Skip to main content

A Light in the Wilderness by Jane Kirkpatrick

Going against what society sees as normal is difficult. Doing that as an African American woman in the mid 1840's was nearly impossible. But in A Light in the Wilderness, Jane Kirkpatrick tells the remarkable tale of a woman who did just that.

Based on the the actual events of the life of Letitia Carson, Kirkpatrick weaves a fantastic tale of a journey of a woman from slave to an independent land holder in the Oregon territory. Letitia was granted her freedom when her master died. She starts to earn money and soon buys a cow. She become quite the business woman selling milk and butter and soon finds herself in the company of Davey Carson, an Irish immigrant. Eventually, he asks her to come west with him to Oregon. While they fight to make it through the treacherous journey and start a life for themselves in the unclaimed lands of the west, Letitia is constantly trying to prove her worth to those around her and to herself. Can she be the one to break the stereotypes and set changes in course that will not only change her life, but the entire destiny of others like herself?

This is by far the best book I have read in a long time. Great story, great characters based on actually events. I loved reading about Letitia and her life and the impact it had on history. I am so glad that her story has been found and is now being told. I highly recommend this book.


Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 49th Mystic by Ted Dekker

In the small town of Eden, Utah, a blind girl named Rachelle Matthews is about to find out just how wrong. When a procedure meant to restore Rachelle's sight goes awry, she begins to dream of another world so real that she wonders if Earth might only be a dream experienced when she falls asleep in that reality.  She is the prophesied one who must find and recover five ancient seals--in both worlds--before powerful enemies destroy her. If Rachelle succeeds in her quest, peace will reign. If she fails, both worlds will forever be locked in darkness. I am a big Ted Dekker fan, and became a fan when I read the Circle Series. So when I heard Ted was writing more books in the Circle world, I could not wait to go back. And Dekker did not dissappoint. The only thing I don't like about this book is that I have to wait until October to get the second half of the story. Dekker is a master world builder and write interesting a complex characters. And Dekker masterfully weaves truth throu...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Perspective

I have already mentioned my "Word of the Day" screen saver that I have on my laptop that is hooked up to the projector in my room. I am learning that the words go in cycles a bit, so the same word will pop up in several classes during the day. Today's popular word was "entitlement." A fantastic word to share with teenagers who often think they are entitled to a whole lot of stuff. In fact, we as humans often think we are entitled to a whole lot of stuff when really we are fallen people who deserve nothing but death. We so often miss how wonderful and blessed our life really is and we get caught up on the little things. This video sort of puts that in perspective in a rather humorous way. I am by no means promoting this comedian, but if you take what he says to heart, it is so true. We live in an amazing world, created by an amazing God. We really should be happy with the blessing we have been given.
2 comments
Read more

American Thanksgiving

One nice thing about being from two different countries is that we can celebrate more holidays. And since there are a few more people from the states here, last night we had our own American Thanksgiving feast. There were six couples and all of the wives and two of the husbands were from the States. So the Americans out numbered the Canadians, which doesn't happen very often. And we had a feast. There was turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread, stuffing and three different kinds of pies for dessert and a pumpkin cake. It was wonderful. And the fellowship was great too. The hosts said there was no assigned seating, so the ladies all sat together at one of the table and guys at the other. It was funny how it worked out, but we had great conversations full of laughter. It was a great way to celebrate a holiday. Hopefully we have started our own tradition here.
1 comment
Read more