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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Amy is a master at her craft. Her story telling is like no other. This was a beautiful story and I will read it again.
This is probably one of the saddest, happy, stories I have read in a very long time. I will put it up there with ONE FOR THE BLACKBIRD ONE FOR THE CROW and THIS TENDER LAND. Both are favorites of mine.
Two quotes from this book that really seem to touch me: That’s what hope feels like: the best air you’ve ever breathed after the worst fall you’ve ever taken. It hurts.
Transcendence is a world, a place, beyond this one. It’s what could be.
This book is about families who cross the US from Missouri to California. All they endure along the way. The many perils they had to face. The lives lost. The births of new life and the love of a man and woman.
The man, John Lowry, who is half white and half Pawnee Indian. He lived with his dad and step mother after he lost his mother. He never felt truly loved or that he belonged. I have to believe that Jennie, his step mother, did love him. She was kind to him and taught him to read, write and his numbers. I believe she was a very kind woman. His dad, John, was kind of a cold man but I believe he also loved his son. He had a way of keeping his feelings to himself, but when it came down to John Lowry leaving he was sad to see him go. He figured he would not be coming back there but moving on to make his own life.
The woman, Naomi May, was in the wagon train heading to California. The first time she met John Lowry she was sitting atop a barrel in town wearing a yellow dress. It was an instant attraction. She was a widow who had only been married three month when her husband took sick and passed away. She had known him her whole life and married him at the young age of 18. But she was not married long enough to get use to the idea and was back with her parents where she helped her mother with her many brothers. It had been her husband’s idea for them to all go to California. Thus her in-laws were on this journey also.
This book takes you through all the things you would expect from such a hard journey and some you may not expect. I felt like I was in the wagon, walking beside it, on the road, going through all the many ups and downs this family, the Mays, went through. They saw so much and went through so much. It was such a hard way to travel you will appreciate the fact that you didn’t live back then. In 1853, Naomi’s life changed forever. She loses so much and goes through so much that you will wonder how she endured it. The losses she faced were horrible. Deep pain and so much loneliness in the middle of nowhere. But she had found love with John Lowry. They did get married and he was a good man.
This story is told by John Lowry and Naomi in alternating chapters. Each tells a story that will both make you believe and break your heart. It will leave you breathless and hopeful. Happy and sad. It’s done with so much reality that you will feel the heat from the sun and the cold from the snow. The heat from the hot springs and the freezing cold from the lakes. The things these people go through to get across the plains to start a new life are hard. Some turn back. Some die. Some lost their minds. It was a very hard life for sure.
Reading the author’s note at the end sheds a lot of light on this book. Some of the characters are real people. Real people who existed. Who you will love and who you will feel a closeness to in many ways. There are some characters you will hate. Some who are just cruel. Both white and redskin. Some are just mean. But most are kind and caring and help each other. Most have hearts. It proves to me that all people are human no matter where they come from. Empathy is priceless and helps more than being cruel.
This is one of those stories that will stay with you for a good long time. A historical book that is timeless.
Thank you #NetGalley, #LakeUnion, #AmyHarmon for this ARC. This is my own review told from my heart.
A huge 5 stars and the highest recommendation to all..
I love Amy Harmon’s books and her style of writing. This was another amazing book which I thoroughly enjoyed. It wasn’t a quick read easy read for me though due to the storyline but I still loved it and loved the heartfelt journey that we were taken on.
I have yet to read an Amy Harmon book that I haven’t liked. This one is no exception. I was drawn in from the beginning. Compelling characters and storyline. I could really picture what it might have been like to travel with a wagon train across the country.
This book was so awesome I went looking for other books by this author as this was her first that I read. It’s about John Lowry and Naomi May. They travel west in the 1850 with emigrant wagon trains. The story revolves around both John and Naomi’s family too as they are traveling also. It is a book I could not put down. It was heartbreaking and the writing was wonderful. I loved it and would recommend to all.
Amy brought me to tears, made me laugh, made me feel so much faith and hope!!!! that’s why I love her writing so much!!!
Once again Amy Harmon brings an amazing story that will take us on a journey that we will feel within every fiber of our body and will make us appreciate the find words of this book.
Where the lost wander, it’s a story of traditions, family, and love, it is the story of Naomi and her family, the hardship they live and went through while moving to another town. it is the story of John a boy that is quiet but has so much to give and say.
Where the lost wander took me to another place and time, showing the hardships of men and woman while moving around in wagons and horses, the hardship of the road, the weather and other tribes that weren’t so kind and wanted to steal and kill whatever and whoever wasn’t in their own tribe.
Naomi was a very strong heroine, always speaking the truth and whatever was on her mind, I love how strong she was, always giving love to everybody but also very assertive and always speaking without any fear. she was very creative and talented, she was always drawing and painting the many faces in her life, the faces that accompanied her during this long journey called life.
John the hero was quiet but always very assertive, he was a strong hero but what made him so different was that he didn’t need to speak or be aggressive to show his feelings. he was very thoughtful and very quiet but at the same time making him so strong.
The story of John and Naomi didn’t start with honey and kisses, he was very stubborn and she was, even more, she was determined to get what she wanted and what she wanted, was him, I feel like her character was perfect for John because she challenges him at all times.
One of the things that I love about this story is the way we feel at all times like we’re in that wagon moving around, making a life of our own. the intensity, the depth of the story, and characters really made you feel every single emotion the characters are experiencing.
I cry so much with the last couple of chapters, I love the secondary characters especially baby wolf, Naomi’s mother was a very fine lady, so many great characters that brought so much to this story and the characters.
I really have a hard time writing reviews for books that I love, I never find the right words to express how much this makes my heart sing, but Where the lost wander is one of those books that no matter how much I write it will never bring the amazing emotions and feelings of the story.
Overall it was an amazing book, I definitely recommend it and I will re-read it again soon.
This will be a minority review I’m sure and it pains me to rate this book at 2 stars. Amy Harmon is one of favorite writers and the caliber of her writing is most definitely not in question with this harrowing journey of a story. She writes with such eloquence and great knowledge of words and how they flow to make excellent story structures. Unfortunately, I was just downright bored with this. I felt compelled to finish because, as stated, I adore this author’s other books and her writing always impresses me, even in a case such as this where the story felt dull and didn’t work for me.
The historical aspect of it was obviously well researched and crafted but the plot really drug through most the book. It was redundant and monotonous. I wasn’t engaged with the story, in fact I picked it up and put it down so many times I lost count, I’m unsure if it’s because of the time period of this journey or if the characters just didn’t stimulate me enough. While there is an appreciation within me in understanding this story and having compassion for the strife, hardship, and tragedy of what Naomi and John and the others went through it just wasn’t a book that left me in awe in any way.
A strong story, wonderfully well written, and full of tense moments.
Amy Harmon has power over words and creates unique stories that are always engaging and surprising.
John and Naomi stole my heart along with the secondary characters, highlighting Lost Woman and Washakie.
With Where the Lost Wander, Amy Harmon brought the Oregon Trail to life in all its gritty, grueling glory.
It’s hard for me to explain without feeling like I’m making light of the story – but if you, like me, grew up playing the game at school, this story feels somehow both familiar and eye-opening at the same time. It literally brought the challenges and perils of the Oregon Trail to life for me — and I absolutely loved it.
The story starts with a bang – I was sucked in immediately and knew that there was no way I’d be able to put it down. The pacing is a little uneven after that. The content of the story is so dense that I don’t think that there’s anything I would have cut out of it – but I had to pull myself back from skipping over parts in order to figure out what happened and how everything resolved. The day-to-day descriptions are fascinating, but it was the over-arching story of love, and family that really held me captive.
The love story is beautiful. And heartbreaking. And inspirational. It’s also much larger than the romance between John and Naomi. There are little love stories all over this book and they all left an indelible mark on my heart. This is a fantastic historical. Ms. Harmon didn’t pull any punches and there were some difficult emotions along the way. But…it was so worth it. I so genuinely enjoyed it and am so glad to have had the opportunity to read this lovely prose and this deeply touching story
Regardless of their possessions or their position, it seems everyone has the same dream. They all want something different than what they have now. Land. Luck. Life. Even love.
1853 in St. Joseph Missouri, the May family, joined by a wagon train of emigrants, sets out from Missouri in search of a better life out west.
Harmon’s stunning portrayal of the trials and tribulations the band of travelers faced was both inspirational and tragic. Harmon is uncompromising in her depictions of death, rape, and loss. My heart was in my throat much of the time as I learned the fates of her characters. I yearned for their happiness as they embarked on a journey that would forever change them.
The beauty of the landscape and the people who inhabited it were captivating. But it was the strength and heroism of the females in this story that blew me away. From the white women who did all they could to keep their families together during their treacherous travels across the unrelenting land, to the Indian women who were the laborers, and nurturers in their families, I was spellbound by their resilience.
It’s worth it, you know.
What is, Jennie?
The pain. It’s worth it. The more you love, the more it hurts. But it’s worth it. It’s the only thing that is.
This was more than a romance, although there was a stunning and beautiful romance within the pages of this book, it was a love story of epic proportions — love of others, love of land, and love of God (in many forms).
I live in Missouri. I was born and raised in Independence, Missouri, the ‘jumping-off point’ for the 3 trails, California, Santa Fe, and Oregon Trails. Many of the figures mentioned in this book are ones I learned about growing up. In fact, a middle school in Independence is named after Jim Bridger. I wish I had a physical copy of this book. I would have taken it exploring all of the sites mentioned.
A compelling work of historical fiction, ‘Where the Lost Wander’ captures the spirit of a generation of people who wanted more for their lives than the lot they were given. They were willing to do whatever was necessary to make their dreams happen, never settling for less, they always strove for more.
The hardest thing about life is knowing what matters and what doesn’t. If nothing matters, then there’s no point. If everything matters, there’s no purpose. The trick is to find firm ground between the two ways of being.
I was provided a review copy by the publisher; this did not influence my opinion of the book.
Where the lost Wander will take you on a beautiful, raw, and emotional journey of people who want to find a place they belong in a wild and unforgiving world.
What can I say about this book other then it was a great ugly cry book. But it worth going through a box of tissues to read a story about people risking it all in order to grab their own slice of happiness. the story accurately portrays and the hope and desperation of people wanting a better life and willing to risk it all for the possibility. Through pain, loss, and death we are reminded of the true strength of the human spirit.
Naomi and John are two people who feel like they don’t belong anywhere when they see each other they are drawn to each because they are kindred spirits. Both are lost and don’t have a place they belong but instant feel at home with each other. However the world they live in and the journey they take is not an easy one and they will have to fight not only for their love but for their very lives.
I just loved Naomi because she was someone who knew what she wanted and was comfortable in her own skin. She relished the trip to California because it symbolized freedom for and it would allow her to make her own way in this world. When she meets John she knows that she has the meet the man she will always love and she refuses to allow anyone to get in her way o her happiness.
John is just a cinnamon roll that has lived his life closed off and fearful. Being part Native American has left him guarded and wary of world that often does not accept who he is. Unsure of himself or his place he just goes through the motions of life with no real purposes until he meets Naomi. She upends his world and he doesn’t know how to handle it. He tries to fight his feelings but no matter how much he protests he can’t be helped be drawn to Naomi and the promises she offers him.
This is one journey you will want to take. you will laugh, cry and hurt for Naomi and John as they find their way in a world that doesn’t make it easy.
****recieved a review copy from Netgalley*******
Where the Lost Wander is a magical read in all areas, from the rich history, to the captivating romance, to the intertwined characters whose lives are forever impacted by this journey. The cover is a beautiful piece of art that sets a nomadic tone for the book. John Lowry and Naomi have a palpable attraction from the beginning and watching their love grow is endearing. The families that are traveling west with them have characters that you will love and you will despise. It all comes together in a way that keeps you engaged from the very beginning. Amy’s writing transports you to a time we have never seen, yet you feel as if you have always been there.
I will admit the beginning (aside from the prologue) took some time for me to get into the book. Then after chapter 15 I was hooked. Amy just has a way of telling a story.
I’m glad I listened to the audio for this story. The narrators were perfect.
Wow and the authors note at the end just makes me think of all of the traveler’s that did the Oregon/California trail and the hardships they endured.
I can’t wait to see what Amy writes next.
I passionately enjoy historical fiction, but I’ll be honest, pioneer westerns aren’t my favorite era to read about. Or, it seems, I just haven’t read the right one. Amy Harmon has wielded her magic again and managed to draw me in and keep me captivated in a genre I otherwise wouldn’t have had any interest. Replete with her capable and “transcendent” writing, Where the Lost Wander was a vivid fictionalized saga that made the Oregon Trail come alive for me. As per normal, Harmon didn’t hold any punches when it came to tragedy and sadness, but far more importantly, was the account of perseverance and hope. Overall, this was meaningful historical fiction wrapped around a beautiful love story.
As with every Amy Harmon book I’ve ever read, I finished this one and had to think about it for a while. That’s what Amy is brilliant at, provoking thought. This is a beautiful, yet heartbreaking story, full of hope and disappointment, happiness and sorry, and everything in between. Not to mention, I love story that transcends the ages.
I highly recommend this book.
-Jenny Kate (1/2 of Jiffy Kate)
Oh my! It’s been a few weeks since I finished this book and I’m still thinking about it and the characters, the setting and the feelings the book evoked in me. I wish I would’ve written a review sooner, but I just didn’t have it in me. The state of our world prohibited me. But Amy Harmon can slay me with a well told story, even one I didn’t think I really wanted to read. I like Historical Fiction, but I have to be in the right mood. It is not a genre I read on a regular basis unless it’s one set during WWII. This book for all intents and purposes was not for me. And I will be first person to say that I was so very wrong.
This story is told in dual POVs. One from Naomi May who is a white woman who recently lost her husband. She is traveling to the West with her family across the rough terrain in a covered wagon with a slew of other families. It’s the mid 1800’s where women and men have their place in the world and so do people with different backgrounds. It’s not always pretty and it’s not the world we know today. While the scenery can be beautiful, the actions of people and the lives they all live to survive is eye opening. To see how far we’ve come and to see how people balance living in a world not completely their own is something that Amy Harmon obviously researched very well.
“We all need each other. We can all I’ve side by side peaceably, can’t we? We don’t all have to be exactly the same.”
“Some cultures do not mix. It is like having fins but trying to live on land.”
The second POV is from John Lowry. He is a mixed race man that doesn’t feel he is a part of either world. He is part Native American and part white. They call him Two Feet. Living his life in both worlds. He is a man that is helping these white settlers cross to the West, but he also feels a connection to his Native side; his mother. He doesn’t know where he belongs, but he knows that there is some sort of attraction to Naomi. Should he act on it? Should he keep with “his own people” or is his place with his family back home?
“I am not split down the middle, straddling two worlds. I am simply a stranger in both.”
Amy Harmon is simply magic. She wrote a stunning and beautiful book that captivates you with the beauty of the scenery and the tension of the characters one moment and then takes you to a brutal truth the next moment. The characters are all so real and you feel like you know them. When tragedy strikes, you break right along with the characters and feel their emotions just as if you’re there. The careful study and research that Ms Harmon took in creating these characters and the setting was obvious. I never for one moment was taken away from this book. I was right there in the wagon, crossing the rivers and losing myself and family members along with Naomi and John. And watching their romance blossom was truly captivating. It was intense and I understood when John wanted to pull away and his hesitation, but the words from a very wise woman were always there….
“It’s worth it, you know.”
“What is, Jennie?”
“The pain. It’s worth it. The more you love, the more it hurts. But it’s worth it. It’s the only thing that is.”
Where the Lost Wander is a story of love, family and finding one’s own place in this world while seeing the best and worst in your surroundings. It’s about finding happiness in the least expected places. It’s about balance and different cultures. It’s about acceptance. There are some harsh realities that may break you, but fear not….Amy Harmon will find a way to piece you back together in a very real way. You may have scars, but the scars will remind you that you lived.
Bravo Amy Harmon for another beautiful work of art. A masterpiece of Historical Fiction!
I received a free electronic copy of this compelling historical novel from Netgalley, Amy Harmon, and Lake Union Publishing. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Amy Harmon writes an excellent historical novel, with an accurate and interesting background that fits the timeline, and characters who keep you interested and reading on into the night.
Where the Lost Wander is set in 1853, following a couple of families who meet up at St. Joseph, MO, to join a wagon train setting off across the great plains. About half of the train is intending to eventually turn north to head for the Mormon settlement on Salt Lake or from there on to Oregon, and the other half are headed west to join the California gold rush. Grant Abbott, leader of the wagon train and brother of Jennie Logan, is an experienced traveler on these western trails and is joined by his nephew John Logan, intent on traveling on the wagon train 200 miles, just as far as Fort Kearney, where he will deliver Logan mules to the Army. Young John Logan is the son of John Logan and a Pawnee woman named Mary, called Dancing Feet in her native tongue. Near-death, Mary delivers their son to senior John Logan and his wife Jennie. John, Jennie, and their two young daughters take in eight-year-old John and make him a part of the family. John was called Two Feet in the Pawnee village and was too white to be wanted there, and he feels just as isolated in the white world. But Jennie makes him feel comfortable if not necessarily welcome in the family, and John is truly at home working with his father, working with and training the mules. And there is by the time he’s in his mid-twenties a reputation of excellence with Logan Mules across the west.
Naomi May Caldwell, the oldest child and only daughter of William and Winifred May, is a twenty-year-old widow, traveling with her parents and three younger brothers, and on the same train with her in-laws, Lawrence and Elmeda Caldwell. Winifred May is heavily pregnant, and daughter Naomi hopes for another daughter, someone to help her and her mother with raising the three rambunctious May brothers. And she truly hopes the baby will come while they are still in St. Joe, waiting on the grass to green along the wagon trail. The California contingent must leave as soon as there is fodder for the animals if they hope to make it over the Sierra Nevada before the snow falls in the autumn. The baby doesn’t cooperate, but everyone is pleased to at last be on the way to those western horizons with the first haze of green on the prairie.
And this is a road trip to savor. Where the Lost Wander is an excellent western heritage novel, one that is difficult to put down. It is a book I will cherish. My children were youngsters in the 1980s and we spent many a rainy coastal Texas day playing board games and Atari. Oregan Trail and Duck Hunt could keep us laughing till tears tracked our cheeks. And every time I read “cholera” in this tale it took me back to those days when everything seemed so simple…
I have yet to read a book by Amy Harmon that I didn’t love and Where the Lost Wander is no exception. Amy Harmon writes the most romantic, heart-wrenching, emotional books that I usually devour in one sitting. I read Where the Lost Wander in one day and when I finished it, I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters.
The book is set in the 1850s, on the Oregon Trail. Young widow Naomi May is making the perilous journey West with her family and other travelers who are all looking for a better life. On the trail, Naomi meets their guide, a half-Pawnee man, John Lowry, with whom she feels an instant attraction. During the journey, they experience harsh traveling conditions, hostility from Native Americans, encounter death, disease, and tragedy but also find love and companionship.
I loved the romance between Naomi and John, but I also loved reading about other relationships. I loved Noami’s relationship with her mother, and I loved John’s friendship/mentorship with Naomi’s brother, Wyatt. Where the Lost Wander made me cry and my heart race and it’s exactly the type of emotional storytelling I expect from Amy Harmon.
Historical fiction that moves at the speed of wagon trains. But given the time period, it’s hard to avoid. Admittedly, it was a challenge staying engaged and invested at first, but the story does pick up speed once climactic emotions get involved in the last 1/3 of the book. It’s Amy Harmon so you know there will be big feels. Again, Harmon incorporates personal family history as a way to pay tribute to the generations of the past which I always find admirable. If you enjoy a variety of historical romance settings and/or the wagon train era in general, consider checking out Where the Lost Wander.
Amy Harmon is a brilliant painter of words. Her words take the reader on a journey that fills your eyes with the most vivid of pictures without ever setting sight to nothing more than words on a page.
You can feel the struggle, the loss and pain but also the love between two people who found each other when they least expect it as they endure the hardships of a perilous journey. During everything they go through they also find the strength to go forward, to keep fighting for those they hold dear and to never, ever give up.
With so many historical romance books the story can become very daunting to read because the author goes into detail overload when it really isn’t necessary. Ms. Harmon certainly proves that the devil is in the details as she provided us with the perfect amount to lure us in and hold us captive to the very last word.
**Received ARC through NetGalley. Voluntarily reviewed**