“Gripping historical fiction—A tale of two women finding meaning behind all that went wrong in their lives. A timeless tale of redemption with the best plot-twist at the end I’ve seen in a long, long time. Can’t wait for book two!” New YorkTimes and USA Today bestselling author, Melissa FosterKatherine wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t found the letter…In the summer of 1905 Katherine … of 1905 Katherine Arthur’s mother arrives on her doorstep, dying, forcing her to relive a past she wanted to forget. When Katherine was young, the Arthur family had been affluent city dwellers until shame sent them running for the prairie, into the unknown. Taking her family, including young Katherine, to live off the land was the last thing Jeanie Arthur had wanted, but she would do her best to make a go of it. For Jeanie’s husband Frank it had been a world of opportunity. Dreaming, lazy Frank. But, it was a society of uncertainty–a domain of natural disasters, temptation, hatred, even death.
Ten-year-old Katherine had loved her mother fiercely, put her trust in her completely, but when there was no other choice, and Jeanie resorted to extreme measures on the prairie to save her family, she tore Katherine’s world apart. Now, seventeen years later, and far from the homestead, Katherine has found the truth – she has discovered the last letter. After years of anger, can Katherine find it in her heart to understand why her mother made the decisions that changed them all? Can she forgive and finally begin to heal before it’s too late?
Independent Publisher Awards
2011 Gold Medal, Best Regional Fiction-Midwest
National Indie Excellence Book Awards
2011 Finalist Award-Historical Fiction
2011 Finalist Award-Regional Fiction
USA Best Books 2011 Awards
Winner, Fiction–Western
Finalist, Fiction–Historical
Finalist, Best New Fiction
International Book Awards
2011 Finalist Award-Historical Fiction
2011 Finalist Award-Best New Fiction
more
The main character had way to many emotional issues. It was all about her and adjusting to prairie life. I only finished it because I was bored. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
Very good
It didn’t hold my interest and I did not finish reading it.
This is a no holds barred book about the pioneers in Dakota Territory after the Civil War. Funny, Scary, easy to read. A real eye opener.
Wonderful
This is book #1 in a series and although it easily stands alone with an ending, I will buy the other books because of the incredible writing ability of the author. She obviously researched extensively, and this makes the story so much more gripping. The characters are believable and hard to forget. This is one of the most true to historical …
Well written.
Ehile the plot was good, the writing was atrocious. Grammar poor. Sentence structure was awful. Characters were one dimensional. Wasted my time.
I loved the history associated with the novel. I did not like the writing style of the author.
I could see this story actually happening in real life. The settlers didn’t actually have it made as depicted on some of these western movies. I could empathize with the characters in the book.
Very interesting book. I enjoyed reading it.