The book is written as a diary from Sarah Prine’s point of view, starting in 1881 when she was a girl until 1901. This point of view really allows Sarah’s humor, cleverness, and strength to come through. The fact that her writing gets better as she ages made me feel like I was reading an actual diary and not a novel.
Right away, you enter Sarah’s life on her journey from Arizona to Texas. With so many horrible things that happened to her in those first several pages and so much more of the book left to read, I found myself dreading what obstacles awaited this character who I already liked so much. Even though so many horrific things happen to Sarah, the book seems to give an accurate feel for the time period and how life was for some people, especially in the newer territories with Indians, robbers, and death so common. I wondered if someone could face such things today without going insane; I kind of doubt it.
To me, this is very much a character-driven book because even though there is what I would consider an overarching plot structure with a climax, etc., it’s more to me like a telling of a life story with all of the good things and bad things that happen in life. It felt very real and not contrived to fit a plot structure as a lot of novels seem to do.
I loved how Sarah was so naive at times, like about love and how she tried to be pious (I wanted to tell her she was just fine the way she was), but at the same time, she was also so gutsy. I did enjoy Sarah’s and Jack’s relationship, but I was bothered by the front cover’s assertion comparing them to Rhett and Scarlett. I didn’t particularly like Rhett or Scarlett in Gone with the Wind, but I did like Jack and Sarah. Plus, Jack and Sarah are so much nicer to each other and more honest. I can definitely see a similarity in their passion for each other, though, so maybe it was to that which USA Today was referring.
This book stuck with me a long time after I read it, which took me just over two weeks, so on a can’t-put-it-down-scale of one for I couldn’t even finish it to ten for I was up until the wee morning hours, I give it an eight and a half.
Source: Turner, Nancy E.. (1998.) These is my Words. Harper Perennial.