Title: A Light in the Wilderness
Author: Jane Kilpatrick
Publish Date: October 2014
Post Date: December 2, 2014
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Letitia is a freed slave who understandably fears losing the precious paper than ensures her freedom. While living in Missouri Letitia meets Davey Carson, an Irish immigrant, who is kind to her and helps her by purchasing a cow for her with money she earned as a midwife. Davey wants Letitia to be his wife which is illegal but he finds a preacher who is willing to let them exchange vows to each other although the union is not recognized by law. The two set out on a wagon train headed to Oregon territory where Davey is sure life will be better.
Nancy Hawkins is the wife of a doctor with several children. She is not pleased with her husband's decision to uproot the family and head west to Oregon but she willingly bows to his wishes and packs her children up and begins the journey west.
Betsy is one of a very few Kalapuya Indians left in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. She lovingly and patiently teaches her young grandson the ways of her people.
The lives of these three women are connected through a rare friendship.
This book is based on historical facts.
I enjoyed this book but found certain things annoying. The character of Davey seemed to be shallow or underdeveloped to me. I found the character hard to understand. He seemed to care for Letitia yet left her to fend for herself in several instances. I just never could decide if he cared for her or if he just married her to have someone to warm his bed as he allowed others to believe. I think this is a weakness in the book.
I found the relationships between the women to be realistic and understandable. Although Letitia was a freed slave I think it is plausible that some people were able to look beyond the color of someone's skin to see the human inside.
I gave this book 4 stars.
I received this advanced copy through Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
