From the award-winning author of Eliza Waite comes a gripping tale of adventure and survival based on the true story of the ill-fated Donner Party on their 2,200-mile trek on the Oregon–California Trail from 1846 to ’47.Nineteen-year-old Ada Weeks confronts danger and calamity along the hazard-filled journey to California. After a fateful decision that delays the overlanders more than a month, … overlanders more than a month, she—along with eighty-one other members of the Donner Party—finds herself stranded at Truckee Lake on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, stuck there for the entirety of a despairing, blizzard-filled winter. Forced to eat shoe leather and blankets to survive, will Ada be able to battle the elements—and her own demons—as she envisions a new life in California?
Researched with impeccable detail and filled with imagery as wide as the western prairie, Answer Creek blends history and hearsay in an unforgettable story of challenging the limits of human endurance and experiencing the triumphant power of love.
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What a time to read a novel where in every chapter, you think “Nothing worse can happen.” And then it does. Ashley Sweeney’s Answer Creek is not for the faint of heart, but persevere as protagonist Ada Weeks does, and it will do your heart a world of good. Strength of character, endurance, and hope for the future are welcome themes to the reader weary of our present world. Sweeney’s gifted writing creates the 1840s lives of emigrants crossing the country in all its rich detail, its horror, its beauty and its victories. Another great novel by this talented author!
Answer Creek grabbed me immediately and didn’t let go until the very end. It begins with a tragedy that drew me immediately to the side of Ada, the main character, and I felt like I walked with her every step of her journey. Knowing a bit of the history upon which the novel is based (the ill-fated Donner-Reed emigrant party), I didn’t expect surprises or suspense, and yet I experienced both. Sweeney wrote starkly beautiful scenes in places where I didn’t expect them and drew out suspense by revealing the interactions leading to decisions the outcome of which is already known. The book feels like a faithful rendering of the real journey, full of dramatic scenery richly described, compelling characters vibrantly drawn, and dramatic action that moves the story along its painful course. All fo this is experienced through the eyes of an independent-minded, strong, young woman you can’t help but root for. If you like historical fiction, stories about the U.S. west, or simply stories about overcoming seemingly impossible odds, you’ll love this book.
I was utterly swept up in ANSWER CREEK by Ashley Sweeney. Her exquisite prose blew me away. The depiction of survival, anguish, and tenacity—of wilderness triage—was grippingly authentic. With the eager turn of each page, I felt like I was making the grueling trek with this group of people across the Oregon–California Trail. I highly recommend this five-star book!
With faultlessly authentic period detail and relentless, riveting twists of fate, Answer Creek puts the reader right on the Oregon-California Trail with the Donner Party in every sensory and emotional aspect imaginable. This compassionate but utterly realistic telling of the story gently crushes the sensationalized versions and releases something that feels much closer to truth. Ada is hope personified―it takes wing, soars, crashes―and survives.
In her impeccably researched historical novel, Answer Creek, author Ashley E. Sweeny has written a breathtaking account of the Donner Party’s ill-fated journey from Missouri to California. Told through the eyes of the fictional Ada Weeks, the story is populated by real-life members of the group who made the grueling months-long trek across the Oregon Trail, and never shrinks from depicting the physical and moral challenges they face. Harrowing and heartbreaking, Answer Creek is more than a re-telling of the infamous Donner Party’s actions; it is the story of one young woman’s discovery of her courage and inner strength in the face of daunting odds.
My Review of Answer Creek by Ashley Sweeney; published by She Writes Press
This book intrigued me as having grown up in Northern Nevada, my middle school history lessons covered both the 40 Mile Desert and The Donner Party. Ashley Sweeney, once again, created an incredible story of not only resilience, but also the power of mind over body in an upmost trying time. Ashley hit the nail on the head with being able to capture moments of pure splendor as well as inconceivable deprivation. The visions cycling through my minds eye while reading Adas’ story will be forever ingrained. During my young adult years I had the opportunity to experience winter camping just off I80 near Donner Summit. Although our group had all the necessary amenities, our protection from the elements was a simple one room shack with no bathroom. I can’t even imagine the horrible strife individuals went through during their confinement due to immeasurable forces of nature. Answer Creek by Ashley Sweeney is a superb historical novel I highly recommend.
What an authentic character Ashley Sweeney created in the protagonist of Ada Weeks in her novel Answer Creek. Ada’s fortitude and grit—coming overland, surviving the harsh winter at the base of Donner Summit, and after, making a life in the rugged American River canyon—is a true depiction of the strength and determination of women in the West. Sweeney is reclaiming the real history of women in the West…Answer Creek is a must for lovers of historical novels filled with true adventure and extraordinary characters!
Vivid. Authentic. Breathtaking.
And exceptional. In all the reading I’ve done on the Donner Party over the years, no rendering has so thoroughly immersed me as did Answer Creek—not only in the author’s beautifully drawn account of the westward journey, but in her portrayal of fictional protagonist Ada Weeks’ inner life as she contends with circumstances that would shred most of us. Yes, before I read this, I knew their voyage was doomed, knew travelers would make the most heartbreaking of decisions. But from the moment I stepped into Ada’s well-worn boots, I entered her world of wonder and hardship, resilience and heartbreak, exhilarating and crushing wilderness and relationships. Expertly researched, psychologically powerful, this book allowed me to relive the journey as it could have been, evoking my empathy for these most tragic, beloved, and heroic of characters. They’ll live in me for a long, long, time. And the epilogue? Perfect. I loved this book.
This is a fictionalized version of the Donner Party as they were stranded in winter in the Sierra Nevada mtns. Their desperate struggle begins as they journey across the plains, meeting delay after delay. It makes you wonder if you would have survived the awful heat and then the numbing cold.
I read a lot of historical fiction, but I don’t think I have ever read a novel that did a better job of putting me in a time and place. The main character, Ada Weeks, is on the trail from Independence, MO to California, and we are with her every step of the way. When I was reading this book, I realized that, when thinking about those who did this trek, I subconsciously assumed that there must have been something that would make the journey possible, something that I couldn’t think of, but that they must have known about in order to complete their journey. But of course, there was no magic, just superhuman effort, a grim determination, and luck. When reading the book, at times it is difficult to continue, because the hardships are so severe, but I had to know what happened to Ada and the others, and there was a feeling that if Ada could continue, I should be able to also.
In this difficult time, sometimes we want to read something that will offer an easy escape, something light and entertaining. But sometimes it helps to read a novel that shows us how human beings have survived, and even ultimately thrived, through unfathomable difficulties. This is one of those books, and it will stay with me for a very long time.
I had a hard time following all the head-hopping. And the descriptions were over the top purple prose.
Didn’t care for it I wouldn’t recommend it but someone else might enjoy the book.
I only wish I’d bought Answer Creek as a physical copy, so I could dog-ear pages and return to them, share them with friends. I love this book for so many reasons. Here’s one–I love stories about gritty women, who take action, who do what they need to do to get over terrible circumstance. Ada Weeks is just such a woman. The fact that her story is set in one of the essential American quest tales makes it that much better. From now on, every summer, when my family spends a week at Donner Lake for the Fourth of July, I will think of Answer Creek and respect my surroundings that much more.
I stayed up well past my bedtime for Answer Creek. It was a true page-turner. Beautifully written, breathtaking story, and fascinating, complex characters. The best historical fiction teaches me about people, places, or times that I may not know well, while at the same time inspiring me to ask how I might have fared in similar circumstances. This book did exactly that and it will stay with me for a long time.
Flat characters, pages and pages of description and almost nothing but endless suffering. End of the story was rushed. I didn’t particularly like the main character or anyone in the story, and it is a fiction, not a real telling of the Donner Party tragedy because the main character is made up. I read 2-3 books a week, this was very disappointing. Would not read anything else by this author. If you love descriptions of suffering that are on a par with a Holocaust novel, you might like this.
Excellent portrayal of a historical journey that we cannot even imagine.
Very good book. Hard to put dowm.
This story has a strong female character, and that appeals to me. Ada’s struggles crossing the continent to California were almost too much. The story of the Donner party was woven into the story but was not dwelt on excessively. I didn’t like the ending. It was too abrupt, as if the author couldn’t decide what to do with it so just quit.
Very well researched. This gave a different perspective to some of the hardships of the Oregon Trail than I have read previously. Gave very good incites to the female place at that time period.
Historical fiction is my favorite
And this did not disappoint