book_concierge 's review for:

The Diary of Mattie Spenser by Sandra Dallas
4.0

5***** and a ❤

This novel may be my favorite of Sandra Dallas's works. She has a way of making her characters speak straight to the reader. There is a real sense of time and place in this book - helped by the "diary" style in which it is written. Mattie Spenser is a young Iowa farm girl who marries Luke Spenser and moves (via wagon train) to Colorado Territory shortly after the Civil War. She encounters hardships, loneliness, and violence; and she finds an unexpected love. Her grit, perseverance and integrity endear her to all - even, eventually, to her husband. Great story. Great writing.

I've read it twice ... my book club selected it in January 2004.