A sweeping narrative, set in gold-prospecting Alaska, where ambition, adventure, and romance collide--and the usual rules are forgotten.
The ye... read full description
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reviews
Jul 21, 2009
Christina
rated it: 
really struggled to get into The Fugitive Wife, the story of one woman’s journey to gold-mining Nome, Alaska to escape her abusive husband, Leonard, after the death of their son, Gabriel. The novel is divided into four sections with the first discussing the trail to Nome, the second Essie’s son, the third about Leonard’s journey to Nome, and the fourth the end to this very weak story. It’s a very slow read, and a difficult one to slog through at that.
The story does pick up once The More...
The story does pick up once The More...
Mar 27, 2009
Stacey
rated it: 
My local library featured a display of books associated with Jack London, wolves, Alaska and etc. during its "Big Read" campaign and the title and cover of this book caught my attention. I picked it up and read the blurb and decided to give it a shot.
I really enjoyed the novel and I would recommend it. I immediately liked the main male character, Nate, from the start and I also liked the main female character, Essie. The only negative thing I have to say about it is I alway More...
I really enjoyed the novel and I would recommend it. I immediately liked the main male character, Nate, from the start and I also liked the main female character, Essie. The only negative thing I have to say about it is I alway More...
Sep 14, 2011
Shin
rated it:
--Shin's Book Review--
Title: The Fugitive Wife
Author: Peter C. Brown
Rating: 1.02 star over 5
-----------------------
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">i did not like this book.
and frankly i am wondering if anybody ever did.
i mean, this is one of those books who does not belong to any genre at all (
in a bad way. i mean, The Wind-Up Chronicle cant be put in a single genre, yet i found it amazing)
this, i think, is
Aug 05, 2009
Melissa
rated it:
An outline of this story would be interesting. The characters began with potential but didn't really take off. It was as if the author were trying to add the unknown details but couldn't quite imagine them fully, and the story/characters lack because of it. The note at the end tells that the story is based on family history and shows that the time and place were well researched, both of which add some historical significance. However, the story itself -people looking for meaning, love, place-
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Jul 14, 2007
Lori
rated it:
This one started out slowly for me and I wasn't sure I'd like it, but after the first couple of chapters I was hooked. I'm not a big fan of historical fiction, but something about the settings in this book was very appealing to me - the stark Midwest, Alaska - neither of which was made very attractive by the author. The main character, Esther, is strong and brave, and it's impossible not to care what happens to her. The dialogue in the first 3/4 of the book was very annoying - abbreviated sen
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May 08, 2009
Linda
rated it: 
I found the first 1/3 of this book interesting and the last 1/3 was great but the middle focused so much on her husband - who is just a gross character - that it kind of dragged the book down for me. I really liked the book and the main character was so great. I really want to give the book four stars because it was interesting and a good read and I can't stop thinking about it, but that middle part of the book was disappointing.
Dec 10, 2008
Diane
rated it: 
Wonderful book- well researched, beautifully written. The characters think, act, and speak like people of their time, and the story unfolds with an emotional richness and compelling detail that invites the reader into a complicated and non-romanticized past.
Sep 06, 2009
Mary-Frances
rated it:
I struggled with this. It was good - but the language seemed a bit flowery - like the author was trying to sound upity.
It read like a story about a woman that was written by a man - a bit of a stretch. Interesting - but a bit lacking in historical information to be a historical novel and missing in romance to be a romance.
Hmmmmmm....
It read like a story about a woman that was written by a man - a bit of a stretch. Interesting - but a bit lacking in historical information to be a historical novel and missing in romance to be a romance.
Hmmmmmm....
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Jun 16, 2011
Ktschreck
rated it:
Taking place during gold rush times, this midwestern wife leaves her husband and travels west, ending up in Washington/Alaska. She was a strong independent woman,so I liked it.
Sep 05, 2011
Amy
rated it:
It was good but the author at points wandered with too many non-important details, especially about birds.
May 22, 2010
Autumn
rated it:
Reminded me of A Sudden Country. In the same vein but set in a different frontier, that of Alaska.
May 13, 2009
Mae
rated it: 
The first 1/3 of the novel was engaging. It degraded after that point. Bleh.
Jan 14, 2012
Jane
rated it:
An interesting tale about gold mining in the Alaskan territory. It involves a young woman who moves west, escaping her husband, and making a way for her self. (strong female character, love that!) Leonard, the husband she left behind, he's a real snake. The snake???, well he's a real "leonard"! If that doesn't intrigue you, well...
Jun 30, 2010
Sally
rated it:
Historical fiction from a heartland farm to the gold rush with a hop through Seattle. Good story, good setting. I like books set in places I am familiar with
Sep 28, 2008
Diane
rated it:
I liked Esther's story the best. I think the novel would have been stronger focusing only on her and not telling the other points of view. We got just as good a picture of the other characters from Esther's point of view. weak ending. started slow with all kinds of junk about setting out for Alaska. got better when the author started focusing on the characters. Then he could throw in all the historical detail he wanted without it getting in the way as it sometimes did.
Jul 27, 2008
Carlin
rated it:
I liked reading about the time period, the gold rush in Alaska, and the main characters. But the second half gets slow and drawn out and it looses its momentum. You feel their courage and strength, the wilderness and the adventure all in the beginning and then it looses that in the end. The characters loose their fight and conviction and so does the book.
Jan 07, 2011
Alice
rated it:
This is an unusual story of a woman who grows up in Minnesota, but ends up fleeing her husband and going to Alaska. Full of details about sea travel and mining - almost as vivid as a movie. Some disturbing scenes around her family, I'm not sure I would enjoy it so much now that I'm a mom, but at the time I read it I found it very absorbing.
Apr 20, 2008
Annette
rated it:
Little misleading - I was expecting a story of the north with a love story thrown in, but it was really a love story. Good when the author was story-telling... little disappointed in the ending, almost anti-climatic. Different look at the "bad guy" who was really trying his best, in his own to be good. Overall not a bad book.
Apr 30, 2008
Anh
rated it:
While reading this book, I sailed from Seatlle to Alaska, I lived the hard life of farmers in Minesota, and i did some bird watching in remote Alaska. The main character is a formidable woman, i liked her a lot. She was in two hot romances with two guys.
This is a first-book effort. I will read this author again.
This is a first-book effort. I will read this author again.
Oct 01, 2008
Debbie
rated it:
This is a wonderful 1900's journey from the farmlands of Minnesota, to Seattle, then onto Nome Alaska during the height of the "Gold Rush". Story of love, commitment, courage, strength and wisdom. I found the dialogue and narration intriguing and powerful as the image of this time in history reeled me in.
Nov 30, 2011
Gail
rated it:
An interesting tale about life in Alaska--and the Midwest--in the late 1800s and early 1900s written by a St. Paul author. Great details in sections on the gold rush in Nome, travel to the gold fields by ship, and life on a hard-scrabble farm in western Minnesota.
Jul 27, 2009
Lisa
rated it:
This is a historical fiction book about life in Nome, Alaska during the start of the gold rush (1900). I enjoyed this book, but if I was not reading it while in Alaska, it probably would have been a little slow and not as interesting to me.
Jul 28, 2008
Lori
rated it:
Interesting historical fiction about the Alaskan Gold rush, very complex and interesting main character. The plot is o.k., but sometimes not believable.
Overall I enjoyed this book, but not on my "must read" list.
Overall I enjoyed this book, but not on my "must read" list.
Sep 04, 2008
Amy
rated it:
Good historical fiction about gold prospecting in Alaska in 1900. You can tell that a man was the author; too much information about the process of gold mining to suit me; but still a book worth reading!
