My thoughts: The defining premise of the book is that of four sisters who travel from their home in Virginia to the unsettled frontier in the mountains of the future state of Wyoming. Their reason for such a journey, virtually unheard of during that time period, is to fulfill their dying father's request to find an Indian woman who nursed him during a deathly illness when he was in the wilderness. I just found it strange that without knowing more about the woman and where she actually was and after a period of 20 years had passed, these four young women would journey thus.
But they did.....
And once the guide got them to the trapper's rendezvous (an annual gathering of trappers to replenish their supplies) in the Wyoming territory, their search began. But the problem was these were four young white women amidst a sea of men who hadn't seen a woman in years. Truly a dangerous situation!
The author word-smith's some beautiful landscapes of the mountains and captures the unsettling tensions as the women get nearer the hoard of trappers. And then later when the four women journey into actual Indian camps, the author captures the risk, the tension, and evokes the spirit of the activity.
An interesting story, though not a favorite. I really couldn't find anything to dislike about the story. Just a bit unusual for women to travel on such a mission or adventure.
About the book: In 1837, Juniper Collins and her sisters are shocked by their father's deathbed request for them to return a special set of beads to a Piegan Blackfoot woman he credits with saving his life during his travels West. Together, the sisters set out for the trapper rendezvous to find the woman, but their mission turns more daunting when they come upon the mass of men and lodges spread out in the Green River Valley.
Riley Turner came West to find peace and quiet and live off the land, but when four unprotected women arrive at the rendezvous, he feels compelled to help them and is more fascinated by Juniper than any other woman he's known.
As their search brings only empty leads and dead ends, the sisters must decide whether to return East or stay in the mountains to continue looking--and that's if the mystery woman is even still alive. Is the risk to honor their father's last request worth the danger they find at every turn?
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