In the last three posts in my
Neo-Victorian Voices series, on novels set in the nineteenth century, but
written in the twenty-first, we’ve returned to Jane Austen’s English countryside, entered the cellar of a depraved London taxidermist, and revisited Charles Dickens’s ever-popular A Christmas Carol.
This week, we’re in 1850s
America, as, in Westering Women
(2020), Sandra Dallas imagines the journey of forty women “of high moral
character”, who set out on a journey from Chicago to California in search of a
better life. All are ostensibly risking the perilous Overland Trail to find
husbands among the gold seekers, but many are running away from the
past—abusive men, prostitution, even possible murder convictions.
The main character Maggie is a
mother, who’s been battered by her husband and needs to get as far from Chicago
as she can. She is also a dressmaker and I enjoyed how her sewing skills
contributed to the story and how her eye for clothing and materials gave us a
specific lens on the cities and settlements the women pass through.
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| Westering Women (2020) |
Dallas’s research shines through
in her depiction of the trail, the physical toll it takes on the women and the
changing landscapes and climates they travel through. With a large cast and
epic journey to cover, she does a great job in showing the transformative
effect of this adventure on the women, in terms of their sense of self worth,
the physical objects they value and their relationships with each other. This is
a novel about womanhood, sisterhood, motherhood and friendship, where men act
at worst as the agents of evil and at best as slightly weak supporting
characters.
Dallas kept me guessing about who
would make it to the journey’s end (spoiler alert: it’s not all of them) and
ratcheted up the tension, as the weather, Native American warriors, pursuing
forces from back home and men in the wagon train’s midst threaten the group’s
safety.
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| Sandra Dallas (1939- ) |
I’d recommend the novel to anyone
interested in learning about this period of American history and the mass
migration of many (including women and families) under such trying
circumstances. The book is focused on the journey itself rather than on
California and those panning for gold there, which makes the ending feel a little
rushed, but it’s nice to be given space to imagine the surviving women’s lives
there.
The novel also walks an
interesting line, in being at times heart-warming with a strong sense of
inclusive and forgiving Christian morality, while at others dealing with brutal
sexual and physical violence. The treatment of, and attitudes towards, black
and Native American characters is in line with historical realities, which can
also make for emotionally difficult reading. This isn’t escapist historical
fiction that will leave you longing for a romantic past. I for one will feel
pretty grateful the next time I hop on a quick six-hour flight to California!
Do you have any recommendations
for novels I should read next in my Neo-Victorian Voices series? If so, let me
know—here, on Facebook, via Instagram, or by tweeting @SVictorianist.
And did you know it’s now less
than six months until the release of my novel, Bronte’s Mistress? Check out the pre-order details here, or sign up
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