Westering Women was everything I hoped it to be! I am a fan of Sandra Dallas and this book did not disappoint. This is the story of a group of women heading west in a wagon train for California in hopes of a better life. Our main character Maggie is relatable and her story unfortunately is very common. I love how these women who take it upon themselves to change their lot in life and seek something better even when the risks are so high. The friendships that are built during this trip will carry them and encourage them through the hardships ahead and hardships they will have in abundance. The grueling journey from Chicago to the California gold mines will take the lives of some, give life to others and strengthen bonds that are formed during the hardest times of our their lives. The emotions are raw, real and heartfelt. The characters are bold and vivid. Each one has a different story, but they all have the same dreams, they want something better. I think of all the women, Caroline is the one to stand out in my mind. Her strength, her wisdom and insight, compassion and faith make her contribution to the journey priceless. What a wonderful story, one I will not soon forget. Each of these women have left an impression on me and will remain in my thoughts for some time to come!

The first thing that caught my eye about this book was the cover. It is absolutely gorgeous and suggests a sweeping epic inside. When I saw the page count I was a little perplexed at how a story of this nature (a group of women traveling on the Overland Trail from Chicago to California during the 1850s) could be so short. Still, this isn't a topic I know anything about and I wanted to learn more. Plus, the story sounded so interesting and it's unique! The beginning was good enough, but it quickly dissolved for me after about the first 60 pages. What follows is my very disappointed feelings...

There are a sea of four and five star reviews for this book so I clearly am in the minority, but I was very disappointed and I hope you will consider my review and not immediately discount it. The author's note at the end helped clarify one point for me (the length), but it really seemed that this novel was chopped up so much that it took a lot of the strength out of it. It also seemed very rushed and due to the nature of breaks in time I lost my emotional connection with the characters. The story mentioned several times of the bond that formed between all of these women, but I felt no connection to them or could understand that bond. Yes, they went through terrible things over and over again, but I didn't feel it. So when the story progresses and challenging times occur with likely injuries/sicknesses/deaths - I was left mostly unbothered. That's a problem.

My second concern is something else mentioned in the author's note, but the author clearly doesn't care about it given her response. The pattern throughout this novel of men being abusers, drunks, rapists, etc. was confounding. There was little to any balance and it almost became comical at just how terrible these men were.

I have never read a Sandra Dallas book before (though knew of her as an author) and would still try another book. If you're on the fence about reading this, I encourage you to give it a try. As previously mentioned, almost no one agrees with me on these points so I probably in a room all by myself.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Sandra Dallas for the opportunity to read this book and provide an honest review.

Review Date: 01/06/2020
Publication Date: 01/07/2020

3 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ve always been fascinated by the western trails and learning more about the life and times that those people lived. When I saw this book on NetGalley, I really wanted it and was excited to get into it once I was approved.

I’ve never read anything by Sandra Dallas, so I didn’t know what to expect. The book was very easy to read and I liked her writing style.

Unfortunately, I just didn’t absolutely love it. While I know times were much different back then, there was just too much death in this book. Animals and people - death after death in every chapter. I expected some, but constantly reading about it was just depressing. Lots of triggers too including physical abuse, sexual abuse (including children) and rape.

Lots of others adored this book. Therefore, if you’re considering it because this topic interests you, please read it. I tend to be a mood reader and it’s very possible that I just wasn’t in the mood for something like this.

I did really enjoy the ending. I liked reading about what happened to the women and learning about their lives long after their arrival in California.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Sandra Dallas for my advanced copy to read and review.

Between 3 and 4 stars, but I'll round up.

Maggie has found herself in a highly abusive relationship. When she finally fights back, she ends up placing her husband in the hospital on the brink of death. In fear, she attends a meeting at a church that has been advertising a trek west for good, Christian women who want to be brides for some miners in California. She and her daughter join the company, but always with fear of what might be chasing her and some of the other women in the group.

I have read a lot of pioneer books and this one had many of the same great attributes- faith over fear, protecting those you love, facing hardship with hope, persevering in what seems like the most impossible situations. I enjoyed the camaraderie of the women in this trek. I could feel their fear and frustration as they made this nearly impossible trek from Chicago to California. I had to laugh at some of the Mormon references, but they were mostly true.

Overall a good read. I enjoyed the strength portrayed of this unlikely group of women. It's amazing what a person can do when pushed to the limits!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book for my honest review!

WESTERING WOMEN by Sandra Dallas gives fans of pioneer stories many of the details we love, but lacks the emotion I crave. I was torn throughout the novel between loving that it was the unusual story I wanted, but without the passion I craved.

I love a wagon train story, especially one that’s mostly women. In this book, all the characters are interesting with something to hide, or a reason to run to California for a new life. These ladies want husbands, but the men don’t necessarily know they’re coming. I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen when the women reach the Gold Rush with so many men to choose from.

I’ve loved this author’s previous work, so it surprised me when I didn’t feel as attached to this one. The writing seemed clunky and meandering, without a clear purpose. Sometimes, it was descriptive without much dialogue. Then when it was full of dialogue, it seemed to lack the description it needed. Many chapters felt unfinished, leaving me with questions.

I could easily overlook those quirks, but when tragedy occurs and I felt no emotion, I knew something was wrong. By 50%, I didn’t connect to the characters, which should have occurred by that point in the story. I liked them well enough, as well as the story, but it didn’t affect me emotionally as it should for the situation.

That didn’t stop me from reading – it just struck me as odd. The depth of emotion was lacking and the only way I can describe it is that the characters seemed two-dimensional. Which is sad, because this really is a good story. It needs fine-tuned and beefed-up to give it the life it deserves. Instead of 336 pages, I would have preferred another 100 pages to develop the characters more in depth.

I feel bad rating this story so low because it’s quite evident that the author put in the effort with research, as well as its creation. But something happened along the way. The life feels edited out of it. Or, in its paring down, the characterization wasn’t developed. I loved that there were a lot of characters, so I didn’t feel that was a problem. They just needed more page time.

This book has so much potential and it’s not a terrible read, because I wouldn’t continue reading if it was, but it could be so much more. Having fully enjoyed TRUE SISTERS by Sandra Dallas, and giving it my highest rating, I realized this book just isn’t as grand in the telling. It lacks emotion and depth.

In the end, I felt as if the characters resembled chess pieces on a board, moving through obstacles to reach their destination, but without the richness of experiencing life in full color.

On a positive note, it is an epic adventure. We get a thorough catch-up at the end so we know how all the women’s lives turned out. I liked that – something that’s not included in enough novels. Also, it’s a good women empowerment story, proving their strength and resiliency in a time of struggle.

Even though the women start this journey in hopes of finding husbands, there is very little romance. That said, many do find their version of HEA, so the reader is gratified with their version of happiness.

For those who love a wagon train adventure, this book has an unusual twist giving it a mail-order bride slant without known husbands, and eventually, mostly a woman-powered accomplishment. Even with the recognizable romance mail-order theme with a twist, this book should be categorized historical fiction and not romance for the strictest of romance readers.

WESTERING WOMEN is structurally sound without any glaring grammatical errors. It’s obvious effort was put into editing. There were some repetitive thoughts from the characters that could have been culled, but those didn’t irritate me as much as they do in some books.

It was the lack of “feels” that bothered me most. Even in the direst moments, a few adjectives would have helped. As the reader, I was left with a feeling of desolation because I wanted to know their hearts. I needed to feel their loss and emote their success, but it just wasn’t there.

Even with all my criticism, I’m glad I stuck with it. There are so few pioneer stories and they are my favorite. My high hopes for WESTERING WOMEN influenced my disappointment, when it lacked what I anticipated. If you want to read something else by Sandra Dallas that is superb, try TRUE SISTERS. I’m anxious to read PRAYERS FOR SALE and THE LAST MIDWIFE, two more of her books on my TBR Mountain Range.

Review by Dorine, courtesy of TheZestQuest.com.

"We are a band of sisters."

Maggie with her young daughter are in Chicago, not knowing what they can do to get away from her abusive husband, when she sees an advertisement for a wagon train heading to California to supply wives to gold miners.

She signs up, using a false name, not knowing if her husband is dead or not. 44 women and 2 ministers start from Missouri heading west on the Overland Trail to California. All of them won't make it.

They had no idea of the brutal conditions they would face on the trail, this band of women who quickly become like sisters. A prostitute, a wealthy woman, a young black girl, more than one abused woman - they all pull together and find inner depths of strength.

I loved the detailed descriptions of the characters and the settings. There were funny moments and more than one moment to cry.

This was an uplifting book about western expansion in the 1850s and I enjoyed it.

I also was glad that the author didn't just abruptly end the book but gave an epilogue so the reader gets filled in on later years.

I received this book from St. Martin's Press through Edelweiss and Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

Well, I've chosen not to finish this one - I'm about halfway through and I just don't feel like I "know" any of the characters yet and I should. I mean I know the synopsis says that some of these women had deep secrets of their own, but I should be feeling an emotional connection to some of these women traveling together along the long, hard trail across the United States, right?
I've tried reading it and also listening to the audiobook (the narrator has a clear and engaging voice), but it isn't working for me.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley and Libro.FM for advanced copies of this book in exchange for a review.

In February 1852, notices are posted all over Chicago: "If you are an adventuresome young woman of high moral character and fine health, are you willing to travel to California in search of a good husband?" It sounds perfect to Maggie, so she and her little girl sign up, along with 43 other women, for the California-bound wagon train led by two ministers. Maggie isn't looking for a husband, though—she has other reasons for wanting to leave Chicago.

Of all the people traveling together, the main players in the story are a single dozen: Maggie, Mary, Sadie, Bessie, Evaline, Penn, Lavinia, Winny, and Dora, as well as ministers Joseph and William, and William's wife, Caroline. Other character's are mentioned in passing when the story demands it, and serve more as window dressing than actual members of the wagon train.

Having skimmed through early reviews posted on Goodreads, it's clear that I had a markedly different reaction to the story than other readers of this book. As such, the thoughts shared in this review are definitely going to be in the minority—because I didn't like this book at all.

The beginning was promising enough—what was Maggie so afraid of? Why did she need to leave Chicago? I was eager to find out, but was somewhat surprised that those answers were given in chapter three. So much for milking the suspense, but okay... it created a bond between two of the women, so it served that purpose well. Maggie now has an ally on the wagon train. Let the journey begin! I was excited to see the descriptions of the life on the trail, and felt a sense of trepidation, knowing without the summary telling me so that some of the women weren't going to make it.

I expected events of epic proportion, with descriptions so vivid as to make me feel I was traveling across endless prairie, mountain, or desert right alongside them. I wanted to feel their hopes and dreams as if they were my own, and have my heart shattered when devastation struck. I wanted to feel their despair when someone was lost, and I wanted to celebrate in the triumph of those who made it.

None of that happened.

Instead of the sweeping saga I expected, I got something more akin to historical fiction lite. All the elements were available, but what could have been grand was a watered down version so simplified as to be completely and utterly boring. The characters were two-dimensional, and even though I wanted to, it was impossible to take them seriously. On three different occasions, things became known about certain travelers that should have gotten them booted from the group immediately; instead, all would be forgiven within moments and the group would keep on traveling. I felt this simply wasn't believable, given the social mores of the time, and made revelations of those secrets completely pointless. Why did they exist, if there was no price to pay? Drama for drama's sake?

I've spoken before about the importance of being shown something in a story, rather than told, and how—in my opinion—telling can completely ruin a story. She did this, then he did that, so she did something else, and.... no. Just NO. Bring me along with you on a wondrous adventure, don't just tell me about it.

A story like this inevitably deals with loss of life, and when it's done well, it has a gut-wrenching impact on the reader. Unfortunately, each death (or dangerous moment, for that matter) was too easily predictable. I had certain members pegged for death practically from the start, and wasn't surprised when it happened. Certain losses should have felt like a crushing blow, but when the people directly affected by that death essentially shrug their shoulders and move on within a few days... what, I'm supposed to care, when they barely did? And how can I be upset about a dangerous thing happening, when it's so easily overcome in often-beneficial ways?

The end of the book began with the group days away from the end of their journey, where a predictable thing happened that had an equally predictable result. What remained of the group arrived at their destination, and foreseeable things happened. An epilogue followed, the book finally came to an end, and I deleted it from my Kindle with a sigh of relief that it was over.

Ugh.

I don't know. A lot of people loved this book, so maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm a historical fiction snob, who has exceedingly high expectations for books in this genre, and I'm too easily dissatisfied when those expectations aren't met.

Or maybe... it's not me at all. Maybe I have completely reasonable expectations of quality that simply were not fulfilled in this book. Maybe this book had the potential to be outstanding, and only achieved mediocrity.

Personally, I think it's the latter.

I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of St. Martin's Press via Netgalley.

Sandra Dallas has written a wonderful new novel called Westering Women. The historical novel follows a wagon train of predominantly women over the prairie, over the deserts, and over mountains. The novel exposes readers to the reality of the daily travel in a harsh landscape with the attitudes of the time.

There were many reasons for people to leave the east with so much opportunity spoken about in the west. The riches to be found in the gold fields drew so many men out west, even with the difficult journey. Maggie knew she had to leave Chicago with her daughter. Leaving everything she knew, but knowing she needed to go somewhere safe. Mary was treated like the common help even though she owned half of the farm with her brother. Sophie was a woman who needed a chance. Penn had never had any chances, she had been taught of her worthlessness from an early age. A new start is what most of the 40 plus women who started the journey needed. Two ministers had promised to help them get to California and where they could pick their own husband and live the life of ease. No one had truly known of the hardships and deprivations they would suffer. No one knew of the bond that would harden and carry them.

This allows the reader to glimpse what life was like during the 1850s. The hardships of life and the realities of being a woman. This book will tug at your heartstrings as it is full of hope, love and determination. Westering Women by Sandra Dallas is a powerful, great read.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a free digital copy of the book in return for my honest review.

This book has many high points for me. Chief among them is the community that the women create along the trail, the intrigue of each traveler's past, and the clear labor of love that went into the research. I really enjoy the writing and the atmosphere that Sandra Dallas is able to conjure.

However, this book can't be a 5 star read for me as I had some issues with the characterization of people outside of the wagon train, particularly the representation of Native Americans. The time period depicted is particularly fraught for the region's tribes, with multiple instances of begging and violence shown. Maybe Dallas was just highlighting the truth as she saw it in her research, but the way our heroines spoke and thought about the tribes rubbed me the wrong way (they were called a "noble race" by more than one person and shown trying to steal/barter for women and a child to grow their families. This is then followed by mormonism and plural wives.) Additionally, men outside their group (and even the two men of God leading the team, for the most part), are pretty flat. They're either dangerous and need to be killed/scared off by the larger women in the group or upright and denouncing the first group.

The book is still enjoyable, but I didn't feel it was the sweeping epic that many 5 star reviews promised.

3.75 ⭐️ Forty or so women journey west on foot and wagon train from Chicago to California in search of husbands, but for several an escape.. Started a little slow but picked up. I enjoyed this.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the free review copy. All opinions are my own.

Books about people traveling west in wagon trains have always been some of my favorites, so I was excited to read this book. I loved how Dallas had this book stretch through the entire journey. I also liked how she chose to focus on a few women in the wagon train as opposed to all of the women that travelled in this book, even though the wagon train was a small one. 

This book does a great job of showing the hardships of those traveling, yet it also talked about some of the challenges of the Native Americans faced because of people traveling west. I appreciated how she chose to highlight some of this in the book. She also had characters that were diverse and all had unique reasons for wanting to join this train to go find husbands in California. As the journey progressed I liked how the characters were going to face some severe hardships because this journey was not an easy one. Dallas realistically showed how hard this traveling was.

I did find that my interest was lost in a few places of the book. It felt long in a few places.

I was provided with an ARC of this title by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love meticulously researched historical novels that shed light on obscure facets of history. Westering Women does exactly that. The women who heed the call of adventure and agree to embark on a perilous journey that will end in California's gold mining camps are from every walk of life. Despite their social status, hideous past, youth or foolishness, they will become sisters honed by hardship.

Many of the characters, including the primary narrator, Maggie, are fleeing violence, brutality and untenable living situations. Some women, like Mary, are seeking adventure and acceptance they could not find at home. Some women, like Sadie and Dora want new beginnings.

This was a wonderful story about the solidarity of womanhood, strength in the face of adversity, and hope that springs from terrible loss.

Women of the 19th Century suffered slights and injustices that the 21st Century woman has been empowered to fight. Abusive husband--and the police are on his side, blaming the wife for the man's violence? While that may still go on today, avenues for leaving a man were a lot more limited years ago. Maggie is a battered wife who tolerates the abuse until it's directed at her daughter. She fights back. She's accused of murder, but is the evil husband really dead? She doesn't stick around to find out if he survived the blow to the head she administered. She gets on a wagon train headed west, lying and changing her last name. For two thousand miles she and her nine-year-old daughter march toward freedom with 43 other desperate women. Together they face hunger, thirst, physical discomforts, sun, wind, rain, and all that nature can pound them with.

Do not get too attached to the characters. More than one will die on the trail.

Maggie isn't the only one running from an angry man who might be pursuing her, risking the lives of others in the party if he finds her in their midst.

Author Sandra Dallas has devoted tremendous amounts of time and research to show us what life was like on the Oregon Trail. It's painful just to read how slow, agonizing, challenging, and wretched it could be. The daunting steepness of the Sierra Nevadas, where going down is more hellish than going up, is especially nerve-wracking to read about. Not every ox-drawn wagon will survive this passage.

All the characters are vivid and compelling, none more so than Mary, who defies her brother and his wife to make this epic journey. Mary is the tall, strong woman who unites the group and inspires them like no one else. Men find her ugly, but competent, and women look up to her. She is epic. She is heroic. Mary is at the heart and soul of this story, even if Maggie is the protagonist.

This is an agonizing novel to read, knowing so much of it is rooted in real-life history, but it's inspiring and empowering, and necessary. We need tales of women who can do what men can, sometimes even better than the men could, and this story delivers.

My Kindle is packed with highlighted passages, too numerous to excerpt in a review, but let me assure you the prose is stellar, the writing superb, and the story is epic.

What a great book! I suppose I should say more than that. This book intrigued me from the first paragraph. I've read a few of this author's books. But this one just blew me away.

The story itself is relatively simple. Two women meet early in the story (Mary and Maggie) and, for reasons we learn about later, sign up to head west on an all-woman wagon train! That was enough to get me reading. Mary and Maggie are definitely the main characters, but there are so many more that we meet! The history is one of the hooks. I don't know much about the trails west or the troubles that men and women encountered, but this book had enough information to make me want to read more about the journeys and hardships these brave women (and men) encountered.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this remarkable book. I recommend it to those who love American history and historical fiction in general. This is a keeper!

Great historical fiction that is as much about female friendship and determination as it is about travel to California in 1852. Maggie and her little daughter Clara stumble upon the opportunity for women of upright character to make the trip to California to marry bachelors out there. She, luckily, meets Mary while waiting in the church where the women are being interviewed. Mary, Laverne, Bessie, Caroline, Penn, and Dora all have their reasons for going- and they aren't always obvious. This doesn't spare the hardships they faced (although to be honest, there are other more graphic tales of this journey). nor does it skip the tragedies that can happen. No spoilers but know that there is great sadness here. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Terrific story telling and writing made this a page turner for me.

I need to preface this review with this - this book COULD have been a great book. It has the bones of an excellent, fantastic, edge-of-your-seat, epic read. I was expecting this as it is a book about women who CHOOSE to make the trek across the wilds of America and the Sierra Nevada's to California and a better life [though I am unsure how they thought living in a "gold" town with rough men as their husbands would be a better life, but I digress] and what I got was much, much, less. And according to the author [at the end of the book] all of THIS was what she had set out to do and due to others [the editors - something she was not happy about, you can tell], had to both cull and edit this book multiple times and so instead of a sweeping epic, we end up with this.

This book was just so meh. I read a lot [A LOT] of historical fiction [AND nonfiction] that is amazing and epic and this just was not it. You only meet 7 of the 40 or so women who start the trip [I think they end up with 34-35 at the end, maybe less due to people leaving the trail and death] and with that number, you don't truly get to *KNOW* any of the women. Not even Maggie, who clearly is the main character in this book. I feel like we only get a superficial look at these women and have no idea just where they get their strength and tenacity to even leave Chicago, much less make a trip like this, and because of this, there is really no connection at all. There is some sympathy for Maggie and what she has endured at the hands of Jesse, but it is really hard to connect with her because the story is told so briefly and you don't really get to know anything else about her. It is like her life didn't begin until she married Jesse and the abuse started.

And speaking of abuse...men, in general [with the exception of the two preachers, and even then, one truly struggles with his own demons], come off V E R Y badly in this book. Almost all the men are just horrible. They beat, rape, kill, chase women OR are polygamous and want to add to their household [they spend time in Salt Lake City]. Very few of the men mentioned in here come off well, WITH the exception of the men who are waiting for them in the gold fields in California [because, of COURSE, they are all okay and none of them would rape, beat or try to kill their wives <EYE-ROLL>] and again, in the acknowledgments, the author says she was told that all the men in the book were bad and her response was "So?". Clearly, the author has a problem with men in general, and while you see that in minor ways in her other books [and I am not saying that all men are angels, but nor do I believe that every man they met on this trip would have been a murdering rapist either], it really comes out in this book and brings another level of falseness to the story [this goes along with several other things that do not ring true throughout this story - the trip down the pass comes to mind. I do not for one minute believe that women could not have done that - I am a woman and I know what happens when you are in a corner and you HAVE to accomplish something, but the level of exhaustion that they were at [and that is when mistakes are made, all you have to do is read a nonfiction account of a trip like this to know this] and the lack of food and water that they are experiencing, makes what they did even harder to believe.

The whole book wavered between 2 and 3 stars the whole read, but as I am writing this review, I realized, that it is absolutely a 2 star read [for me]. Which is hugely disappointing, because it could have been a 5 star read. Makes me wonder what the original book actually looked like before the edits.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Westering Women is about 43 women willing to travel from Chicago to California in 1852 to either escape their reality or achieve their domestic dreams. Women in the west were scarce, so survivors would have their pick of miners to marry. The group quickly form a sisterhood, bonding together to overcome heartbreak and endure the many trials and tribulations encountered along the trail. The women gain strength and resiliency from one another and form an uncompromising group capable of fending off would-be attackers, conquering harsh elements, and winning the respect of their male counterparts.

This book underwhelmed me. The story seemed formulaic and didn’t hold my interest as much as others I have read in the same genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of Westering Women in exchange for my honest review.

In 1852 Chicago, Maggie is running from trouble. She may have killed a man and authorities are looking for her. The fact he deserved it doesn't matter. Knowing she needs to protect herself and her young daughter, she decides to set out with a wagon train headed for California. Most of those travelling with the train are women seeking husbands. There aren't many women in California...so they are all hoping to start new lives. Some of them might not survive the 2,000 mile trek, but all are willing to risk it. Along the way, they form strong bonds and friendships as they brave the weather and wilderness together.

This is the first book by Sandra Dallas that I have read. I liked the characters and the plot. I have always marveled at the strength and perseverance of those who moved west in the early 1800s. This tale definitely brings to light the struggles, dangers and physical challenges of a wagon train journey to California. The plot centers on the characters and their thoughts/emotions as they trek across the country. The trip is physically and mentally taxing, presenting challenge after challenge. From the weather to illness, the women learn to face each new situation with courage and determination.

I enjoyed this book! I will definitely be reading more by this author.

**I voluntarily read an advanced review copy of this book from St. Martin's Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

Westering Women is the story of a group of women who leave Chicago to find husbands at the gold mines inn California. The group is being led by two ministers and is being funded by a wealthy woman who also makes the trip. Some of the women are seeking a husband, others are fleeing abusive relationships, but each has their own reason. This is a story of the hardships faced by these women and others who travelled west for a new life. As they make the trip, these women bond and become sisters in the truest sense of the word. They find strength they never knew they had. Those who survived to reach California got to choose the man they wanted to marry.