The Diary of Mattie Spenser
by Sandra Dallas
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 415)
Read in January, 2005
I didn't want to put this book down or for it to end. Sandra Dallas combined both a wonderful plot in a fascinating time period with the unique character of Maggie Spenser. I usually do not like books in a diary or letter format b/c there is so much skipping around and it feels like the flow is interrupted. And I sometimes feel that I am missing out on some aspect of the novel, such as setting or other character's personalities. This book proved me wrong. The story flowed so well and through Mat...more
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Read in March, 2008
This book was one that I had a hard time putting down. It was compelling. Mattie's voice rings true. She is someone you like. The story is set in the pioneer days. Mattie and her husband Luke head to the Colorado frontier to build a home and farm. Mattie records her journey, thoughts and life in a journal. Her story is told through this journal.
So often the journals and stories of pioneer women are softened and the difficult times glossed over in favor of espousing faith and hope. While the...more
So often the journals and stories of pioneer women are softened and the difficult times glossed over in favor of espousing faith and hope. While the...more
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Read in July, 2008
May contain spoilers....
I was pretty disappointed with this book. I was excited to read it thinking it would be a cute love story. I really wanted to like Mattie but she was SO ignorant about everything going on around her. She turned a blind eye to everything her husband was doing or not doing and never stood up for herself. The men in the story are all jerks, especially her own husband. The only guy who is decent and kind doesn’t even end up with her. The story started out with a lot of ...more
I was pretty disappointed with this book. I was excited to read it thinking it would be a cute love story. I really wanted to like Mattie but she was SO ignorant about everything going on around her. She turned a blind eye to everything her husband was doing or not doing and never stood up for herself. The men in the story are all jerks, especially her own husband. The only guy who is decent and kind doesn’t even end up with her. The story started out with a lot of ...more
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Read in April, 2007
This was, oddly, a real page-turner for me. I can't figure out why, exactly, as I never was a Little House on the Prairie fan, don't devour historicals, have no time for those PBS shows that have people live in huts and cook over fires. But this book was compelling because of Mattie, the protagonist, and you wanted her to DO things. When she finally DID one of the things you wanted her to, it doesn't end up the way you'd hoped.
It's one of those non-happily-ever-after endings, and I guess it'...more
It's one of those non-happily-ever-after endings, and I guess it'...more
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Read in July, 2006
Wow. I just finished reading "The Diary of Mattie Spenser," and it easily made my list of the top 10 books I've read..its incredible, and if you've never read it, you definitely should.
The story is about Mattie Spenser, a young woman from Iowa, who receives a marriage proposal from THE catch of the town, Luke. With the proposal for marriage is one stipulation; Luke is heading west to homestead in Colorado. Mattie agrees to the proposal, packs her things, and heads into the unkno...more
The story is about Mattie Spenser, a young woman from Iowa, who receives a marriage proposal from THE catch of the town, Luke. With the proposal for marriage is one stipulation; Luke is heading west to homestead in Colorado. Mattie agrees to the proposal, packs her things, and heads into the unkno...more
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No one is more surprised than Mattie Spenser herself when Luke Spenser, considered the great catch of their small Iowa town, asks her to marry him. Less than a month later, they are off in a covered wagon to build a home on the Colerado frontier. Mattie's only company is a slightly mysterious husband and her private journal, where she records the joys and frustrations not just of frontier life, but also of a new marriage to a handsome but distant stranger. As she and Luke make life together on ...more
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Read in April, 2008
I was not excited to read this book....but oh, I am so glad I did! This really was a great love story! Mattie sets out with her new husband to start a life in the Colorado Territory. Frontier life in the 1800's doesn't sound like an appealing read, but I need to remember to give things a chance. I was quickly swept up in the trials and bits of happiness that graced Mattie's life. I should have suspected that Sandra Dallas's story would be hightly entertaining. She always makes for a pleasa...more
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Read in May, 2008
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A long forgotten personal history is discovered inside the lid of an old handmade trunk in an attic. The diary contains the dreams, desires, and disappointments of Mattie Spenser as she carves out a life with the new husband she barely knows on the harsh Colorado frontier. Mattie faces the disappointing realities of homesteading and the pain of leaving loved ones behind. However, she also learns that forging new friendships and the building of even the smallest communities are utterly necess...more
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Read in May, 2008
This was an engaging story of frontier days in Colorado. I would have prefered to have dropped the whole begining and ending side story---that just seemed too cute to me. I would rather have the story told completely by Mattie. Having read These is My Words in the last year, it is impossible not to compare the books. Both have stories of such hardship, terror and the depths of depravity that are hard to believe. Both have women women who rise to the challenges they face. I enjoyed them bot...more
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Read in March, 2008
Our March book club selection was based on two things: a) the library recommended it for book club discussion, and b) we read Sandra Dallas's Persian Pickle Club five years ago or so and thought she was a pretty good author. I zipped through this diary-style book about a young woman from Iowa who moves with her new husband to the unsettled plains of Colorado. It was fun to read about her big trip into Denver (which was still quite small and rough -- think miners and brothels) and her first vie...more
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Read in June, 2008
I enjoyed this journal style story written by a woman who moves to the Colorado territory immediately upon her marriage. It was impossible to not compare it to These Is My Words, which has a similar feel and premise. However, I recommend Thes Is My Words over this story, simply because I had a hard time understanding how the character seemed to be unimpacted by every hardship until the end. It is a fascinating look into life in the wild west, and appreciated how the character adapted to her s...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Melissa by:
Stephaneerecommends it for: housewives
Next time I'm pregnant, I'm going to tell my husband we are expecting a little stranger. I liked this book. It is fairly representative of the growth that happens to all women over their lives. Mattie makes some mistakes (including one huge one!) but overall she tries to do her best through good and bad situations. I will admit to drying at parts and laughing out load at others. Thanks for recommending it Steph!
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Read in July, 2000
Mattie Spenser leaves her comfortable surroundings to marry Luke (considered a great catch), and move off to the Colorado territory. She keeps a journal of her joys and frustrations, not just of frontier life but of her new marriage and distant husband. He has left behind his true love and brought Mattie who would be a better wife in the territory.
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I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I really connected with Mattie Spencer. I felt compassion for Mattie, as if she was a real women and this was not a fiction story. I think that is incredible when an author can make their character so real that we have human feelings for them.
P.S. I felt hatred for her husband
P.S. I felt hatred for her husband
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I didn't expect to like this book much but it was really good. It has a good story with a few unexpected twists and turns. It's about a man who's starting a homestead in Colorado and takes along a good "sturdy" wife to help him. He's not especially in love with her, but she is with him and is willing to go with him to the west.
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Read in May, 2008
This book was my favorite by Sandra Dallas so far. The story is based on the journal entries of Mattie Spenser during her trials and struggles homesteading in the Colorado Territory as a newlywed. There are some twists and turns and some heartache as well. Definitely a fun read!
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The first book I read by Sandra Dallas and it got me hooked on her. I loved how this was in the form of a diary. Made me feel like I was reading something really intimate. You would have to hreally have a grasph on a character in order to write her diary and Dallas succeeds.
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Read in January, 2003
This was a good book, other than I usually don't care for novels. About a pioneer woman who moves west with her husband and their struggles to make it work. It was interesting to read the history of pioneers and how much they had to do to survive and just make a household.
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