For everything there is a season. A season for joy. A season for sorrow. A season for testing.
About the book:
Jemima “Jem” Perkins has it all – money, a fine house, a handsome husband, and a new baby boy. But when her family fortunes turn, Jem’s husband Seth leads her to a new home: a sod house on a Nebraska homestead.
It is a season of growth for Jem as she reluctantly confronts her new realities: back-breaking labor, dangerous illness, and mind-numbing isolation. She learns to embrace her new role as a capable woman and marriage partner and discovers an awareness of God’s hand in her life.
Then, on January 12, 1888, the history-making Children’s Blizzard sweeps across the land, ushering in a season of hardship she never expected. Can Jem’s confidence, marriage, and new-found faith weather the storm?
It is a season of growth for Jem as she reluctantly confronts her new realities: back-breaking labor, dangerous illness, and mind-numbing isolation. She learns to embrace her new role as a capable woman and marriage partner and discovers an awareness of God’s hand in her life.
Then, on January 12, 1888, the history-making Children’s Blizzard sweeps across the land, ushering in a season of hardship she never expected. Can Jem’s confidence, marriage, and new-found faith weather the storm?
My Take:
Stories that take place on the newly-settled prairie in the 1800’s are among my favorites, as I have mentioned here on my blog before. This novel is even based on true events that occured during a horrific blizzard in the Midwest in January of 1888.
What I enjoyed about this book was what I always enjoy in prairie novels: people overcoming hardships and becoming stronger because of them. I also enjoy the simpler lifestyle, even though their lives as a whole are harder. The growth that Jem does over the course of this book is phenomenal. She starts off as a spoiled little rich girl, but she ends up enduring the worst the untamed prairie can dish out, all the while relying on God as her strength.
While I did enjoy this novel, it was difficult to read, too. It was so heartbreaking at times, and I was quite often disappointed in the actions of Jem’s husband, Seth. While being extremely interesting historically, this is not a comfortable story to read. Hard questions are asked, faith is challenged, and the ending is not happily-ever-after. (I am hoping there is a sequel to this in the works, because there seemed to be a lot of things left hanging. A lot.)
Whither Thou Goest, I Will Go by Naomi Dathan is a true look into the lives, both good and bad, of men and women who were pioneers in the 19th Century.
For more information about this book, including an excerpt and a fun quiz, visit the author’s book page at: http://naomidathan.com/whither/
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Kirkdale Press and LibraryThing Early Reviewers as an electronic book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Kirkdale Press and LibraryThing Early Reviewers as an electronic book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
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