The Book: Impatient with Desire, by Gabrielle Burton
The Story: Like most people, I had heard of the Donnor Party. I knew that they were in wagons on the way out west, got trapped and ended up eating each other. That is exactly where my knowlege ended.
This book is the story of how this party of 80 people came to be and what they may have experienced.
It is written as the journal of Tamsen Donnor, the wife of George Donnor, the leader of the Donnor Party. She was 45 when she left for the west and people told her she was too old, her kids were too young, yadda yadda, but she just wanted to better her family’s life, so they set out to do what she thought was right. As the snow piled up and rescue was looking dim, she was the only one in her family who was strong enough to continually work and cook and cheer everyone up. She had a couple of chances to leave, but her husband was hurt and she chose to stick with him.
Explored in this book are ideas of family, politics, love, necessity and survival.
What I Thought: I was seriously blown away by this book. I’ve kind of been on a pioneering kick, which I know is really strange. I just can’t get enough. I also love books that are written as diaries or letters, so this book was right up my alley.
I thought that the author’s decision to make this written as a diary was a smart one. Because we have access to her thoughts, it is so easy to put yourself it Tamsen’s shoes. She was this powerful, independent woman and her love for her family in this book was almost tangible. The progression from feeling optimistic to the decision to eat the family dog to deciding to send her girls with the rescue party while she stayed was a natural progression because we were able to see exactly where Tamsen was coming from.
I have said on my blog probably 100 times that I think that the hallmark of really good historical fiction is that it makes you want to find out what really happened, to dig deeper into the story. As soon as I was done with this book, I went to the library’s website and requested a couple of non-fiction books about the Donnor party. I’ll let you know what I think.
Conclusion: I would recommend to just about anyone. It is short and easy to read. It explores a time period that isn’t given a ton of attention, but is totally fascinating. Good stuff.
3 Comments
This book is on my TBR list along with Desperate Passage. Not sure if you’d be interested or not but there was recently a program on PBS about the Donner party that was really good. It was American Experience: The Donner Party but I’m not sure if they are still showing it. If not, maybe the library or Netflix might have it.
Ohhh, thanks for the tip. I go crazy for nerdy stuff like PBS and documentaries. I’ll have to find this!
Dear Jacki,
Thank you for your thoughtful review of my novel, Impatient with Desire. I feel that you really “got” what I was trying to do. That’s very gratifying for an author. Impatient with desire IS about “family, politics, love, necessity and survival.” I’m especially pleased that the people became real to you, so that you wanted to know more about them. I wonder if you know my memoir, Searching for Tamsen Donner, published last year (U of Nebraska Press). It’s really the back story to Impatient with Desire, has all the up to date known facts about the Donner Party, plus Tamsen’s 17 extant letters collected and published for the first time. I like Daniel James Brown’s The Indifferent Stars Above very much. Also there’s a terrific blog–Kristin Johnson’s Donner blog.
Guess what? I’m in Ohio this very moment doing readings and visiting my daughter in Columbus.
All best,
Gabrielle Burton
PS There’s a Facebook Impatient with Desire group if you’re interested.