If you love historical fiction and stories about wagon trains heading west, this is a book you must read. The story starts in 1852 in Chicago when Maggie Kaiser decides it is time to leave her abusive husband Jesse. An advertisement caught her eye for a wagon train heading west to Goosetown, CA for women who were seeking husbands in the California mining town. Maggie and her 4-year-old daughter Clara, who was also abused by Jesse, sign up to go. The wagon train with 40 plus women and 2 ministers heads to California and they face many hardships, sacrifices, losses and tragedies. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this fantastic story in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves historical fiction and/or western adventures.

This is my least favorite book by Sandra Dallas and I really like her work. I gave it a 3 because of the improbability that a wagon train comprised of women could be successful, and having lived 40 years in the Sierras, I think the Oregon Trail would have worked for this story, but the Donner crossing definitely could not. Nevertheless, the book encompasses many of the complexities that came with the opening of the west. I just decided this was a fantasy wagon train, a fantasy for gold miners wanting wives.

Through the sisterhood of these 37 women and the obstacles they face, Dallas shows us the precarious and unprotected position of children and women. And God help them if they’re a Negro like Evaline. One of the hired teamsters was a Mormon and sympathetic to the plight of the native peoples. I felt his sentiments and was saddened.

One thing I enjoy from this author is character development and I missed that, though it’s probably difficult when there are over 40 in the cast. The book is strong but loses steam in the last quarter. I didn’t think it was necessary for all the loose threads to get neatly tied up in the end, but decided that was okay since it was a fantasy anyway. A quick and satisfying read.

I really enjoyed this book!! It was a good old-fashioned story of the old west. It reminded me in some ways of "1,000 White Women" - - or going even further back, the Wagons West series from the 80's. The characters were very well done and the writing flowed. The descriptions were vivid and the narrative - though sometimes predictable - was realistic to the times There were some shocking incidents, some tragic ones, some sad ones. But there were also some very positive things that came out of the journey. I was glad the author chose to show what happened to the characters years later. It made for a very well-rounded story.

Westering Women

I just spent the holiday crossing the plains with the characters from the latest Sandra Dallas book, Westering Women. This is a subject that has interested me since my earliest memories of elders telling family stories, as all of my father’s lines came across those very same plains, by ones, twos, and tens, in wagons, handcarts and footing it. Although interested, I stood ready to counter with my ready, handy non-fiction knowledge and facts. It was a smuggy way to start a read, but I’m far from perfect.

From the beginning, I liked Maggie and Mary and the gathering team. It seemed more than likely that at some point a mostly women group crossed together, as there were many mostly small, mostly non-english-speaking, mostly one religion, mostly one political leaning, mostly you-name-it chasing gold or freedom or land. . . .self-selection rules when we gather how we gather when we embark on migrations. I was in the story, right away. The motivations of the different participants were well-shown without telling, and I felt the underlying urgencies without it feeling too device-y. And by the time the first mile west was undertaken, my list and facts were abandoned and I was just a reader enjoying every new page.

Victories and tragedies are fairly dealt to the participants, and were realistic and uncontrived. This is history I’ve lived with all my life, and kudos to Ms Dallas for this very enjoyable book. Look for this book in January 2020. I highly recommend it!

A sincere thanks to Sandra Dallas, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fascinating story!
It’s hard to imagine a wagon train full of women in the 1850’s heading across the west to California. Because of an advertisement wanting eligible women, a group of 44 ladies join in on the journey west. Each one seeking a better life, many leaving behind painful memories and terrible secrets, they are willing to face the hardships of the journey in hopes of a brighter future.

Maggie, a young mother with a 4 year-old daughter, is escaping an abusive husband. In fact, Maggie is not even sure he’s alive. If he is dead, she fears she will be accused of his murder.

Mary, a large woman that is disrespected by her family, is looking to leave and make her place in the world—a place where she is valued and loved. Another woman is looking to escape a life of prostitution and another wants to find her brother who is working in California. These are just some of the reasons the women are willing to risk such a dangerous journey.

They set out with two ministers and a team of men hired to do the work women are believed unable to do, such as taking care of the oxen, driving the wagons and making repairs along the way. By the end of the journey, only the two ministers and the women arrive at their destination.

Along the way, a few lives were lost and some harrowing incidents occurred, but in spite of all the adversity they endured, the women were able to work together, support each other and keep their spirits up in order to reach their goals.

I was riveted by the story and look forward to reading more of Sandra Dallas. My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.

Trigger warnings: abuse of women and children, rape, racism.

I had high hopes from reading the synopsis, but I find myself very disappointed. The author wrote about these women in such a cold-hearted manner that I felt sick to my stomach for a good portion of the book. Crossing the plains in the 1850s was no picnic, but the stark delivery of difficult situations and tragedies by the author is dreadful. Near the beginning, the main character matter of factly tells her story of spousal abuse and child abuse and then that her husband molested their daughter. It’s cold and harsh with no empathy whatsoever and it continues the rest of book.

I was provided with an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

It's February 1852, and all around Chicago Maggie sees the postings soliciting "eligible women" to travel to the gold mines of Goosetown. So she joins forty-three other women and two pious reverends on the dangerous 2,000-mile journey west.

As the story progresses, the women who are very different and from different backgrounds, meld together and become a strong cohesive group.

3☆

3.5 stars

When I read the plotline for Westering Women, I realized that I had read a few books about settlers immigrating to the western half of the country. Just on that, I decided to read Westering Women. While I am glad that I read Westering Women, I felt slightly disappointed by it too.

The plotline for Westering Women was medium paced. I didn’t mind it being medium paced. It was well suited for the book. But, I didn’t like the flow of the book. There were points where it lagged. But the author did a great job of getting the book back on track.

The characters in Westering Women made this book. In an age where women were considered weak, they showed the men exactly what they were made of. I loved it. I also loved the variety of women showcased here. From the preacher’s wife to the former prostitute to the unwed teen mother to the upper-class woman with her servant to the abused wife, they were all showed here. I loved seeing this group of women coming together and supporting each other. Whenever something happened to one of the group, they stood together. It did result in some unusual situations.

I am not sure how realistic life on the trail was portrayed, but it made for an exciting read. The views the men had were correct for the time.

I do want to include a trigger warning with this book. Several scenes put me on edge while reading it. There was a scene where a major character relived abuse, the death of her son, and the rape of her four-year-old daughter. There were several scenes of racism (one of the secondary characters was black). There were two scenes of attempted rape. There was a scene of a brutal fight after one of the women was brutally beaten. There was a scene where a child dies from drowning, and one dies from premature birth. I will admit these did affect my rating for the book.

The end of Westering Women broke my heart. I wasn’t expecting the death of one of the women on the train. I sobbed because that woman was one of my favorites. The epilogue also made me cry. But, at the same time, I was left feeling a little unfulfilled. I know it was because of that death.

I enjoyed reading Westering Women and looked forward to getting back to the novel, morning and evening, until I came to the end. Sandra Dallas’s attention to the historical details of the era rang true for me since I have read a lot of historical novels, but I respected that these same details are entirely appropriate for a new, younger audience that may be less familiar with just what circumstances women living in America faced and what might have pushed various individuals to seek a husband never met. The romance of being drawn to the “untamed” west was undercut by the very real dangers that awaited any traveler brave enough to consider the journey. In all cases, the potential benefits were enough of an attraction to counterbalance the understood challenges. The author makes it clear that deaths are expected by the cast of characters and should be as well by the reader. That does not make the deaths any easier to bear! The wonderful characters of Maggie, Mary, Clary, Penn, Joseph and William are drawn against the wildflowers of the prairies, the towering mountains needing to be traversed, the rock formations and the baked, relentless sandy deserts that seem to go on forever. Sandra Dallas has written a gripping story that demonstrates the many choices we make every single day and how those choices represent us, changing us and those around us. Most of all, one gets a sense of women interacting for the good of all the others and learning to realize their own worth without diminishing the worth of any other. #NetGalley #Westering Women #St.Martin's Publishing Group #Sandra Dallas

This was my first Sandra Dallas novel and it will most likely be my last. It couldn't hold my interest for anything. After working on it for three months I finally forced myself to read a chapter a day. I grew up, at least partially, in Wyoming and have actually done camping trips on the Oregon trail. I was hoping this would be a book that I would enjoy or at least would bring back some memories for me. Unfortunately I found the writing to be bland, more tell than show, and boring. I didn't connect to any of the characters, but I found them to also be cliché. They were characters that you expected to find in a book like this. No surprises here. However, this is probably also a case of it's just not the right book for me. Many other readers have already rated it highly.

Maggie signs herself and her 4 year old daughter up to travel in a wagon train from Chicago to California. What is she escaping from? What is so terrible that this is the only option for her to take? The wagon train is forty-four women going to find husbands in the gold fields of California. The plot line is enjoyable and it's entertaining to follow these women on their trek to California in a wagon train. There are some problems with the fluidity of the story. An example is that they are trying to cross a river it says they tie a rope to a tree and then to the saddle horn of a horse that is to swim across. They story goes on to tell you about the horse getting caught in the current and being washed down river. It sounds like the horse was carried quite a distance, yet it was still tied to the tree. If these types of issues aren't a problem for you, the book really is enjoyable.
The women were of varied backgrounds and might not all be quite of the moral character that the sponsors of the wagon train might want. However, this adds to the story line and you will find characters that you like and some that you don't while you take this journey with them. Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC of #WesteringWomen.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of Westering Women in exchange for an honest review.

I must say that I did enjoy the tale of thirty-seven women who travel from Chicago to California during the gold rush in 1852. A notice posted outside of a church grabs the attention of Maggie, the central character. Two pastors recruit women of “moral character” to make the trip out west as potential brides for the gold miners. As expected, many of the women are running away from lives that are far from moral, and each will eventually face her demons along the trail.

Westering Women is generally a good read. It took me sometime to become invested in the characters because I found them to be quite stereotypical; the abused wife fleeing from her husband, the pregnant, unmarried young woman, the strong, bold spinster whose independent spirit saves the day. Nothing too original here. And then there is the older rich woman who finances the trip and actually decides to make the journey. I’m not sure why the author decided to include her since a woman of this stature partaking in a journey such as this one is just not believable.

As the journey unfolds, the women are faced with a variety of challenges. I was surprised at how little Clara’s death affected me though. I was more emotional when Mary met her death near the end of the story. What is interesting is how each of the characters gain their independence and voice, and that ultimately they understand that they do not need and men, because they are a strong band of sisters who persevered.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. I've always loved Historical Fiction books about moving West since I was a little girl reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's stories. This book starts off with tragedy and even more tragedy before it ends but this wasn't a depressing read. It was a realistic story about resilience, forgiveness, betrayal, love and growth. It follows several characters and all of their storylines have a satisfying, albeit not always pleasant, but believable arc. The 1800's was a hard time for a lot of people. Overall, I enjoyed this book and recommend it for people who enjoy stories about the migration in the 1800's for the Gold Rush.

NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, thank you so much for the advanced copy of Sandra Dallas' Westering Women.

When an advertisement goes out for women to travel from Chicago to California to become wives for gold miners, Maggie is hesitant to sign up but, she and her daughter need to leave Chicago. Mary meets Maggie on the steps of the church to learn more about the trip and a friendship is born. As they make the long, very hard journey to California the women become friends and even more, a family of sorts on this trip. The hardships, the bad weather, disease just seems to bring the women even closer and they are changed in many ways as they make this trip.
I really enjoyed this book. The characters, the story and the writing made it an enjoyable and educational read. As always, when an author intrigues me with a subject I don't know much about, I am so excited for the resources the author has given us to learn more about the brave women who made this trip. I will also be reading more of the author's works.

First sentence: Hidden beneath her black umbrella, Maggie stood in the shelter of the church and stared at the woman reading the broadsheet.

Premise/plot: Maggie is one of dozens of women signing up to travel west via wagon train to Goosetown, California, a mining town in 1852. The women will face challenges great and small along the way.

My thoughts: I loved, loved, loved, loved this one. I did. I requested a review copy because the title was close to one of my all-time favorite movies, Westward the Women. Those who know me well, know that I do not do westerns. I don't. I don't like them--never have, never will. But Westward the Women has long been an exception to the ALLERGIC TO WESTERNS rule. Dallas' novel imitates the movie in the best possible ways. I do not mean it in anyway as an insult to compare the two.

I loved that the focus was on FRIENDSHIP and not particularly on romance. The characterization was incredibly well done. This book is authentic in a raw, gritty way. The lives these women led--both before joining up, during the trek west, and afterwards in California--were ROUGH. Maggie, one of our main heroines, has had a rough life. She's had to make some incredibly difficult decisions. As have some of the others. This isn't a book appropriate for younger readers (tweens and younger teens.) There are a couple of #metoo instances that while completely realistic and authentic make it an intense read.

Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC. I can always count on Sandra Dallas to make history accessible. In this book.we learn about a group of women taking the Overland Trail to find husbands in the California Oilfields. The journey is everything you think it is - attacks, cholera weather and starvation. Great characters and storytelling.

'Westering Women' is my first encounter with this authoress, Sandra Dallas. And I hope it won't be the last! Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this before publication!

This book impressed me so much I read it in two sittings, wowed by each chapter. Books like these, where a romance isn't an essential part of the story in which main characters are women, are so rare. Not that there wasn't a romance, but it was just a tiny bit of the saga about bravery and fears of the women going alone to the frontier. There were men in the story, but their role was in this case a supporting one, if we exclude villains that were reasons for their going away in the first place. It is interesting that they were going to find husbands in the West, but what really mattered in the book was the journey itself and the revelations those women had about themselves. All these women weren't faultless, sure, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading about each of them. Each portrait was rich and beautiful, and each deserved a chance, to reach their potentials and be happy. This book was really inspiring, and made me consider how lucky I am living in today's world, pampered and without worries about essentials. This story is inspired by true ones. Those women were pioneers in many senses. Men in the West didn't need socialite women who couldn't handle the roughness and cruelty of the frontier. What they needed was the full package, for support, love and care. And from what I read here, they got it.

I would highly recommend this book be read by everyone. It is not a book preaching about women being above men. Absolutely not. These women wanted to have families, and wanted to have men in their hearts. If for some that wasn't to be though, they didn't despair. They got to the point to realize their lives mattered in any case, with or without men. This story specifically, is about women who did leave an imprint in our history, because without them there wouldn't have been a progress we have today. Their courage and strength brought them to places men were only beginning to conquer, and with their help they made the future in which we live now possible.

Good people are like candles; they burn themselves up to give others light.

Sandra Dallas presents a thought-provoking novel encompassing a very different Western movement in America. It's February of 1852 in Chicago with fierce winds propelling off the lake and bone-chilling rain soaking the brave souls who venture out onto the wooden sidewalks and muddy terrain.

Maggie clutches the hand of her four year old daughter and reads the bulletin tacked to the outside of a meeting hall. It's an ad calling for good Christian unmarried women with high moral character to make the trip to Goosetown, California. The gold fields are filled with men who made the prior journey and are seeking wives for this community. Two ministers will accompany the women on this long and arduous trip over land treacherous by Nature and, moreso, by the unknown.

Dallas will introduce us to these women who will bring the basics of necessities along with them. But we will come to find that they all carry the oppressive weight of their secrets and their past lives. Prior incidents will never stay buried in Chicago, but will accompany them on the harsh trails step by step leering in the shadows.

As the journey begins, the women feel out of place with one another and react to the hardships as individuals. The time period never prepared women to work together as a productive unit. As the journey progresses, they are forced to rely on the strength of the group made up of varying untapped skills and talents. I almost shook my head to think that times haven't changed much. Women still have difficulty putting aside the power of one to the power of many.

Westering Women is a deep character study of the human spirit under the most dire of circumstances. It shines a light on the dynamics of bravery and self-sacrifice that one can only imagine during the Western expansion........with some mighty female voices in the mix.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest opinion. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to Sandra Dallas for the opportunity.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an egalley in exchange for an honest review

Margaret(Maggie Kaiser) and her daughter,Clara need to stay as far away from abusive husband and father, Jesse. But this is Chicago in 1852 and what can a woman do? But in Chicago there are adverts that are encouraging the women in the East to migrate to California to marry. Maggie finds herself attending the information meeting and befriends Mary. Soon they find themselves joining the wagon train of women and it soon becomes clear that Maggie isn't the only person that is running away.

I have never been able to resist a wagon train story and I have enjoyed a few of Sandra Dallas's books. The trials and tribulations of women setting out to travel across America's terrain is a very inspiring story. There is brutality, death, and a testing of faith as the women have to learn to work together to reach their goal. I know that I have said this more than a few times before but favorite book of 2019


Goodreads review published 05/11/19
Publication Date 07/01/20

I love stories about the pioneer days so I was very happy to get this copy of Westering Women by Sandra Dallas.
Several papers were posted around town which read in part:
If you are an Adventuresome Woman with high moral character and fine health....only good Christian women with highest principles need apply.
In fact two preachers have offered to take women out to California to choose husbands among the gold miners out there. This is a story of 44 women and one child who set out on the overland trail from Chicago to California in 1852 and their trials and tribulations over the months of their journey. It’s also the story of love and the fierce friendship of women, and of heartache and loss.
You know the bad part of reading a book on your iPad is that you stop and look up things you are reading about. You know that’s the best part too. I loved following along the overland trail with the women. I stopped to refer to the old on-line map every now and then. And I looked up the City of Rocks and Independence Rock and oh that 40 mile desert! I really loved this story. I loved the way the women were a force to be reckoned with. How they walked for miles - some barefoot - then they made their campfires, made supper and slept on the ground. Maggie and Mary were wonderful characters that will resonate with me for a long time. Ms. Dallas writes beautifully. Her description of the wagon train and the journey was brilliant. Highly recommended for lovers of historical fiction.
Thanks to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review