None to Give Away

By Elsie Doig Townsend

Book Overview

Jim and Elsie Doig had confidently invested in a future together on a Montana ranch. Then in 1940 Jim was fatally injured, leaving Elsie a young widow without much experience of the world. Overnight she had to learn how to fend for herself and her five small children, including two sets of twins. Well-meaning relatives and friends advised her to put some of them up for adoption, but Elsie was determined not to separate the family. None to Give Away is the story of her struggle to support her brood while running a gas station and teaching school, to maintain a long home on Dry Creek, and turn rented quarters into a home, to cope alone with all the minor catastrophes incidental to raising children. And to do it all without neglecting her own needs. The narrator's humor cuts to the heart of things and her honesty permits her to realize at moments that it is harder to live than to die.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803294212
• ISBN13: 9780803294219
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Length: 222 Pages
• Weight: 8.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Touching Story of One Woman's Life in Montana

I bought this book at a bookstore in a little town in Montana while traveling through the state. It was in the "regional selections" category, but it really was so much more than that. This story is a moving (true) story of a young woman in Montana who marries a rancher in the period when the West was still being settled. Widowed at an early age and left to fend for herself and her young children, grit and a sense of purpose keep her going. It was a true joy to follow the life of this heroic woman through difficult circumstances. This book is a gem and I would highly recommend it, as I intend to read it again and again through life. Perhaps women will enjoy it more than men, and mothers will likely appreciate it the most.