January 20, 2021 – Life With Rachel

*Spoiler Alert! This post may contain spoilers!*

After inheriting her uncle’s homesteading claim in Montana, 16-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks travels from Iowa in 1917 to make a home for herself and encounters some unexpected problems related to the war being fought in Europe.
Goodreads.com

I seldom write book reviews because I don’t know how. I’ll just share what I think.

The book is well-written and thoroughly researched. I’ve read in the back pages that the author spent 3 years in research for the book. I love how the characters are well-rounded and realistic. I also appreciate how the author included even the tiny details of Hattie’s day as to give the full picture of what life was like in 1917.

While reading this book, I couldn’t help but wish I was there with Hattie. When I was young, I’ve always had this longing to live and experience life in a homestead. I want to wake up before the sun rises, feel the breeze on my cheeks, milk the cows, feed the chickens, ride horses and watch the stars at night.

Through this book, I realized that living in a homestead is not an easy task but one that requires hard work. I loved Hattie’s unique adventures throughout the book.

One significant part of the story is Hattie realizing that a home doesn’t necessarily mean a place to stay, but the people you surround yourself with. She gained a family by making friends with Perilee and Karl and their children, Leafie, Jim, and others.

I think Hattie is strong and determined for her willingness to make a living for herself.

How to explain to these two children the longing in my heart for what they had? To be part of a family. To have a place to call home.

We’d both signed on for something we’d envisioned as heroic and glamorous. The heroism and glamour might be there somewhere, but you had to dig and scrape and scrabble through the dirt, pain, and misery to find it. Assuming you could find it.

“My mama always said piecing quilts is like making friends.” She kept her eyes on the scissors as she cut up a piece of blue ticking. “Sometimes the more different fabrics—and people—are,” she said, “the stronger the pattern.”