My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Summary from GoodReads
In this epic and haunting love story set on the Oregon Trail, a family and their unlikely protector find their way through peril, uncertainty, and loss.
The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at twenty. Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both.
But life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. John’s heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together.
When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi’s family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. Ripped apart, they can’t turn back, they can’t go on, and they can’t let go. Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually…make peace with who they are.
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REVIEW
I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
There is always something to adore in Amy Harmon's writing. Be it the deep spirituality of her stories and her characters or the romance that is both sweet and heartbreaking, there is nothing that would ever make me find something lacking in Amy's books. "Where the Lost Wander" takes place in one pivotal period for America, be it this great migration towards the West...and all the tragedy that followed for all sides. Be it for the Native Americans or the settlers this was a period that few want to admit it was not as rosy as Hollywood shows or as much unsettling to both sides.
The story focuses on a trail of wagons as they make their way to West and California with Naomi and her family being one of them. They are all led by John Lowry a half Pawnee, half-white man who feels that he belongs nowhere. As the trail becomes harder with all its tragedies and hardships, both Naomi and John will discover love in each other and a way to navigate both the harsh environment and the dangers that lie ahead.
Trigger warning: there is a raping scene in the book, but it's not graphic. If this is unsettling to you please be cautioned.
The story is a testament to America's attempt to move across the continent and while there were amazing descriptions about nature and the rest of the West, I also glimpsed a part into the Native American way which personally I admire and want to learn more in a scientific way. You get to feel what it was for these tribes with long and ancient traditions to lose their homes and be treated as...well savages by the "white tribe". Moreover, John's place in the book was also a part of true stories for many people of his time who actually didn't belong anywhere.
I loved Amy Harmon's new book and poignant with a touch of autobiography I enjoyed every part of it.
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