From the Back Cover:
"Jane Kirkpatrick puts flesh and blood on the bones of history. Set against an authentic nineteenth-century background, this is a superb story of a woman's struggle to triumph over time and place. . . . A memorable book."--Sandra Dallas, New York Times bestselling author
Eliza Spalding Warren was just a child when she was taken hostage by the Cayuse Indians during a massacre in 1847. Now a mother of two, Eliza faces a new kind of dislocation; her impulsive husband wants to make a new start in another territory, which will mean leaving her beloved home and her mother's grave--and returning to the land of her captivity.
Haunted by memories and hounded by struggle, Eliza longs to know how her mother dealt with the trauma of their ordeal. As she searches the pages of her mother's diary, Eliza is stunned to find that her own recollections tell only part of the story.
Based on true events, The Memory Weaver is New York Times bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick's latest literary journey into the past, where threads of western landscapes, family, and faith weave a tapestry of hope inside every pioneering woman's heart. Get swept up in this emotional story of the memories that entangle us and the healing that awaits us when we bravely unravel the threads of the past.
Take a minute and watch this book trailer about the novel and then look below for my thoughts about the book!
My Review:
I had not heard before of this piece of American history. Jane Kirkpatrick is great at finding historical events that need to have a story written about them. Can you imagine being the first woman to cross the United States to go and be a missionary to the Indian people? What a trek across the country, not knowing what to expect and facing all kinds of hardship. That was the life of Eliza Spalding. These women were pretty tough back then, and this story has quite a violent background with the Whitman Massacre happening in 1847. I had not remembered that from history class, and it was interesting to read about a family that would of survived that horrible event. The events of this story are told by two different women, Eliza Spalding, the mother, and Eliza Spalding Warren, the daughter. I thought the way Jane Kirkpatrick told the story from two different perspectives was interesting. While Eliza Spalding Warren told the story in the present, Eliza Spalding, the mother, told her story as past journal entries. The story was thought provoking and an interesting read even though I don't agree with the Presbyterian theology mentioned in this book. I will say that it was hard to read through this book with all the hardship that each character faced, a little depressing in my opinion. But don't we all face hardships in our lives that we must overcome? I thought Eliza Spalding Warren said things well in the novel: "Tragedies happened. People suffered. I was learning that it was what one did with the suffering that mattered." (pg. 289)
If you're looking for a book that doesn't cut the corners but tells things like they happened...the good, the bad and the ugly... Then this book is for you. A great historical novel about one of the first Presbyterian families to take the message of Jesus to the Indians in the West.
***I received this book for free from Revell in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
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