This Road We Traveled

Kirkpatrick (The Memory Weaver) takes readers back to the 1840s and the westward expansion of the United States. Tabby Brown, the matriarch of the Brown-Pringle clan, is excited when her son Orus returns with news that the family will be making the trip out west to Oregon. This announcement is immediately followed by the pronouncement that the journey will be too much for the aging and infirm Tabby. Defiantly, Tabby makes arrangements and attaches her own wagon to the family caravan. She is provided multiple opportunities to stay behind, especially as she finds that not all of her family is leaving, but she always chooses to continue on. Kirkpatrick does a fine job developing the many family members as they make their way to the Pacific, and the deliberate, halting pace of the story accurately recapitulates the same attributes of the arduous trek across the western frontier. Tabby is a formidable, intrepid force, certain that God still has a purpose for her despite her age and disability. This is more than one woman’s story of courage and faith; it is the story of a family that journeys, grows, and heals together. Kirkpatrick’s vivid, rich prose will keep readers in awe and on the edges of their seats. [em](Sept.) [/em]