The Indifferent Stars Above
By Daniel James Brown
- Release Date: 2009-04-28
- Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Description
From the #1 bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat and Facing the Mountain comes an unforgettable epic of family, tragedy, and survival on the American frontier
“An ideal pairing of talent and material.… Engrossing.… A deft and ambitious storyteller.” — Mary Roach, New York Times Book Review
In April of 1846, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves, intent on a better future, set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of pioneers led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starving and desperate, Sarah and fourteen others set out for California on snowshoes, and, over the next thirty-two days, endured almost unfathomable hardships and horrors.
In this gripping narrative, New York Times bestselling author Daniel James Brown sheds new light on one of the most legendary events in American history. Following every painful footstep of Sarah’s journey with the Donner Party, Brown produces a tale both spellbinding and richly informative.
Reviews
Incredible
5By larlarjojo1So beautifully written. I enjoyed every moment of itWow
5By dameprileyUnreal. Amazing book,writing, spirit, reverence. Seriously, thank you for writing thisIncredible Telling of the DP
5By ski mask the SluG goDIncredible writing and gripping, vivid storytelling. A page turner, no doubt.Great
5By JTW4EWow what an incredible book! I didn’t know much about the Donner party and bought this based on the reviews. So glad I did!The Indifferent Stars Above
4By Bodhiboy65It’s impossible to read this book without making comparisons to the similarly themed ‘BEST LAND UNDER HEAVEN.’ Yet they are as different as can be. Whereas James book — INDIFFERENT STARS…examines the bigger pucture or Gestalt’ of this set of events, the former is more of an evocative dramatization, focussed on breathing life and pathos into the characters. Neither is the ‘better book.’ They actually each complement the other. DASGreat read!
5By Mateo SikezLove the historical facts about the Oregon trail.The Indifferent Stars Above
5By Naples FL RealtorI could not put this book down. I loved it not only from a historical perspective but I felt I was with the travelers every step of the way.Loved loved this book
5By Meatball 2I thought about it for weeks after I read it. So hard to imagine anyone surviving any PART of that journey, and who knows what extremes we'll go to in order to survive or insure that our loved ones survive. Tragic and uplifting at the same time, and you will absolutly think about your day to day life in a different way! When I finished, I went back and reread parts of it again.Too tedious and repetitive
3By PhotoDon!The author gets off on tangents that do not add interest to the main story. It is a well- and thoroughly-researched book but reiterating the same types of foibles over and over again makes for a tedious read.