Sunday, March 19, 2017

Treasured Grace by Tracie Peterson -- Book Review


From Amazon (condensed): "In untamed Oregon Country, one young woman fights to keep her family safe. After her parents died, raising her two younger sisters became Grace's responsibility. A hasty decision to head west seemed like an opportunity for a fresh start but has instead left Grace in a precarious position. When missionary Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife agree to let Grace and her sisters stay at their mission for the winter, Grace is grateful. Until they hear from their uncle in Oregon City, the three sisters have nowhere else to go.

As Grace adjusts to life in the West, she meets Alex Armistead who intrigues and infuriates her in equal measure. When tragedy threatens lives at the mission and among the native Cayuse who live nearby, it is Alex who helps Grace help where she can, despite Dr. Whitman's disapproval. As the death toll rises, so do tensions between the settlers and the natives, and Grace soon finds herself and those she loves in more danger than she imagined possible."

I hardly ever pick up a romantic fiction story, but I was super excited to see this new read set in the Eastern Oregon county where I grew up and lived most of my life. Tracie Peterson's simple and touching story, Treasured Grace, is an interesting historical fiction that was simple to imagine as I know this landscape like the back of my hand. I've always been interested in the stories of Whitman Mission and other local Oregon Trail history. My mom and I are actually planning a trip to visit the site of Whitman Mission in the near future. 

I'd read the story of the Whitman Massacre multiple times before, but this time was very difficult having already established a relationship with them. The tragic upon tragic of this story made any happy endings fall flat. Perhaps that's what the author intended or perhaps the story was just too personal but I came away feeling very bummed.

I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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