Everything She Didn't Say by Jane Kirkpatrick

Everything She Didn't Say by Jane Kirkpatrick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"A life without purpose is a story without ending." - Jane Kirkpatrick

I have to admit that when I first began this book, I wasn't sure I could/would finish it. I'm typically not a fan of historical fiction, even though this book is based on fact. But after the first page, I was hooked. Jane Kirkpatrick has gone above and beyond to do her homework on what the old west was really like. Today we tend to romanticize the settling of the west, but this book brings home the stark realities of what life was truly like back then. It is honest and "in your face", yet the stories are interwoven so beautifully as to soften the edges of the harshness. I admittedly had done little reading or research concerning the building of the railways out west, but Jane Kirkpatrick has portrayed both the hardships and successes in such a way as to make you want to know more. If you've ever had even the slightest interest in how the west "was won", and/or how our railway system spread west of the Mississippi, you'll love this book. It is riveting to the degree that I could hardly put the book down long enough to tend to my daily activities. Very well written and highly recommended.

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