Her job in her mistress's home was to dance and sing to entertain her many visitors and to watch the baby, Bess, who was born simple. The mistress became widowed and fell in love and remarried to a man who wanted to go to the New World where he thought he would get rich. Where the mistress went, so did the girl and Bess so they endured a long sea voyage and finally were delivered to a fort.
But the New World is not what they thought. The fort is full of gruff men and illness. As a plague rages, starvation becomes an everyday reality. After Bess dies, the girl packs up a few things, a hatchet, some covers, a bag to hold food and sneaks off. She knows she will be followed and runs and runs and runs.
The girl just keeps moving. She had once seen a map and thought if she went north, she would eventually get to the land of the French which she spoke. Perhaps her life would be better there. But soon the reality of the wilderness is evident. She walks and runs until her feet are ruined. Food is almost impossible to find and she is often reduced to eating insects and moss. She is always cold, always hungry, always exhausted. Yet still she goes forward, hoping for a better life.
Lauren Groff is one of the shining stars of American literature and I read everything she writes. This book is the reality of the early settlers of our country where many came to pursue a dream and found a nightmare. She touches on the dangers to women who were, many thought, only born to serve men and the relations between the settlers and the Native Americans. The writing is compelling as all of Groff's writing is and the reader will be entranced by the vision she lays out. This book is recommended for readers of literary and historical fiction.
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