A Light in the Wilderness

By Jane Kirkpatrick

Book Overview

Letitia holds nothing more dear than the papers that prove she is no longer a slave. They may not cause white folks to treat her like a human being, but at least they show she is free. She trusts in those words she cannot read--as she is beginning to trust in Davey Carson, an Irish immigrant cattleman who wants her to come west with him.Nancy Hawkins is loathe to leave her settled life for the treacherous journey by wagon train, but she is so deeply in love with her husband that she knows she will follow him anywhere--even when the trek exacts a terrible cost.Betsy is a Kalapuya Indian, the last remnant of a once proud tribe in the Willamette Valley in Oregon territory. She spends her time trying to impart the wisdom and ways of her people to her grandson. But she will soon have another person to care for.As season turns to season, suspicion turns to friendship, and fear turns to courage, three spirited women will discover what it means to be truly free in a land that makes promises it cannot fulfill. This multilayered story from bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick will grip readers' hearts and minds as they travel with Letitia on the dusty and dangerous Oregon trail into the boundless American West.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0800722310
• ISBN13: 9780800722319
• Release Date: September 2014
• Publisher: Fleming H. Revell Company
• Length: 316 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up

Customer Reviews

Freedom!

Letitia is a freed black woman who is in constant fear that she will lose her "free papers." She makes the second decision in her life, when she decides not to join a wagon train bound for Oregon, with her former owners. She does love the babies, but thinks that there might be something better for her, if she stays behind. Sarah Bowman (Leticia is only allowed to call her by her first name, if they are at home, in private), demands that Leticia go with them and tries to steal Leticia's cow, Charity. Buying that cow was Leticia's first decision, wanting the milk that the cow makes. Mr. Bowman decides that they don't have time for the cow, so he makes Sarah give the cow back to Leticia. Leticia doesn't know where she's going to live, with Charity, sleeping outside at night isn't safe for a free black woman. She goes to Davey Carson (he's the one she trusted with her money, to go buy the cow), and asks if she can let Charity out in his pens, so she can eat; if Leticia cooks and keeps house for him. She also has a job in the laundry at a hotel in town. Davey agrees, so Leticia moves in, sleeping in the pantry on a narrow cot. Join up with Leticia and Davey and Charity, it's a wonderful story. A large part of it is based upon the true story of Leticia and Davey.

Another great historical novel by Jane Kirkpatrick .

Jane Kirkpatrick 's characters are based on real people . Strong women who often suffer great hardships .