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lexslittlecorner 's review for:
Walk on Earth a Stranger
by Rae Carson
We follow Lee (Leah) as she makes her way across America in the hope of a better life in the Goldfields of California during the 1850's gold boom. This is not a high fantasy book as some may think, it's a historical retelling with a small weave of magical abilities that makes for one heck of an interesting read.
Lee is an extremely easy to like main character, she's brave when it's needed and she can hold her own, but she struggles constantly as she tries to hide the fact she's a girl travelling alone and doesn't actually know how to get where she's going and it's easy to sympathise and feel her fear and frustrations.
One of the main aspects I liked about this novel is the way Carson was able to portray the attitudes and beliefs of the era. The prejudices against Native Americans, the forced dependence of women on their husbands, the preacher who claims it's "God's will", the fact that real diseases killed real people. On top of all of that I also appreciated the detail in Lee's struggles, a young woman suddenly finding herself alone in a world where woman have no rights and therefore having to take on the appearance and act of a man to be able to cross the country as safely as she can. Heck, we even get details on her monthlies and I remembered why it's often referred to as being on her 'rags'.
With this being the first book in a trilogy it does explain a lot about the country, the people of the time and Lee's abilities and it also focuses greatly on her journey across America so it is quite detailed and lacks fast packed action but that's not to say it's boring. Quite the opposite in fact. A lot happens in this book but some people find it's too "travel" focused but really what did they expect? It's not like she could jump on a train from Georgia to California and be done with it, if that were the case a lot of families would have saved themselves a great deal of pain, sickness and loss. And Carson's portrayal of the difficulties they faced on the journey really showed how desperate some families were and the means to which we'll all fight to try for a better life.
I walked away from this with an appreciation of what people of that time put themselves through in the hope of providing for their families and future generations.
I'm so glad I read this now as the second book is due for release next month and it's been added to my list I'm greatly anticipating. I can't wait to continue on with Lee's story.
Lee is an extremely easy to like main character, she's brave when it's needed and she can hold her own, but she struggles constantly as she tries to hide the fact she's a girl travelling alone and doesn't actually know how to get where she's going and it's easy to sympathise and feel her fear and frustrations.
One of the main aspects I liked about this novel is the way Carson was able to portray the attitudes and beliefs of the era. The prejudices against Native Americans, the forced dependence of women on their husbands, the preacher who claims it's "God's will", the fact that real diseases killed real people. On top of all of that I also appreciated the detail in Lee's struggles, a young woman suddenly finding herself alone in a world where woman have no rights and therefore having to take on the appearance and act of a man to be able to cross the country as safely as she can. Heck, we even get details on her monthlies and I remembered why it's often referred to as being on her 'rags'.
With this being the first book in a trilogy it does explain a lot about the country, the people of the time and Lee's abilities and it also focuses greatly on her journey across America so it is quite detailed and lacks fast packed action but that's not to say it's boring. Quite the opposite in fact. A lot happens in this book but some people find it's too "travel" focused but really what did they expect? It's not like she could jump on a train from Georgia to California and be done with it, if that were the case a lot of families would have saved themselves a great deal of pain, sickness and loss. And Carson's portrayal of the difficulties they faced on the journey really showed how desperate some families were and the means to which we'll all fight to try for a better life.
I walked away from this with an appreciation of what people of that time put themselves through in the hope of providing for their families and future generations.
I'm so glad I read this now as the second book is due for release next month and it's been added to my list I'm greatly anticipating. I can't wait to continue on with Lee's story.