Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ELIZA WAITE is an impressive blend of meticulous historical scholarship and riveting storytelling that takes place in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. With each turn of the page, it's clear that author Ashley E. Sweeney labored over each sentence, gifting her readers with a gorgeous book. The words—each one painstakingly selected and placed—are delicious!
I can confidently say that Eliza Waite will easily be in my top 10 books of the year for 2016. The writing is so stark and beautiful, the story so compelling. I couldn’t put this book down, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I finished reading.
Author Ashley Sweeney tells the story of Eliza Waite, a woman forging her own life at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in the American West. Eliza was born into a wealthy, but emotionally cold family in Columbia, Missouri. After her family casts her out, she travels west to an island off the coast of Washington where her husband has been assigned as pastor to the local church. When her husband and son die, Eliza must find the courage to strike out on her own.
This book is about more than a woman surviving in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, it is about finding and loving yourself. It is about surviving deep loss. It is about acceptance. It is about determination. I found myself grieving with Eliza and rooting for her to make it in an inhospitable environment. I also wondered if I would be strong enough to survive those consequences, and even if I could succeed in my own life. I came away believing that yes, I can survive and succeed. There was nothing superhuman about Eliza. She just believed in herself and kept working. She didn’t give up. And slowly, she started loving and believing in herself.
Sweeney doesn’t romanticize the period or the setting. She vividly brings to life the hardships and the icy cold of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska during the Gold Rush. It is a hard life, especially in contrast with Eliza’s privileged childhood. But she adapts and eventually thrives. The terrain is treacherous, but the mountains and the Northern lights are beautiful. The work is hard, but there is also opportunity. The people can be cruel, but there are also kindred spirits.
Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed the regular recipes included in the narrative. Eliza finds refuge in baking and opens her own bakery once she reaches Alaska. The recipes that the author includes are authentic to the period. I loved the approximate measurements of ingredients. I use a kitchen full of equipment when I bake: kitchen scales, measuring spoons, measuring cups, mixers, and modern ovens. Eliza used the bare essentials and a wood burning oven. THAT is an expert baker. I am a mere amateur by comparison.
I admit I am a huge fan of historical fiction, but I believe this book will appeal to a wide range of readers. This book immerses you in the time and the place. It keeps you thinking about it, even when you are done.
Author Ashley Sweeney tells the story of Eliza Waite, a woman forging her own life at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in the American West. Eliza was born into a wealthy, but emotionally cold family in Columbia, Missouri. After her family casts her out, she travels west to an island off the coast of Washington where her husband has been assigned as pastor to the local church. When her husband and son die, Eliza must find the courage to strike out on her own.
This book is about more than a woman surviving in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, it is about finding and loving yourself. It is about surviving deep loss. It is about acceptance. It is about determination. I found myself grieving with Eliza and rooting for her to make it in an inhospitable environment. I also wondered if I would be strong enough to survive those consequences, and even if I could succeed in my own life. I came away believing that yes, I can survive and succeed. There was nothing superhuman about Eliza. She just believed in herself and kept working. She didn’t give up. And slowly, she started loving and believing in herself.
Sweeney doesn’t romanticize the period or the setting. She vividly brings to life the hardships and the icy cold of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska during the Gold Rush. It is a hard life, especially in contrast with Eliza’s privileged childhood. But she adapts and eventually thrives. The terrain is treacherous, but the mountains and the Northern lights are beautiful. The work is hard, but there is also opportunity. The people can be cruel, but there are also kindred spirits.
Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed the regular recipes included in the narrative. Eliza finds refuge in baking and opens her own bakery once she reaches Alaska. The recipes that the author includes are authentic to the period. I loved the approximate measurements of ingredients. I use a kitchen full of equipment when I bake: kitchen scales, measuring spoons, measuring cups, mixers, and modern ovens. Eliza used the bare essentials and a wood burning oven. THAT is an expert baker. I am a mere amateur by comparison.
I admit I am a huge fan of historical fiction, but I believe this book will appeal to a wide range of readers. This book immerses you in the time and the place. It keeps you thinking about it, even when you are done.
After a smallpox epidemic decimates her tiny community, Eliza chooses to remain alone on remote Cypress Island, a dot of land amidst the San Juan archipelago in Puget Sound. She could have fled to the mainland like the few left of her village, but grief over the loss of her young son roots her in place. It is the late 1890s, and a woman homesteading alone is an uncommon sight, but Eliza Waite is a rare gem of a woman, indeed.
The first half of the novel is a beautiful, peaceful meditation on life alone in a lovely, bountiful, wet, lonely place. Eliza's life is hard, dictated by a daily rhythm of work to survive. She makes infrequent trips by boat to a larger community on a neighboring island to replenish her stores. Her few survival pennies come from sewing and baking goods that she sells at the general store.
After a fall, she is nursed back to health by the general store owner's son, whose questionable past remains hidden from Eliza even as he pursues her. But her shyness and inexperience with romance - her son was the result of a rape, her marriage was arranged in haste and conducted without love - make her hesitate and she loses her chance at companionship. The heartbreak forces her to face her loneliness and she sets off, with a throng of fortune-hunters, for the wilds of Alaska.
The novel's second half shows Eliza coming into her own, with a rich cast of characters that surround her in this colorful, crazy quilt of a new life. Eliza invests her meagre savings in a bakery and within months she is successful, working tirelessly seven days a week on Skagway's rough and tumble Main Street. Eliza discovers the pleasures of her own body while the town discovers the deliciousness that emanates from her kitchen.
Recounted with a deep passion for history and landscape, Eliza Waite is a wonderful work of historical fiction. Ashley Sweeney has such a gift for detail and such compassion and respect for her characters. I devoured Eliza; it was a joy to read, to be swept away in time and place. Highly recommended!
The first half of the novel is a beautiful, peaceful meditation on life alone in a lovely, bountiful, wet, lonely place. Eliza's life is hard, dictated by a daily rhythm of work to survive. She makes infrequent trips by boat to a larger community on a neighboring island to replenish her stores. Her few survival pennies come from sewing and baking goods that she sells at the general store.
After a fall, she is nursed back to health by the general store owner's son, whose questionable past remains hidden from Eliza even as he pursues her. But her shyness and inexperience with romance - her son was the result of a rape, her marriage was arranged in haste and conducted without love - make her hesitate and she loses her chance at companionship. The heartbreak forces her to face her loneliness and she sets off, with a throng of fortune-hunters, for the wilds of Alaska.
The novel's second half shows Eliza coming into her own, with a rich cast of characters that surround her in this colorful, crazy quilt of a new life. Eliza invests her meagre savings in a bakery and within months she is successful, working tirelessly seven days a week on Skagway's rough and tumble Main Street. Eliza discovers the pleasures of her own body while the town discovers the deliciousness that emanates from her kitchen.
Recounted with a deep passion for history and landscape, Eliza Waite is a wonderful work of historical fiction. Ashley Sweeney has such a gift for detail and such compassion and respect for her characters. I devoured Eliza; it was a joy to read, to be swept away in time and place. Highly recommended!
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes