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A review by book_concierge
The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin
3.0
Book on CD read by Cassandra Campbell
Benjamin is known for writing novelized “biographies” of historical figures (usually women) who have been under-represented (or completely ignored) by history. This time, she turns her attention of an historical event, the blizzard of 1888 that caught residents of the great plains completely unawares, and invents the characters to populate the story.
The novel focuses on two schoolteachers in different communities, sisters Gerda and Raina Olsen. Barely out of school themselves, they take positions as teachers, Gerda in the Dakota Territory, Raina nearer her family farm in Nebraska. When the blizzard hits, the two sisters take different approaches, and the outcomes are drastically different.
I felt that the romantic entanglements each sister experienced detracted from the basic storyline, especially in Raina’s case. I also thought that the storyline featuring the child Anette bordered on the melodramatic.
I had previously read David Laskin’s excellent NONfiction account of this event, also titled The Children’s Blizzard. So, the bar was set high for this work of fiction. And Benjamin didn’t quite make it.
Cassandra Campbell has become one of my favorite audio book narrators. She does a fine job with this work, though I did occasionally lose track of which sister’s story we were following (especially earlier in the novel).
Benjamin is known for writing novelized “biographies” of historical figures (usually women) who have been under-represented (or completely ignored) by history. This time, she turns her attention of an historical event, the blizzard of 1888 that caught residents of the great plains completely unawares, and invents the characters to populate the story.
The novel focuses on two schoolteachers in different communities, sisters Gerda and Raina Olsen. Barely out of school themselves, they take positions as teachers, Gerda in the Dakota Territory, Raina nearer her family farm in Nebraska. When the blizzard hits, the two sisters take different approaches, and the outcomes are drastically different.
I felt that the romantic entanglements each sister experienced detracted from the basic storyline, especially in Raina’s case. I also thought that the storyline featuring the child Anette bordered on the melodramatic.
I had previously read David Laskin’s excellent NONfiction account of this event, also titled The Children’s Blizzard. So, the bar was set high for this work of fiction. And Benjamin didn’t quite make it.
Cassandra Campbell has become one of my favorite audio book narrators. She does a fine job with this work, though I did occasionally lose track of which sister’s story we were following (especially earlier in the novel).