Based on actual persons, Amy Harmon's story of a wagon train's passage from St. Joseph, Missouri to the west coast is realistic and gripping. I had a little trouble getting started, but character development is excellent and you can't help rooting for the young protagonists: 20-year old widow Naomi May and 25-year old mule driver John Lowry. Booklist concludes their review by saying, "Novelist Harmon brings the tribulations of the vast westward migration to life in this sweeping, majestic narrative, but [s]he also examines diverse perspectives, including the responses of Native peoples to the incursion on their lands, brought to life in the stories of historical figures such as the magnetic Chief Washakie. The love story of John and Naomi is filled with tension and honest reflection, as well as missteps and disappointments, all of which add a rich realism to this sumptuous historical novel."
Publishers Weekly offers a decent summary of the plotline. "In Harmon's passionate tale of pioneers and Native Americans ..., a young widow falls in love with her wagon party's mule driver. Twenty-year-old widow Naomi May is traveling with her family on a wagon train from St. Joseph, Mo., to California in 1853 when she meets John Lowry, known as Two Feet by his Pawnee mother's family for "straddling two worlds." Naomi is drawn to him, and John is attracted to Naomi's beauty, resilience, and devotion to her family, but his awareness of the prejudice he faces due to his Pawnee heritage makes him reluctant to believe they could have a future together. Misadventures abound as members of the wagon train succumb to cholera, endure difficult river crossings, and face confrontations with Sioux warriors. After the wagons are attacked and burned by a war party, Naomi and her infant brother, Wolfe, are kidnapped and John determines to save them. Harmon richly details the train leaders' stubborn handling of the trail's challenges from John's point of view, foreshadowing the fate awaiting them. The genuine bond between John and Naomi will keep readers turning the pages."
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