I got this book free with my Audible.com subscription. I’m about a third of the way through and really enjoying it thus far. Based on the title and cover I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought it would be a historical because of the old fashioned dress of the woman on the cover, and I was right about that, but I never would’ve guessed based on the title and cover that the book would be about the Donner Party.
In case you haven’t heard, the Donner Party was a group of several families traveling in a wagon train to California in 1846-1847. The trip was supposed to take several weeks, but the party got lost in the mountains during an attempt to take a shortcut. There was a snowstorm and some of the people died. Some of the surviving travelers resorted to cannibalism to stay alive.
The book is written in first-person, (my favorite POV!) from the perspective of a young woman who robs a man in Cincy and takes off with the Donner party to California in hopes of both fleeing prosecution and also establishing a better life for herself.
So far the biggest conflicts are between her and the other travelers. She’s acting as a nanny for the Keseberg family. Mr. Keseberg is based on a real historical figure. Our narrator respects him but clashes with his wife.
Can’t wait to see what happens next…
Monic Ductan 
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