Tamsen Donner: A Woman's Journey

By Ruth Whitman

Ruth Whitman has recreated the journal that Tamsen Donner lost on her nightmarish journey to California in 1846. With a grant from the National Endowment, Whitman traveled along the route of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0914086200
• ISBN13: 9780914086208
• Release Date: January 1977
• Publisher: Alice James Books
• Length: 80 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

An Imagined Journey Westward

I read this book on one of my return trips to Alaska. It is a beautifully imagined rendering of Tamsen Donner's journey westward. The book is filled with images of hope, renewal, spirituality and faith in the face of death and loss. The book made me smile and I offered myself to the words which heaped richness upon richness on me.

Ruth Whitman recreates Tamsen Donner's Journey

I read this book in a Literature by Women class a couple years ago, and still cherish my copy. Whitman's poetic skills deeply and meaningfully recreate numerous points throughout the Donner Party's journey as experienced through Tamsen Donner's eyes. I particularly enjoyed Whitman's use of imagery to reflect the tenor of the energy of the land, the party, the children, and Tamsen Donner herself. This is an excellent book, and I recommend it highly both for it's poetic worth and as an interesting portrayal of a strong woman's energy as she expresses her hopes, fears, joys and sorrows on that ill-fated journey.