In this epic and haunting love story set on the Oregon Trail, a family and their unlikely protector find their way through peril, uncertainty, and loss.
The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at twenty. Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man … half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both.
But life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. John’s heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together.
When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi’s family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. Ripped apart, they can’t turn back, they can’t go on, and they can’t let go. Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually…make peace with who they are.
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A reminder of how it all began
I enjoyed getting to know the various characters in this book. Their perspectives and experiences help put a clearer view on the cross country journeys of old!
I have a new favorite read for this year so far. This was such a beautifully written book. Have tissues nearby because you will be brought to tears throughout. I really fell in love with so many of the characters but especially loved the two main ones. I loved Naomi’s character – she was strong and brave and not afraid to do what needed to be done. She loved fiercely. I loved how she used her ability to draw as a way to help her obtain necessities and gain favor with the Indians when needed and also as a protection and escape to deal with hurt and grief and anger. I loved John and his struggle between the white man and the Indians, never really feeling like he belonged. I can’t imagine living in 1853 traveling with a wagon train out west and having to deal with the hardships that came along with that. I really appreciated the author’s perspectives on both the pioneers and the Indians. It was very balanced and fair and showed life from both sides. The writing was so detailed that I could picture everything with clarity and felt myself alongside the characters. I loved that it is historical fiction and included factual people along with the fictional story. It is hard to let this one go and I know it will be one that sticks with me. The authors notes at the end are a must read. They add nice insight into the writing of the book.
LOVE LOVE AND LOVE!
The expansion west along The Overland Trail was a difficult road traversed by a multitude of intrepid travelers. So many of them didn’t make it, many did! In Amy Harmon’s Novel “Where The Lost Wander” you are slipped into the lives of some of those who decided to tackle the way out west that helped build this country.
A tale of suspense and love comes out of the ruts of history along the route wagons took out to California. An Illinois family picks up its home and drives a wagon to the start of the famous Overland Trail. During this hazardous trip a talented young woman finds more than she imagined she would as she struggles, along with her family, on the western path. The expanse of the plains and grandeur of the mountains that reach to touch the blue skies is sumptuously described by Harmon as she details the trip of her characters. History is intertwined with romance and tragedies that become a wondrous story.
This book is way on top of my favorites that I have read this year! I was so enveloped by this story that at times I forgot what century I was in, almost feeling the dust of the roads taken out west on my skin. Any history loving reader and those that love thrilling stories should ride on over to their closest book retailer and laso themselves a copy!
I really enjoyed this book, got it as part of a book club. The characters were wonderful and while there was tragedy there was also joy. Very realistic for the times and circumstances that were endured when heading west.
Beautifully written, but at times very slow and boring, but I guess that’s life on a wagon train. The last 1/3 was probably the most engaging, but even that dragged on a little too long in my opinion. That said, it was well written. I could picture the wagon train and all the hardships they endured. I did like the characters of John and the Mays family and that is what kept me reading. Overall, it was not my favorite Amy Harmon book.
I must be an Amy Harmon fan. This book is emotionally rich. I felt the pain of death, the first stirring of love and the loss of death.
I write about marginalized peoples so this story spoke to me. She did an excellent job and I highly recommend this book.
In true Amy Harmon fashion, this story is well-written, it’s powerful, and it brings so many emotions.
Historical isn’t usually my genre of choice, but I am so glad I read this one. Not only did I enjoy this epically beautiful love story, I walked away feeling a bit educated, wanting to learn more.
The journey west for Naomi May and her family wasn’t easy, nor was it pretty. There was sadness and heartbreak and pain and desperation. And I felt it all. Yet there was also so much hope and love.
I didn’t just read this captivating story, I experienced it. I swear I was right there, riding along the trail, on the wagon train with them.
Loved the author’s note at the end!
I listened to the audiobook and loved it. Narrators did a great job.
Amy Harmon is a wonderful writer, and in this tale set on the Oregon Trail she does not disappoint. This is a rich, well-written story about a half-Pawnee man and a young woman with an artistic gift. They travel a trail of discovery in both a literal and emotional sense, and while this novel is at times heart-rending, it is not depressing. For me it was one of those stories that lingered in my mind after I was finished. Recommended with one caveat: there is some “adult” R-rated material, though nothing very explicit.
I was captivated by Amy Harmon’s Where the Lost Wander. I have always been fascinated by historical fiction and was excited to dive in. However, I was not prepared for my total immersion into the story, feeling the raw emotion of the characters as they faced insurmountable odds to make a difficult journey across the unsettled plains, deserts and mountains along the Oregon Trail. The author does not glorify the hardships the emigrants suffered or the tensions felt amongst the native Americans and the settlers. She skillfully pens the story of John Lowry, a young man caught between the world of both his white father and Indian mother. The love story between John and Noami is simply beautiful.
This story is a tribute to the past, a seamless blend of fact and fiction, that will tug at your heartstrings. As I turned the last page, I realized I had discovered a special author that does not entertain, but speaks to one’s soul. When I find myself thinking about a particular quote or the story after I am finished, I know I have found a book to return to again and again.
Ms. Harmon has given us beautiful historical fiction. I loved it so much and will reread it in the future.
What a beautiful, heartbreaking, honest, amazing, heartfelt, action packed adventure. Amy Harmon does such an amazing job of creating these fantastic characters that by the end you truly care for them and their heartbreaks are yours. She also does a wonderful job of painting the image of what life was really like in 1853. I loved Naomi and John’s story! I felt like by the end of the book, I had been through this crazy journey with them. I didn’t want it to end. I highly recommend!
This book is absolutely amazing! I could literally feel the heartbeat of those crossing our country en-route to Oregon and/or California. I could feel the hearts of the Indians that were befriended and the terror of battle when anger made it’s presence. It is 1853, Naomi was a twenty-year old widow; family wanted a future with land; and, John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man was known as Two Feet as he stood in both worlds of being an Indian and being white. Wow! The struggles, tragedies, births and deaths, were so real as I read this powerful and wonderful story. The author explains that many scenes are factual and some are literary views of those involved. I cried, I smiled and want to read other books by this author.
There are very few authors that leave me feeling like a piece of me is missing when I have completed their book. Sometimes a work of fiction just sits in your soul and touches you and it’s hard to remember it as the fictional piece that it is. Where the Lost Wander is such a book and Amy Harmon is such an author. For days I have wandered around with this void of no longer having that connection, of that feeling of being lost and not knowing what is missing and how to fill it.
Harmon has crafted a beautiful novel that takes the reader into another time. Her integration of past events with personal history has yielded a superb literary masterpiece. Truly a classic work of literature. John Lawry and Naomi May’s story will forever be ingrained in my thoughts and will be one that I revisit often.
It was a pretty good read.
This story, like all of Amy Harmon’s work, left an imprint on my soul. Hard. Tragic. Gorgeous. Beautiful. All of it wrapped up in a perfect bow. Her words are incredible. Don’t miss it.
I used to be an avid reader of historical novels and can’t thank Harmon enough for awaking my interest in this broader genre. Her highly structured writing and vivid descriptions transported me back in time, making me feel as if I were alongside her characters in their quest to reach the West. Endurance comes alive in the heart of a wagon trail and no matter how fast I tried to absorb the words, it quickly became apparent that this was a book to be relished, not rushed. At its very deepest, I found myself pausing to contemplate significant paragraphs and passages in a narrative so lifelike simply because my emotions had got the better of me.
As the story unfolded, my concern for John and Naomi elevated to a high level of nervousness; but now my biggest worry is being able to give this truly magnificent book the merit deserved. Such are my feeling for what I hope you’ll experience means I’ll try my hardest not to spoil this epicness for you.
‘I say nothing to anyone, hiding my misery as I see to my animals, but I am in trouble, and I am scared.’
An arduous and complex setting grows into an imperfectly-perfect heart-rending romance. Wagons being pulled by jack donkeys and oxen; horses weighed down, unrelenting rain and storms, rivers overflowing and the sun shining down on glimmers of hope, devastation—I. Felt. Every. Single. Moment. The mere fact that future settlers even took this route, astounded me. And then when disaster struck, to say I was terrified would be putting it mildly. It’s clear to see the author had given her all and it’s difficult for me to imagine just how much research she’d done to give her readers such authenticity. Yes, I confess to googling names of Indian tribes, places and dates. I’m sure American readers are well-aware of the Oregon Trail history facts, but Amy’s offering is for the likes of me across the pond, a lesson to be remembered.
“…Hating never fixed anything. It seems simple, but most things are. We just complicate them. We spend our lives complicating what we would do better to accept. Because in acceptance, we put our energies into transcendence.”
To boot; the multi-ethnic aspect in those times throws light on how those involved would come to terms with it under such harsh circumstances. More crying and sniffling, more falling head of heels with a heroine whom I’d connected with at a snap of a finger. Watching her observe others, how she treated her loved ones, listening to her thoughts, and the effect she had on my new hero literally bowled me over. Regardless of all the hurdles, swaying was never an option and this is what makes her special.
‘John does not flirt. He doesn’t say pretty, empty things. He listens, soaking everything in. John’s a doer. An observer. And his thoughts, when he shares them, are like little shoots of green grass on a dry prairie.’
John is beyond noble. His background isn’t an advantage; his heartache became mine and his respect for a woman who’d accepted him without any remorse for his past…I honestly have no words. Strong family ties, finding one’s place in a contra-society is without a doubt, food for thought. I guess you know who’s story this belongs to though. John’s glory is being in the right place…at the right time though? That’s for you to discover.
‘My dreams are like my childhood, garbled with sounds and gestures that belong to both of my worlds—or all of them.’
A note for Winifred May. You, lady, gained my total respect with your strength, advice and empathy. However, the story is told from John and Naomi’s perspective in first-person present-tense, giving me a bird’s eye view of their uttermost inner thoughts. Harmon has delivered a read I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. Bravo!
“There are many ways to fight, Naomi Lowry.”
This is a fabulous read! Amy Harmon brings to life the story of a half Pawnee, half white young man living between two worlds and not really belonging in either and the spirited May family, all traveling in a wagon train along the Oregon Trail. Their daughter Naomi is a remarkable artist. She draws scenes and faces she witnesses along the journey. Faces of anguish, sorrow, defeat, bravery, joy, love and loss. All of these faces tell a story. Naomi is immediately drawn to the half breed and he to her but he keeps his distance not wanting any complications to his destination.
The wagon train suffers many trials and suffering, but there is also great hope of a life in a new land with limitless possibilities. The lives of many families intertwine as they travel through unforgiving territory. For me, the book started a little show but it wasn’t long before I was thoroughly invested in the daily lives of each of the characters. I was transfixed with the story, the history and the courage it took for these people to leave all they knew behind seeking a better life.
This is truly a remarkable book so well written it kept me spellbound until the end.
I highly suggest everyone read this phenomenal book.
What a wonderful story. I picked this book up to start reading and struggled to put it down; I just had to keep going back to it. It is so well written and the descriptions of the locations, the people and their struggles on the Oregon trail are just enthralling. I loved it all.
The characters in this book are brilliantly crafted and so realistic. I felt their happiness, their fears and their distress, they came alive on the page for me and I was there with them, every step of the way. Naomi and John are the lead characters, young and determined and I just liked them both so much. The native Americans were beautifully described from their language, their culture and their personalities, they were very well written; as were all the characters.
The whole book is totalling engaging. A superb story that will stay with me for quite a while. One I highly recommend this one.
Although at this point I shouldn’t be surprised at all, at the end Amy Harmon left me with tears in my eyes once again. It was a story of a long, painful journey full of adventure, heartache, love and miracles. It was incredible!
The story takes place in 1853, at a time of America’s westward migration, when many people from the eastern part of America left their lives behind and moved to west with a hope of a better life. They packed up all their belongings onto wagons and started their long-long journey on foot packed in caravans, across the prairie, the desert, the mountains, trough the territory of Indians, struggling with cholera, beasts, thirst, and many difficulties. The main characters of the novel is the young, recently widowed Naomi, who begins the great journey out of Illinois with her family, and the half-Indian John Lowry, who just like Naomi, has always felt different and hasn’t found his place in the world. On their journey, they are heading for a world where they may find a new home and during the journey they may find themselves, too.
In addition to the excitement of the story itself, the topic of the book was also very interesting. I loved how the author took the time and researched this period of time deeply and I found really fascinating that several of the characters were based on real people and that the author also used parts of the diary of her five-times great-grandfather, who once also made this journey. It is admirable how brave the people were at that time, especially since they didn’t really know for sure what awaited them on the west coast. Over the months, the marching involved a lot of suffering, sacrifice, danger and hardship, all in the hope of finding a better life.
The characters were truly outstanding. Like all female characters of Amy Harmon, Naomi is an also a very strong, independent woman who is a bit stubborn, a little outspoken, slightly free-spirited and rebellious, but very lovable. She doesn’t beat around the bush and immediately states what her heart desires, and just like John tames his mules and horses, Naomi slowly tames John, too. I also truly liked John and I loved how we got a glimpse of what it meant to him that he didn’t really belong to the world of white people or the Indians’ either. I was very fond of Naomi’s brothers and I also liked the symbols and spiritual things in the book and Winnifred May’s thoughts.
Although it’s a slow-building story, it still contained excitement and twists, completed with beautiful descriptions and wonderful writing style. For me, this novel was one of the most outstanding reads of the year so far and I wholeheartedly recommend it!