Raveled Ends of Sky

Women of the West

by Linda Sandifer

Leaving the comforts of her affluent home in Boston, Nancy Maguire joins a group heading West in the hopes of reaching California and starting a horse ranch, but her independent nature causes problems and forces her to face great challenges all alone

Genres: Historical Fiction, Westerns, Romance, Fiction

349 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1998

About the author

Linda Sandifer’s career has spanned many decades, producing four mainstream novels and ten western romances. Born and raised on a ranch in Idaho, her writing reflects her background and her love for the land and the indomitable people who settled the West. Her books have won numerous awards and have been translated into several languages throughout the world. Readers and reviewers alike have cited her intimate connection to the West, her strong sense of place, authentic characters, and her ability to touch the human spirit. Of her recent release, Lost and Broken Things, Midwest Book Review says, “Linda Sandifer has truly established herself as a remarkable voice in contemporary literature.”

Reviews

[Emmy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I cave. I'm just bored and too impatient right now to see it to the end.

It's not terrible, but I never connected with the main characters and that makes the story boring to me. Some of the behaviors and expressions used were far too modern for 1844 to make the people realistic to me either.

On top of that, the author kept going on and on about the dispute over California by the Mexicans, Americans, Californios and British. It was just too much and I became tired of hearing about it. Every time it came up, the author rambled on much longer than was necessary and didn't say anything new.

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy Maguire is a blue blood from Boston and her parents want her to stay there. She wants to go to CA with one of the first wagon trains. She gets herself to St. Louis where she hooks up with the Josephe Chiles wagon train. As a single woman, he's hesitant to take her until she teams up with another widow - Lottie. Hart Daniels is the guide for the group and he takes an instant shine to Nancy and helps her whenever he can. Eventually he talks her into marrying, and she becomes pregnant. When they become so late in crossing and without knowing a pass to CA, they end up with virtually no food and fighting the weather. Nancy nearly dies when she loses the baby. They do finally make it to CA and start homesteading under the Mexican government. They endure more hardships because of the impending separation from Mexico, but they're stronger from what they've endured. Good story but somewhat unbelievable in part - a "good" single girl traveling completely alone?

[Vanda Bromwich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Main characters are 2 single women who are part of a very early wagon train to California. On the whole it was a good read but a bit contrived in places. I found the bits about the different Indian tribes very interesting.