Having lived in the shadow of Truckee/Donner Lake for the past 30 years and now on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada range, the Donner Party saga played out in my backyard. Sweeney’s reimagined westward journey is filled with history. She didn’t gloss over the hardships of the journey, but neither did she dwell on the sensationalism that followed the party’s rescue. Adding Ada Weeks to the cast gave the novel an intimacy, an insider's voice. At the end, the novel jumps to the present time, dotted with breadcrumbs left by Ada. What a great way to tie the history of her life to future generations. Our stories are worth telling...worth saving.
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