Escape to Oregon’s Pioneer Days
Greetings, Reading Friend!
I hope you’ve had a chance for a break during this warm season (in the northern hemisphere). I’ve enjoyed time with family and friends in my native Pacific Northwest.
Returning to my Northwest roots, I discovered a novel set in that region, All She Left Behind, and I review it below.
When I’m not reading other authors’ novels, I’m revising Lucia’s Journey, my new novel, based on feedback from my beta-readers. (Thank you so much to each one!). I hope to publish it in the next few months.
My Review of All She Left Behind, by Jane Kirkpatrick
How could a girl who struggled with reading and spelling, born into a pioneer family settled in the Oregon Territory, become a medical doctor?
Jennie Lichtenthaler’s passion to be a healer seemed an impossible dream, and she received little encouragement to pursue a life beyond the traditional role of wife and mother.
Yet All She Left Behind, a historical novel, tells the surprising, fact-based story of Jennie’s life. Readers may think its twists and turns couldn’t possibly reflect reality, but its skillful author, Jane Kirkpatrick, has crafted this captivating novel using information gleaned from historical documents.
Kirkpatrick shows the obstacles Jennie faced, including:
- The attitudes of close family members
- Society’s reluctance to allow female physicians.
The author also reveals how dreams delayed were not always dreams destroyed in Jennie’s life.
Characters:
They are both historical and fictional, distinctive, some even memorable.
Because Jennie’s life story includes many characters, I list only those who play major roles in the novel:
Jennie Lichtenthaler—protagonist; young pioneer woman married at 17; her circumstances thwart her ambition to become a physician
Josiah Parrish—Jennie’s second husband, a blacksmith, sheep breeder, and missionary who encourages Jennie’s medical studies and career
Elizabeth Parrish—Josiah’s first wife; Jennie takes care of her in Elizabeth’s declining days
Charles Pickett—Jennie’s first husband, he can’t overcome his addictions to alcohol and drugs
Douglas Pickett—son of Jennie and Charles, he struggles with addictions
Ariyah Cole—Jennie’s fictional best friend, an artist who provides a sounding board and support for Jennie
Priscilla Melvin—a prostitute whose life takes a new turn; Jennie’s encounters with her near the beginning and ending of Jennie’s adult life reveal her character arc.
Callie Charlton—Jennie’s fellow female medical student and colleague
Strengths:
- Inspiring story
- Well-developed characters
- Setting details transport readers into the Oregon Territory and early days of statehood in the last half of the 1800s
- This novel reveals the state of the medical profession and the status of women in that era.
Weakness:
The prologue seemed a bit confusing to place in the context of the chapters that follow.
Content review:
This novel discusses struggles with and details of addiction to alcohol, drugs, and sex.
My recommendation:
All She Left Behind will appeal to readers who appreciate a lively plot that Includes historical as well as romantic and inspirational elements. As a native of the Pacific Northwest, I enjoyed the window this novel provided into the history of Oregon in the early days of statehood.
Reader, can you recommend a novel set in the Northwest?
