The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride

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The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride

by Daniel James Brown (Goodreads Author)

4.00 · rating details · 384 ratings · 155 reviews

In April of 1846, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves, intent on a better future, set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of emigrants led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starvi

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Paperback, 337 pages

Published June 1st 2010 by Harper Perennial

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Jun 21, 2010

Ariela rated it

· review of another edition

It’s not often that a history book will compel me to set all my novels aside, but “The Indifferent Stars Above” certainly did. Within the first few pages I was spellbound. I had to know how Sarah, a young woman newly married to her childhood sweetheart, would end up on top of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the dead of winter, starving and forced to do unspeakable things in order to survive.

“The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride” tells the story of th...moreIt’s not often that a history book will compel me to set all my novels aside, but “The Indifferent Stars Above” certainly did. Within the first few pages I was spellbound. I had to know how Sarah, a young woman newly married to her childhood sweetheart, would end up on top of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the dead of winter, starving and forced to do unspeakable things in order to survive.

“The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride” tells the story of the Donner Party from the perspective of newlyweds Sarah Graves and Jay Fosdick. In April of 1846 the couple joined Sarah’s family as they journeyed west from Illinois to the promised land of California. After falling behind schedule they joined a wagon train led by George Donner, hoping to make up for lost time by attempting a “shortcut” across the Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake Desert. But this route took three weeks longer than the customary way, and when they reached the Sierra Nevada at the end of October a snowstorm blocked their way through what is now called Donner Pass. What followed was a harrowing tale of heartbreak and horror. Many members of the party eventually resorted to cannibalism.

Author Daniel James Brown does a remarkable job of weaving historical evidence with modern science, creating a riveting tale that reads more like a novel than a work of history. He goes into impressive detail, explaining everything from the strain of malaria that Sarah’s family suffered from in Illinois, to the different kinds of flour available to emigrant families as they stocked up for their journey. Until I read this book I hadn’t understood the exact ways in which hypothermia acts upon the body, or realized that hyperthermia (overheating) was a common condition when struggling through 12 feet of snow. Brown’s descriptions of the trials people endured while trying to reach California are vivid:

In places they resorted to using a windlass to drag wagons… up steep slopes. At a place called Devils Gate, the rope hoisting one of the wagons broke near the windlass. Men rushed to support the wagon, grabbing at the spokes of the wheels and the planked sides, trying to hold it against the pull of gravity. But gravity won. The oxen bellowed and pawed frantically but futilely at the loose talus on the slope. They began to lose ground. The wagon accelerated, sliding down the slope, dragging the wide-eyed and still bellowing oxen with it. The men had to jump free of the rig to save their lives. Then it hurtled over a precipice at the bottom of the slope, pulling the oxen over the edge two by two.

Later, as the emigrants struggled to survive in the frozen Alder Creek Valley, Brown describes their situation thus:

They began to grow gaunt. Their eyes began to sink deeper into their faces. Their fingers grew boney…. And as all these transformations took place, they began to peer into one another’s increasingly angular faces with a growing sense of alarm and incredulity.

Poetic, haunting and deeply informative “The Indifferent Stars Above” brings history to life, taking you step-by-step through the physiological and psychological conditions that eventually caused once-civilized people to draw lots in order to see who would become dinner. This book is a must read.(less)

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Aug 01, 2009

Robert rated it

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This is the harrowing story of The Donner Party's trek westward in 1846 that ends in tragedy as it gets caught-up in a wave of snow storms in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The books details their incredible suffering during this time, including cannibalism. The courage of the stranded and starving people is unbelievable, but true. Daniel James Brown does a great job telling the story of the group's 1500 mile plus journey to California. A feature of the book I really found interesting is Brow...more

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Mar 15, 2009

Laini rated it

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Holy moly! My husband got this as a publishers review copy (unedited), so I checked it out last month. A VERY well-written look at what it must have been like to be part of the Donner Party.

Using old records and letters found in archives, census records, and published accounts, Brown tells a heck of a story. You keep hoping the end will turn out better for these people, yet you see them making awful mistakes (the first being not leaving St. Joseph Missouri by Mayday, and the second ...more

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Feb 01, 2012

Julia rated it

· review of another edition

Daniel James Brown has written a very detailed account of the history of the Donner Party especially as it might have pertained to a specific woman, Sarah Foster. The Donner Party is a compelling and sad story in the history of the frontier, and this account is well researched and formatted. The only problem with this book is the excessive writing about details that do not pertain to the meat of story. Relating much of the weather, geographical and historical matter to current events is interes...more

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Oct 18, 2011

Tony rated it

Shelves: history

THE INDIFFERENT STARS ABOVE: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride. (2009). Daniel James Brown. ****.
In 1846, a young woman, Sarah Graves, set out with her family from Illinois to resettle in California. Her family had heard of the great opportunities that existed there and had read about them in various publications, including Lansford Hastings’ “The Emigrant’s Guide to Oregon and California,” published in 1845. What readers of this book did not know was that Hastings had a se...moreTHE INDIFFERENT STARS ABOVE: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride. (2009). Daniel James Brown. ****.
In 1846, a young woman, Sarah Graves, set out with her family from Illinois to resettle in California. Her family had heard of the great opportunities that existed there and had read about them in various publications, including Lansford Hastings’ “The Emigrant’s Guide to Oregon and California,” published in 1845. What readers of this book did not know was that Hastings had a separate agenda. He wanted people to settle in those parts of California that he had option rights to the land. He cooperated in this scheme with Colonel Sutter, who hoped that the ultimate power of the settlers would enable them to wrest California from the control of the Mexican government. Knowing little about what might be in store for them, the Graves family set out with their wagons, oxen, and supplies to St. Joseph, MO, where they met up with other families who were heading the same way, including the George and Jacob Donner families from Springfield, IL. They had all heard that it was safer to travel in larger groups – primarily to fend off the probable threats of unknown indian tribes in the west. One of the wagons contained a young man with whom Sarah had made an agreement to marry. They did so on the trip west. What this group of emigres didn’t realize was how long it would take to travel to where they hoped to end up. While they only lost a few days here and there, it all added up to ultimately being weeks behind the weather. They reached the foothills of the Sierras in September, and, in normal times would have been able to make it over the mountains before bad weather hit. They were not lucky. An early snowstorm of what seemed like massive proportions hit the mountains when the group of travellers were too far along to turn back, and they became marooned. Their supplies were already at a critical level, along with their strength, and they suffered terribly as the storm front dumped about twenty-five feet of snow on their party. There was a scramble to build some kind of shelter for the different families, and they ended up with a melange of cabins and lean-tos that would – supposedly carry them through the worst of the storm. The storm, however, was greater than they expected, and the travelers soon suffered from the cold and hunger to a degree beyond anything they had imagined. What happened after those first few weeks is well known, and the author spends most of his time describing their efforts to send out parties in search of help. He wraps up the book with descriptions of what happened to the survivors when they finally reached safety in California and the subsequent effects of their actions on the rest of their lives. In between all of these descriptions, the author manages to set out the results of research that has been conducted since those times about the reactions to stress and deprivations of that sort, and lets us know what might well be expected from those who have to go through hard times like this. In all, we come out with a better understanding of the physical and mental manifestations of these deprivations on humans than we had before reading this account. In all, this was an excellent retelling of this tragic event in American history. Recommended.
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Sep 07, 2011

Ori rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: nonfictionista

Do you remember playing Oregon Trail in middle school? God, I loved that game. You earned some outrageous score for completing it as a school teacher, but I think I only managed that a couple times. Beating it as a banker was a foregone conclusion. You just bought extras of everything wagon related, lots of ammo, and made your party the maximum size. Sure, Mary-Ann, Todd, and Uncle Biff were almost certain to get lost, come down with malaria, or get bit by a snake, but if you had enough peo...moreDo you remember playing Oregon Trail in middle school? God, I loved that game. You earned some outrageous score for completing it as a school teacher, but I think I only managed that a couple times. Beating it as a banker was a foregone conclusion. You just bought extras of everything wagon related, lots of ammo, and made your party the maximum size. Sure, Mary-Ann, Todd, and Uncle Biff were almost certain to get lost, come down with malaria, or get bit by a snake, but if you had enough people in your party you were all but guaranteed to win.

The first third of the book covers familiar territory for any one who loved Oregon Trail (or the Little House on the Prairie series). Daniel James Brown is an excellent lister. He loving describes all the supplies that each family brought, including food, and extra axles and tongues. He also described the fire arms that people would have brought, as so essentially archaic that it made me question the hunting dynamic of Oregon Trail. That was one of the most fun parts of the game, but as it turns out a good bow and arrow probably fired with more speed and accuracy.

After about the first third of the book, the book becomes misery followed by more misery with a misery cherry on top. It's Christmas: let's boil a little more buffalo hide and have a handful of nuts! It doesn't get better from there. Around page 200 there's a cliffhanger a la "but his troubles were just beginning." I nearly stopped reading right there. I mean enough is enough. But while the writing left something to be desired, the author's research was excellent. While exhausting, the content was as compelling as a suspense-thriller-horror story.

One small note: I think the title of this is pretty misleading. Okay, so I can't verify whether the stars were in fact indifferent, but the subtitle concerning the bride felt pretty irrelevant to me. It's possible the story spent a little more time on her, but mostly she just felt like one more in a fairly long list of characters.

Anyway, it all makes me wonder, with the many upgrades to Oregon Trail over the years, why did they never release a Donner party edition?(less)

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Mar 07, 2011

Marcee rated it

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I didn't expect to like this book, but it was what my book group was doing when I was first invited to join. I thought it would just be ghastly and gruesome with the tales of cannibalism, but instead it was more about telling a story of the journey from beginning to end. I also expected a novel, but found instead a history with some overlay of imagined dialogue and feelings developed by the author after extensive research and physically traveling over the land the party covered, mostly in the sa...more

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Feb 19, 2011

Paul Pessolano rated it

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This book is a historical account of the Donner Party. I have to admit that I have been fascinated by the Donner Party since I was in high school. It is a harrowing account of families trying to get to California in 1846.

This account is a little different in that it does not focus on the Donners, but another family that was traveling in the party. Franklin and Elizabeth Graves, their married daughter Sarah, her husband, and their eight children left Illinois on their fateful journ...moreThis book is a historical account of the Donner Party. I have to admit that I have been fascinated by the Donner Party since I was in high school. It is a harrowing account of families trying to get to California in 1846.

This account is a little different in that it does not focus on the Donners, but another family that was traveling in the party. Franklin and Elizabeth Graves, their married daughter Sarah, her husband, and their eight children left Illinois on their fateful journey. The story revolves around the Graves family, but focuses on Elizabeth.

The first part of the journey did have its problems, but not anymore than one would expect for this time and this type of undertaking. Food and water were always a concern and you had to be concerned about the children being run over by the animals or wagons, to say nothing of snakes. If something did go wrong, you only hoped that someone in the group had some knowledge of how to take care of the situation. The Graves real problems began when they reached the "Parting of the Ways". This was a place where one decided to take the northern route to Oregon and California, or take a new route that was to cut off several hundred miles of their journey. Unfortunately, this route, the Hastings cut-off, was untried and believed to be very difficult. The Graves family and several others joined George Donner and his family in attempting this new route. The Donner Party was also three weeks beyond the date that most people thought an attempt should be made to go over the Sierra Nevada. When they were about 100 miles from their objective a tremendous snowstorm stopped their progress. They were now subjected to below freezing temperatures and snow accumulating to 20 to 30 feet. They were also very low on food and there was no game in the area. Facing almost certain starvation a decision was made to eat those that had already died. I cannot even begin to tell you about the unbelievable hardship that befell these people. There were tremendous acts of courage and faith, as there were deceit and cowerdice. There were eighty-seven people in the Donner Party, forty-seven died as a result of the tragedy.

The book is very well done and should be of interest to just about everyone. It not only is the story of the Donner Party but gives outstanding insight as to what it must have been like to live in the late 1800's.

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Feb 13, 2011

Marigold rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, history

Finally, a really great read! First one I’ve had for a few months—and it’s non-fiction! I saw Brown speak at Powell’s a while back – 2009? (Thanks, Jessica!) I’ve been interested in reading the book ever since, & I highly recommend it. Brown brings history to life in this book about the Donner Party, a group of 87 individuals who set out from the mid-west to California in 1846, and spent the winter of 1846-47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountains. As starvation and cold took over their minds ...moreFinally, a really great read! First one I’ve had for a few months—and it’s non-fiction! I saw Brown speak at Powell’s a while back – 2009? (Thanks, Jessica!) I’ve been interested in reading the book ever since, & I highly recommend it. Brown brings history to life in this book about the Donner Party, a group of 87 individuals who set out from the mid-west to California in 1846, and spent the winter of 1846-47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountains. As starvation and cold took over their minds and bodies, some of them resorted to eating the flesh of those who died of illness, hunger & hypothermia. Forty-eight of the 87 people who had set out originally, lived & eventually got to California. Brown focuses his narrative around the life of Sarah Graves Fosdick, a 21 year old bride who was one of the party. In addition to telling the fascinating story of what happened to Sarah, the Donners & other families along the way, Brown weaves in information about what kind of food people ate at that time; how people viewed children (in an age where 10 year olds were sent out to work); the effects of hunger & hypothermia, as well as hyperthermia, on the brain & body; why women survived the ordeal at a higher rate than strong, healthy men; & the psychological after-effects of what they went through – what we now know as PTSD.
I also found fascinating the section where Brown writes about what else was going on in the US & world in the 1840s. The telegraph had been invented & used, 2 years before the Donner Party set out. The magazine Scientific American began publishing. Neptune was discovered & the first high speed rotary printing press came into use. Charles Darwin, Marx & Engels were all writing. New York City was a thriving metropolis & many of its streets & buildings are still in use today. Shipyards, steam ferries & commuter trains carried people around the New York area. 123 full service restaurants were in business. In short this was not the wild land that the first settlers came to in the 1600s – most of the eastern US was quite settled. Sarah Graves’ family had had a thriving farm in Illinois – so they lived pretty well - but the dream of a better life & a sense of adventure & unclaimed tracts of land led them west.
The main thing that occurred to me throughout this book is that these were tough people – the things they endured for days & weeks at a time, I probably couldn’t endure for more than a few hours! This is a book about not only a fascinating episode in US history – but also, sheer survival.
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Jun 14, 2010

Melissa rated it

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This book reads very much like non-fiction, as most of it is non-fictional. However, the thoughts and in some cases exact actions of the party's members have been manufactured by the author. Brown obviously knows his stuff when it comes to the Donner Party, and used historical accounts, diaries, and even travelled the party's trail to a certain extent by car, in order to guess more accurately what life for these people must have been like. I really enjoyed the continual juxtapositioning by the a...more

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May 27, 2009

Laura rated it

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I've always been fascinated with the Donner Party saga...my mother-in-law is buried a stone's throw from a group of Donner graves in Lafayette, CA, and I know the terrain this unfortunate group had to traverse fairly well.

With all the books on my plate (and a monthly book club commitment) the last thing I truly needed to do was immerse myself in a book about the Donner party. But I read a review of this one in the New York Times, and I couldn't resist. I read it in three days.
...moreI've always been fascinated with the Donner Party saga...my mother-in-law is buried a stone's throw from a group of Donner graves in Lafayette, CA, and I know the terrain this unfortunate group had to traverse fairly well.

With all the books on my plate (and a monthly book club commitment) the last thing I truly needed to do was immerse myself in a book about the Donner party. But I read a review of this one in the New York Times, and I couldn't resist. I read it in three days.

The Donner Party was actually a group of 80+ people who set out in covered wagons from Illinois, Missourri and beyond for the promise of a better life in California. Much of their information about this promised land was gleaned from an opportunist named Lansford Hastings, who found it in his best financial interests to persuade immigrants to take a "shortcut" through the Wasatch Mountains and the alkali deserts of Utah - rather than the proven, albeit longer, road farther north. Why would these people trust a man they didn't know and risk the lives of their children to take a non-proven route through uncharted territory (territory that covered wagons had never traversed)? The end result of course, is that the "short cut" added months to their journey and they arrived at the foot of the Sierras just in time for one of the worst winters on record. They were snowed in, and they were beset by starvation, frostbite, and worse.

Daniel James Brown has done a terrific job of researching this fateful trip, how it went wrong, why it went wrong - and all the political, economical and geographical factors that contributed to the tragedy. He loosely focuses his story around the life of Elizabeth Graves, a young bride who, during the course of this trip, lost her father, her husband, then her mother and some siblings, but managed to make it over the mountains with a group that dared to try to make it out.

Everyone knows about the lurid cannibalism aspect of this story, but I can see now how they were driven to that point out of desperation, fear, and a primal desire to live - and to ensure that their loved ones had a chance of survival.

This book is all about the details:

I cringed when I read about the "snowshow party", already suffering from hypothermia, having to scale snow-covered granite cliffs, boulders, and gravel-covered mountains in bloody bare feet because their leather shoes had worn out. How they finally stumbled into Johnson's ranch half-nude in sub-zero weather. How the group buried back in the mountains, awaiting rescue, was reduced to cooking and eating raw hides, then shoelaces...and finally dead bodies.

The fact that 1/2 the party actually made it to California and went on to survive for a time (some longer than others) is a miracle. These people were made of tougher stuff than you and I.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of California, or really, the beginnings of our nation. (less)

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May 18, 2009

Jeremy rated it

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My wife says that I have an unhealthy fascination with the Donner Party. I don't know whether or not my fascination with that particular immigrant group is unhealthy, but I will admit to the fascination--ever since I first read George Stewart's classic "Ordeal By Hunger" in the 8th grade. The whole story has such a "Perfect Storm" feeling about it. So much went so wrong. How could one group of people have such bad luck? Part of the fascination may have stemmed from having gro...more

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May 26, 2009

Roxanne rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: anyone who liked good historical non-fiction

Recommended to Roxanne by: New York Book Review

This is one of the best books of the year. How can I describe this book? I really wasn't looking forward to it, but the New York Book Review gave it flying colors so I figured I would give it a try. I have read it in 3 days - and I have really develped a bad habit of quitting a book if I have read 100 or so pages and it's just not going anywhere or it's too much like all the others. But this is one original, honest, ingenious novels I have really ever read in this genre. The writer applies cont...more

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Jul 23, 2009

Ellen O'brien rated it

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Having ancestors who made the trek from Illinois to Oregon at about the same time as the Donner Party, I was especially interested in this book. As a college student, I explored some of the mountains around the Columbia Gorge at different times of the year so I thought I had an appreciation of what the conditions might have been like. After reading this book, I understand how completely I wrong I was. Brown discusses the lack of privacy, personal hygiene, warmth, food, water, shelter and love ag...more

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Jan 02, 2011

Shana rated it

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From the back of the book, " The story of the doomed Donner party, told through the experiences of a young woman who miraculously survived 33 days wandering in the Sierra Nevada". The woman being a newlywed named Sarah Graves, age 21. Sarah's family left Illinois bound for California. On the way they met up with another wagon party headed by George Donner. That would seal their destiny.

The author does a fantastic job relating the history and the background of many of the p...more

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Mar 05, 2010

Brenda rated it

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If you ever played Oregon Trail growing up, you need to read this book. It is almost laughable how euphemized that video game was when you actually stare the reality of life heading west in the face (even just through a book).

Reading this in the Spanish mountains on cold nights helped an already amazing story become even better. I am pretty certain there is no way I would have survived the Donner Party saga, but I can certainly admire the tenacity and determination to live that th...more

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Oct 19, 2011

Lanita rated it

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I'm really not sure whether to give this 4 or 5 stars. Why is this decision always (well, almost always) so difficult? I really, really enjoyed this book and yet I find myself asking how that could be seeing as it is about the Donner Party? Is it okay to "love" such a story? Are "fascinating" and "insightful" appropriate words to describe such a harrowing tale?

I found I couldn't put it down and now that I'm done with it, I can't stop thinking about t...more

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Sep 01, 2011

Beth rated it

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Oftentimes nonfiction is something I have to trudge through in places. I like to read it, because I like to learn -- but it's so easy to get bogged down in the long, loaded paragraphs. There's no dialogue to move along the story (if there's a story at all). When reading nonfiction, rarely do I feel compelled to read.

Not so with this book. Wow. I could hardly put it down! This author is a masterful writer, weaving rich descriptions and fascinating details together to make a cohe...more

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Jul 15, 2009

Rose rated it

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Nineteenth century U.S. history is rich with tales of hardy Americans abandoning their East Coast and Midwestern homes to seek a physically and financially healthier future in the west. Many found the inconveniences they suffered and risks they took to be well worth it. Others were buried along the desolate trails, the victims of disease, accident, murder... and starvation.

The Indifferent Stars Above is the harrowing story of the ill-fated Donner party. During the vicious winter of 1...moreNineteenth century U.S. history is rich with tales of hardy Americans abandoning their East Coast and Midwestern homes to seek a physically and financially healthier future in the west. Many found the inconveniences they suffered and risks they took to be well worth it. Others were buried along the desolate trails, the victims of disease, accident, murder... and starvation.

The Indifferent Stars Above is the harrowing story of the ill-fated Donner party. During the vicious winter of 1846, the California-bound group was trapped in the Sierra Nevada mountains by freezing temperatures and thick snow drifts. They had taken a shortcut recommended in a guidebook whose author never tested it himself. The result was weeks of suffering from hunger and hypothermia. After all food stores were exhausted, those who died were eaten by the survivors. The guilt and horror remained with them for the rest of their lives, and the name ‘Donner’ remains synonymous with cannibalism.

Author Daniel James Brown does a reasonably good job of telling the story of the Donner tragedy from the perspective of 21 year old Sarah Graves-Fosdick, whose parents and husband Jay were among those lost to the elements. He is descended from a pioneer who knew the doomed group, and some of the book’s strongest sections are those told from his own viewpoint i.e. his visit to his ancestor’s grave to mark the starting point of his quest to recreate the Donner voyage, and his own observations as he partially followed their original route. The reader does not come to know Sarah too well, but that is understandable given the fact that she died fairly young and spoke little of the horrors she had witnessed.

The Indifferent Stars Above is alternately chilling and engaging, and a veritable fountain of information about emigrant life in antebellum America. My only complaint is that the review copy I received contained no illustrations, such as maps, which would have allowed me, a reader not familiar with the terrain or the Donner case, to visually follow the route that Brown describes so vividly. But that’s a minor issue as well as a personal one.
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Jul 02, 2009

Kate rated it

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Shelves: first-reads

The Indifferent Stars Above tells the harrowing tale of the Donner Party and in particular focuses in on Sarah Graves, a young and recently wed woman. Its an interesting read that quickly draws you in. Focusing in on one character helps make the story more personable and intensifies the tragedy of the story. The book goes beyond the basic story of the Donner Party to provide a glimpse of life on the frontier in the 1840s. Brown adds to the story by including modern knowledge on the effects of...more

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Jun 20, 2009

Kristen Leong rated it

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Okay, so before reading this book, I only knew two things about the Donner Party: there was cannabilism and it took place during the 1800s. My knowledge beyond that was pretty limited and I was expecting this book to be somewhat of a bore, at first, considering the topic. However, Daniel James Brown has succeeded in writing an informative yet flowing book that is only dry some of the time instead of all of the time. The extent of his research is impressive and I enjoyed learning about what ha...more

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Aug 24, 2009

Jessica rated it

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Shelves: nonfiction, nonfiction-geography

Okay, I don't think I need to read anything else about the Donner Party! The book is thorough and you learn a lot not only about this ill-fated expedition but about frontier life in the 1840's, psychological and physiological stress, effects of hunger, etc. Brown is a thorough researcher but strains too hard (for me) in trying to imagine the mind of the recently-married Sarah Graves, whose family is also on the expedition. There are a good number of families, characters, encampments to follow...more

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Apr 13, 2011

Jane rated it

I really enjoyed this story of what it was like to be part of the Westward Movement. The parts of the book that I liked best were the more generic ones about what it was like in these bands of people who had packed up all they owned and followed a dream out West over prairies, and rivers and mountains. The more particular (gruesome) parts of the Donner/Graves) story were also interesting, but the horror got a bit repetitive. I also really liked that he did a follow up or epilogue on all of th...more

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Sep 02, 2011

Tamara rated it

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This probably deserves more than 3 stars. It is obvious the author did extensive research on this subject and the amount of information he included is staggering. Not only did he include an enourmous amount of details about the events encountered by the Donner party but also a significant amount of background information about the social, economic, cultural, etc. situation during this time period.

Despite the great content, I just didn't love the way the book was written. There wer...more

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Jul 22, 2009

Genkigami rated it

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This book was sent to me at boarding school as a surprise read from my mother, who is an aspiring author. Knowing my macabre fascination with humanity at its most desperate times, she promised me it had cannibalism unlike the last Donner Party book I read.

I couldn't put it down.

The amount of research the author put into this book is staggering, even taking the same trail and footsteps as the protagonist to see, firsthand, the hardships she must've endured.

It c...more

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Jun 30, 2009

Jenny rated it

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Shelves: first-reads, non-fiction

This is a Goodreads "First Readers winner" book!
This was a comprehensive book about the Donner Party, the pioneers which in 1846 set out from Illinois to California and the hardships/horrors that they faced. I only knew a few basics about this story before reading this book. At times the "voice" of this book varied from being one of the pioneers; an interested observer; or a present day narrator. The subtitle is a bit misleading - although the Donner Party Bride (Sarah...more

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Jan 06, 2012

Julia rated it

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Having lived at both the starting and ending points of the party's journey and having driven many sections of the journey, I have always found the Donner party fascinating. This is by far the best book I have read on the subject. The recount focuses on one member of the party, making it more relatable.
Like others I found myself wanting to read it for hours on end. I even went back and reread sections that I found particularly profound. I enjoyed much of the historical perspective the autho...more

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Aug 02, 2009

Linda rated it

· review of another edition

I read this book in three days - could not put it down.
It is a gripping, true story of the Donner Party trek to California. It is mind, gut and heart wrenching.
The author did a lot of research, which helps the reader understand what happened to these people and how it happened.
This is a new account of the trip, and the attempt to tell the story through the eyes of a young bride didn't really work for me because she did not keep a diary and I could not relate to her at all; howe...more

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Jun 30, 2009

Marla rated it

· review of another edition

This is a story about the ill-fated Donner Party, a group of nineteenth century settlers enroute to California. They become snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountains and resort to cannibalism to survive. I remember reading about this historical event in a college history class. This book gives the point of view of a young bride, Sarah Graves, who survives the tragedy and makes a successful life in California for herself and her surviving sisters. The book is a little frustrating because it ex...more

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Mar 14, 2010

Chris Dye rated it

· review of another edition

The Indifferent Stars Above tells the story of the Donner Party and in particular focuses in on Sarah Graves, a young and recently wed woman. I found it an interesting read and it quickly drew me in. Make sure and read the epilouge. I appreciated the efforts the author had gone through in visiting the trail of the Donner Party. When he revisited the sites the party had followed he seemed to take particular care in visiting the sites on specific dates that corresponded with the actual time of y...more

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About Daniel James Brown

Daniel James Brown fell in love with the written word when he was 5 and his mother first read Danny and the Dinosaur to him. Since then he has earned a BA in English from the University of California at Berkeley and an MA in English from UCLA. He has taught writing at San Jose State University and Stanford University. He now lives in the country east of Redmond, Washington, where he writes nonfic...more

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