Stormi's Review: Bess: A Pioneer Woman's Journey of Courage, Grit and Love by Charles Cranst
APC
PUBLISHER: Outskirts Press
RELEASED: November 23rd 2016
GENRE: HISTORICAL FICTION
LENGTH: 274 pages
FORMAT: EBOOK, PAPERBACK, HARDCOVER
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SYNOPSIS
Bess Parker is only 21 years old when she sets out by herself in 1908, leaving the safety of her childhood home for southwestern North Dakota to establish a homestead. And it takes all the strength she can muster to succeed--facing the perils of the vast prairie, making her homestead productive, conquering the dangers of the frontier, flirting with romance, struggling with the emotional needs of her heart and body, and meeting the challenges of life on the prairie. But this unique young woman has a steely determination, and her story is the epitome of courage and grit in a difficult and sometimes cruel time in the history of the west.
FIVE BOUNDLESS STARS
When you read about the west you see mostly that it was a man's world. This is the first time I have ever read a book that shows a woman setting out on her own. Bess is a book filled with dreams, hopes, difficulties, and accomplishments.
Bess Parker is just a young girl when the dream of homesteading is put in her mind. She uses determination and a strong will and sets out on a journey like no other. She has a taboo love life for this time period and a will to make her way in the world. Years pass as she makes her homestead a home, she becomes a wife and mother, and she never gives up on her dream of making her own way and living her life.
I really enjoyed this book. Women homesteading alone is something I have never seen or heard of and this book paints a wonderful story. Bess was a character that is easy to fall in love with. She was powerful and determined and vowed to follow her dreams no matter what may come her way. This book was descriptive and wonderfully written. It showed the good parts of life in the west as well as the many difficulties that can come along the way. All around it was a wonderful, historical book.