The first book I read by Sandra Dallas and it got me hooked on her. I loved how this was in the form of a diary. Made me feel like I was reading something really intimate. You would have to hreally have a grasph on a character in order to write her diary and Dallas succeeds. ( )

The book gives a first person narrative of what life was like on the frontier from the perspective of a young woman from Iowa. It's 1865 and twenty-two year old Mattie is living with her parents when out of the blue Luke Spenser suddenly proposes to her. Not giving it more than a second thought, Mattie accepts his proposal, and before she knows it, finds herself headed to the Colorado Territory with her new husband. Mattie writes of her life from the time she leaves Iowa until nearly the end of her life. She tells in vivid details their trip by wagon train as well as what happens once she gets there. The diary is found years later by Mattie's 97 year old granddaughter. It's so well written and full of historical facts about the incredible courage and hardships faced by our pioneers. ( )

from the convention; Mattie is shocked when Luke asks her to marry him and move west to his homestead in Colorado. They arrive at their praire home with assorted other homesteaders, a sod house (with a single real glass window) and years of hardship. Along the way, Mattie learns that she was second best & Luke is still being pursued by the city girl Persia. A few more twists and turns, but ultimately Mattie, who has also strayed, stay together as we learn from a descendent finding this diary, which was written in cross hatch style to conserve paper - write regular, then turn sideways and write over the first writing - quite a time to decipher that! ( )

Bittersweet. I first read (a part at least) this book in Good Housekeeping magazine and it stuck with me for many years. After posting in "Name that book" on this site, I learned the title and author. I picked it up from the library yesterday, started reading, and could not put it down. The reason for my rating is simple... if I can not stop thinking about a book the day after I've read it, it deserves 5 stars. ( )

This is Mattie’s story, told through her diary. The diary, found by her granddaughter, now 94, and a neighbor, tells of her life going west to Colorado with her new husband. Life was exceedingly hard, and death was a constant shadow that hovered nearby and often came calling. Attacks by Indians were feared with good reason. Disease was commonplace. But perhaps even harder than coping with all that was adjusting to her life as Luke’s wife. We only get Mattie’s take on what happens, and there are gaps in her records. Though this is a likely account of the many atrocities that occurred, the tale gets tedious at times in its repetition. Still, readers who enjoy stories about settling the west will enjoy this account. ( )