she decides to make the trip to Oregon herself. Accompanied by her dead husband’s brother, John, she claims her place in the wagon train, tackling trouble when she finds it, finding strength when she needs it, and sharing that strength with her children, her grandchildren, and with John.
I enjoyed the book from the beginning, admired its gorgeous descriptions and complex characters. Jane is a master at conveying a lot with a little and at imparting wisdom without being preachy. Tabby’s inner voice is particularly compelling. “The past claimed her like a web, sticky across her face, and blurred any clarity for viewing the future,” she says about her daughter, Pherne. Thinking of hard-learned lessons and unanswered questions, Tabby wonders “who the teachers really were: those who had grown into their years, or those still making their way.”
My enjoyment turned intense when trouble hits the travelers hard, and promise turns to peril. I ached and despaired and hoped and longed along with the travelers. With the children lying dead still so the nearby rattlesnakes don’t strike. With the children and adults thirsty enough to cry, but knowing they can’t waste precious bodily fluids. With them all, sorting “to the nubbins” their few remaining possessions, and then having to sort again.
And all through the trials and tribulations, through the worst hard times, the best shines. These are strong characters, tough when they need to be, but tender too. Their faults are as human as the goodness they show, and Kirkpatrick paints them both gracefully and realistically, making them easy to relate to and care about. They not only face frightening things in the physical world, they face each other. They struggle. They heal.
I’m inspired by THIS ROAD WE TRAVELED. By the research it took for such authenticity and detail. By the similes and metaphors I’d like to steal. By how inspiring and uplifting the messages are without being overly sweet. Women of a certain age rock. Really.
And when I’m daunted by something, which will probably happen next week, I’ll remember what Tabby says when she’s deciding whether to take a new route or stick to the old one. “We gather facts, then listen to our hearts, and live with the results.” And, “Danger is everywhere. But fear? That’s a choice we make.”