Sandra Dallas
Fiction
While this book is fiction, it is a novel based on true events. In 1865, a group of Mormons (men, women, and children) head out to Salt Lake City from Iowa City. On foot. Every single one of them. The novel goes from POV to POV of several women who accompany their husbands/families to reach Zion. We have Louisa, who’s married to the group leader, Nannie, traveling with her sister and brother-in-law, Jessie, heading out with her two brothers to start a new business, and Anne, who refuses to convert to Mormonism, despite her husband’s pleas.
Sandra Dallas is an excellent writer. She pulls you in to the world she creates and makes you care about her characters. I’m not gonna lie, there were a lot of difficult-to-read parts in this book. These people are traipsing their way across America with limited food and water, of course there’s bound to be hardship. But, as you know, I’m a bit of a softie and too much death and despair makes me want to slam a book shut (see A Different Sky review). The depressing parts were fairly well-balanced with the uplifting parts, though, so I forgave Ms. Dallas and forged on (no pun intended). By the end of the book, I was as ready for their journey to be over as the characters were.
For anyone interested in history, the Mormon faith, or just a plain old good storyteller, this book is for you.
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