This Road We Traveled by Jane Kirkpatrick

In This Road We Traveled, Jane Kirkpatrick transports her readers across the country in this historical fiction novel. It's not a long book, but it's not a quick read.  She is so attentive to detail and she writes about many complex characters.  You can feel the struggle to survive as families work together to navigate their way to newly settled Oregon.  You can feel their struggles with faith, fear, courage, hope and trust.  You can feel the bonds and the weaknesses among family members.  You can feel the intensity of emotions as characters work through  loss, forgiveness, sacrifice, and hopelessness.  You can feel the strength that people can muster when they have a vision, resourcefulness, a foundation of faith, determination, and a support system.  From the publisher:  Tabitha Brown refuses to be left behind in Missouri when her son makes the decision to strike out for Oregon--even if she has to hire her own wagon to join the party. After all, family ties are stronger than fear. Along with her reluctant daughter and her ever-hopeful granddaughter, the intrepid Tabitha has her misgivings. The trials they face along the way will severely test her faith, courage, and ability to hope. With her family's survival on the line, she must make the ultimate sacrifice, plunging deeper into the wilderness to seek aid. What she couldn't know was how this frightening journey would impact how she understood her own life--and the greater part she had to play in history. Kirkpatrick did an extraordinary amount of research to learn about Tabby's family and their journey to the wild west.  I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy historical fiction, and have the discipline to persevere through a book. I received this book as a gift from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.