Have you ever read a book that just absolutely destroyed to the point it was all you could think about?
I read a book that has lived rent free in my head for the last two weeks. A book that has encouraged me, challenged me and moved me. I have never cried so much during a reading, and we’re not talking about a gentle tear, we’re about a full on ugly cry. My husband would look at me and ask if I was ok several times.
Debut author Carly L. Carlson has written a book that I have fallen in love with and have recommended to everyone that reads. Described as Francine Rivers meets Louis La’mour, “These Wild Dreams of Ours” is a brilliantly written Christian Historical fiction set in 1859 in the American frontier.
We meet Kate McGrath, a feisty only daughter of the McGrath family. She is fiercely independent yet loyal and loving with her family and those she cares for. Her family is leaving Independence, Missouri for the Oregon Territory and new possibilities. Along the trial Kate has the opportunity to show her feisty side as well as her caring, loving side. She helps wrangle a loose bull, drives her family’s mule team, and she tends to sick friends and family members. She also holds grieving friends during the hard times along the way. She faces dangers to herself and shows great mercy, even though she punches the guy in the face. She plays the violin along the way for her family to dance to and during a funeral. Kate has got to be my new favorite main character
We then have Jacob Monroe, a trail guide for this wagon train. He and his best friend Sebastian are the guides for the wagon train that the McGrath family is on. They help with the herds, hunt for meat and basically are the grunts for the trip. Jacob ends up becoming friends with Kates brothers along the way. He sees how their faith is engrained in their every day life and that it is real. While he doesn’t think he needs their faith, because if God was real, why did he have to suffer the way he has. Jacob even rescues Kate from an attack at Fort Kearney. He comes to admire Kate and even love her. When she has to turn him away he suffers a tragedy that changes his life for the better.
“These Wild Dreams of Ours” has some of the most beautifully descriptive writing I’ve read. One of my favorite descriptions is, “The land was a mirror, reflecting their sorrow, turning from something young and fresh and green to something dry, withered, bitter. Even the sky seemed weary of brightness, content to simply exist in its lifeless, pale blue day after day after day. Hopelessness settled over their days like the caking dust that blanketed every one of their possessions. Life consisted solely of the desperate, bone-weary toil of dragging one’s existence across the continent.” You can see and feel what Kate and Jacob and the rest of the wagon train are seeing and feeling after a long stretch. You can imagine yourself on the trial with them. Then they are the way Carly entwines both scripture and faith into the characters everyday lives. Such as when after Kate is attacked and Jacob wants to seriously injury the man and she says, ““No, Jacob, he doesn’t. What will killin’ him accomplish other than puttin’ blood on your hands and takin’ away his chance to repent and receive the Lord’s grace? Do we not all need mercy?” When a tragedy happens in her own family, Jacob is described as “He marveled at the calm serenity that emanated from her. She was like a lighthouse: even amidst the bleak, rocky ground of her own grief, she was a beacon of hope to his storm-tossed heart”. The entire book is filled with such beautiful writing.
I watched this book come together on Instagram and remember reaching out to Carly and asking if I could be an ARC reader for it, even though I don’t normally read American historical fiction, especially western types.But I do enjoy Francine Rivers and a few Louis La’mour so, I am so glad that I took a chance on this book. It has moved me to the point where, even two weeks later, I still can’t stop thinking about it. It moved me to tears of both grief and happiness at times.
If you are looking for a good clean yet moving read, I cannot recommend this book enough. Ask my friends and family, I’ve told them all about it and I think they’re getting tired of hearing about it from me.
You can find Carly on Instagram http://www.instagram.com/carlylcarlson.author
Let me know if you pick this up and tell me what you think of it.
A Bookish Life In AK 
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