Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page and tends to lead to staggering TBR and wish list piles. At least, I know it does for me.I received only one book this week - but it is sure to be a good one. I am very excited about reading this book and as soon as I read what it was about I had to have it. I was just having a conversation about why there are not too many US based historical fiction being released - and then this book catches my eye.
Impatient 
with Desire by Gabrielle Burton (Contacted by Author for Review)
"In the spring of 1846, Tamsen Donner, her husband, George, their five daughters, and eighty other pioneers headed to California on the California-Oregon Trail in eager anticipation of new lives out West. Everything that could go wrong did, and an American legend was born.
The Donner Party. We think we know their story—pioneers trapped in the mountains performing an unspeakable act to survive—but we know only that one harrowing part of it. mpatient with Desire brings us answers to the unanswerable question: What really happened in the four months the Donners were trapped in the mountains? And it brings to stunning life a woman—and a love story—behind the myth.
Tamsen Eustis Donner, born in 1801, taught school, wrote poetry, painted, botanized,
and was fluent in French. At twenty-three, she sailed alone from Massachusetts to North Carolina when respectable women didn’t travel alone. Years after losing her first husband, Tully, she married again for love, this time to George Donner, a prosperous farmer, and in 1846, they set out for California with their five youngest children. Unlike many women who embarked reluctantly on the Oregon Trail, Tamsen was eager to go. Later, trapped in the mountains by early snows, she had plenty of time to contemplate the wisdom of her decision and the cost of her wanderlust.
Historians have long known that Tamsen kept a journal, though it was never found. In Impatient with Desire, Burton draws on years of historical research to vividly imagine this lost journal—and paints a picture of a remarkable heroine in an extraordinary situation. Tamsen’s unforgettable journey takes us from the cornfields of Illinois to the dusty Oregon Trail to the freezing Sierra Nevada Mountains, where she was forced to confront an impossible choice."
Copyright © 2010 by The Maiden’s Court
Oh - I'm getting this one too! What a pretty cover...I hope it's as good as it sounds!
ReplyDeleteHave a good week Heather!
Sounds like an interesting read. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like an amazing novel...I have alwys fet sorry for those in the Donner Party. Wouldn't it be amazing if someone discovered the real journal someday?
ReplyDeleteI just recently read this and thought it was very good. I also just finished reading DEEP CREEK by Dana Hand - a fictional telling the massacre of Chinese miners in Idaho. Both books cover very tragic events, but a good novel keeps the voices and spirits of the real people alive.
ReplyDeleteI have a guest post scheduled next month for this book/author. The cover is beautiful! I'm too far behind in my 'required' reading to accept it for review, though it sounds so interesting!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad she contacted you guys, she is a sweetie. I had to turn it down~ you know my dangerous TBR pile~ so I'll live vicariously through your reviews & guest posts!
ReplyDeleteOh this sounds like a good one. I know very little about the Donner party so this would be a good place to start.
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