Jubilee Trail by Gwen Bristow
Nov. 9th, 2006 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zalenaI thought I'd note that Jubilee Trail is back in print after many years of being OOP. This is one of the books I inherited from my maternal grandmother. It has the names of her aunts, and her grandmother written in it. It's about a woman taking the overland route to California, arriving just prior to the California Gold Rush. It got me interested in pre-Gold Rush California, which was the obsession I had prior to Vikings.*
The best part about this book is that it her husband dies halfway through the book, she's befriended by a woman of questionable virtue, and pregnant, finishes the trek and opens a saloon in what would become Los Angeles.
Since it was written in the 40s, it isn't the most PC book on the planet, but at least it can differentiate between different kinds of indigenous peoples and has both good and bad characters of all different races and ethnicities. (It also recognizes all sorts of different people out on the frontier, including Russian trappers, which I had never thought about, but makes sense considering the historical period, and location.)
This book came to mind when my officemate asked if I knew of any books that featured women on a journey together. Kind of like Thelma & Louise some kind of buddy novel that was just-us-girls. I was stymied. Fantasy novels often have women, but usually in mixed gendered groups, and a lot of my favorite "girl" books (Anne of Green Gables etc.) don't involve extensive travel.
Anyway, if you are the sort of person who likes surprising historical romance, (Mrs. Mike, Forever Amber that kind of a thing) this book is for you. I'd also recommend one of my grandmother's other favorites Desiree by Annemarie Selinko, about Napoleon's first fiancee who winds up queen of Sweden. And one of my favorites, Sandra Gulland's Josephine trilogy.
And if you can recommend any "girl-buddy" novels or anymore historical romance in the vein of the books I've already mentioned, I'd love to hear about it.
P.S. Another great book about pre-Gold Rush California:
* Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, Jr. - a Harvard student signs aboard a sailing ship as a common sailer in 1835. This is a first person document of what shipboard life was like at that time. There are also beautiful descriptions of pre-Gold Rush California. It is one of those books that gets better the longer its been since you've read it. A true classic. Make sure you get an edition that has a labelled picture of a ship, otherwise all the sailing terminology can get confusing.
* Some of Fremont's writings are interesting, particularly once you realized they were written by his wife.
The best part about this book is that it her husband dies halfway through the book, she's befriended by a woman of questionable virtue, and pregnant, finishes the trek and opens a saloon in what would become Los Angeles.
Since it was written in the 40s, it isn't the most PC book on the planet, but at least it can differentiate between different kinds of indigenous peoples and has both good and bad characters of all different races and ethnicities. (It also recognizes all sorts of different people out on the frontier, including Russian trappers, which I had never thought about, but makes sense considering the historical period, and location.)
This book came to mind when my officemate asked if I knew of any books that featured women on a journey together. Kind of like Thelma & Louise some kind of buddy novel that was just-us-girls. I was stymied. Fantasy novels often have women, but usually in mixed gendered groups, and a lot of my favorite "girl" books (Anne of Green Gables etc.) don't involve extensive travel.
Anyway, if you are the sort of person who likes surprising historical romance, (Mrs. Mike, Forever Amber that kind of a thing) this book is for you. I'd also recommend one of my grandmother's other favorites Desiree by Annemarie Selinko, about Napoleon's first fiancee who winds up queen of Sweden. And one of my favorites, Sandra Gulland's Josephine trilogy.
And if you can recommend any "girl-buddy" novels or anymore historical romance in the vein of the books I've already mentioned, I'd love to hear about it.
P.S. Another great book about pre-Gold Rush California:
* Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, Jr. - a Harvard student signs aboard a sailing ship as a common sailer in 1835. This is a first person document of what shipboard life was like at that time. There are also beautiful descriptions of pre-Gold Rush California. It is one of those books that gets better the longer its been since you've read it. A true classic. Make sure you get an edition that has a labelled picture of a ship, otherwise all the sailing terminology can get confusing.
* Some of Fremont's writings are interesting, particularly once you realized they were written by his wife.
