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Westlake Girl: My Oregon Frontier Childhood
Westlake Girl: My Oregon Frontier Childhood is the true story of a spirited girl coming of age in an isolated village on the Oregon coast from 1928 to 1936. It portrays the artless feminist strivings of a capable girl who dreamed of a career in the Coast Guard on the merit of her skills as a boat pilot and champion swimmer. Frieda’s triumphs (taming a harbor seal as a pet, winning swim races against older boys) and disappointments (exclusion from the Coast Guard “for no better reason than that I was a girl”) will resonate with modern women who still meet obstacles – some natural and some arbitrary – to having it all.
- GenresMemoir
240 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 26, 2017
A plainly-written, sentimental, lovingly detailed romp through the Westlake of the early 20th century.
As a memoir and first book, it's a predictable assortment of stories and recollections strung together into a makeshift narrative that paints an endearing rural frontier childhood. An ominous reminder is reiterated throughout--the future will change (and ruin) everything. Our sources of existential distress shift so little over the generations.
I loved it for its plainness, Frieda's unpolished humanity, and for my own surprisingly fond feelings for the Westlake of my childhood. There are dozens of beautiful, historical details that I never asked my own grandmother about. I wonder what she would've said about this book.
As a memoir and first book, it's a predictable assortment of stories and recollections strung together into a makeshift narrative that paints an endearing rural frontier childhood. An ominous reminder is reiterated throughout--the future will change (and ruin) everything. Our sources of existential distress shift so little over the generations.
I loved it for its plainness, Frieda's unpolished humanity, and for my own surprisingly fond feelings for the Westlake of my childhood. There are dozens of beautiful, historical details that I never asked my own grandmother about. I wonder what she would've said about this book.
January 2, 2017
Heart-warming, moving and memorable.
Frieda was 96 at the time of writing this memoir with her son Larry. Westlake is the 'remote little town' she comes from. A place with no roads, where everyone travelled by boat. They had a general store; the photo of the general store reminds me of the one in Little House on the Prairie-Olesen’s Mercantile.
This is a charming telling of memories. Told in a nice easy concise style, this is well presented with black and white photos and pencil drawings. It’s a lovely read and I found it very interesting. It's like she's telling you all these memories over a cuppa. Fascinating; tales of a bygone age with outside privies, running water a rarity in homes etc. Many of the foods they had were home grown/derived; eggs from their own chickens etc. It was her greatest desire to become a Coast Guard when she grew up.
This is remarkably accurate. About what life was like then, containing heart-warming and happy times as well as poignant moments. This is told through the young Frieda’s voice yet is never childish. An eloquent account and very easy to read. Perfectly portrayed, captures her childhood brilliantly. Heart-warming, moving and memorable. A joy to read.
Frieda was 96 at the time of writing this memoir with her son Larry. Westlake is the 'remote little town' she comes from. A place with no roads, where everyone travelled by boat. They had a general store; the photo of the general store reminds me of the one in Little House on the Prairie-Olesen’s Mercantile.
This is a charming telling of memories. Told in a nice easy concise style, this is well presented with black and white photos and pencil drawings. It’s a lovely read and I found it very interesting. It's like she's telling you all these memories over a cuppa. Fascinating; tales of a bygone age with outside privies, running water a rarity in homes etc. Many of the foods they had were home grown/derived; eggs from their own chickens etc. It was her greatest desire to become a Coast Guard when she grew up.
This is remarkably accurate. About what life was like then, containing heart-warming and happy times as well as poignant moments. This is told through the young Frieda’s voice yet is never childish. An eloquent account and very easy to read. Perfectly portrayed, captures her childhood brilliantly. Heart-warming, moving and memorable. A joy to read.
December 25, 2020
Interesting because we live near Wampler Ranch, but the writing is not very professional. Interesting history of Oregon, and a sense of how different children's care and lives were just 2 generations back.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews