The Lost Journal of Tamsen Donner
| "Impatient with Desire: the Lost Journal of Tamsen Donner" has been awarded the Western Heritage Award "Outstanding Western Novel" by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. (With this honor, she joins the ranks of Cormac McCarthy, Barbara Kingsolver, Thomas Berger, and Larry McMurtry. She was invited to the museum's 50th anniversary's black tie gala in Oklahoma City to accept the honor in April.) An Indie Next Pick (nominated by independent booksellers) A Borders Fiction Expert pick Linda Hunter's Pick for Women & Children First Bookstore, Chicago, IL |
The Donner Party.
You know how some died.
Here's how some lived.
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In the spring of 1846, Tamsen Donner, her husband, George, their five daughters, and eighty other pioneers headed west on the California-Oregon Trail in eager anticipation of new lives in California. Everything that could go wrong did, and an American legend was born.
The Donner Party. We think we know their story—starving pioneers trapped in the mountains performing an unspeakable act to survive—but we know only that one harrowing part of it. Impatient with Desire brings to stunning life a woman—and a love story—behind the myth. Historians have long known that Tamsen kept a journal, though it was never found. In Impatient with Desire, Burton imagines this lost journal—and paints a picture of a remarkable heroine in an extraordinary situation.
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“The literary equivalent of El Dorado--the lost city of gold. Absolutely unforgettable.”—NPR, Fresh Air
“A hauntingly lyrical story of the ill-fated Donner Party, one of the seminal events in America’s westward movement. This bittersweet novel of love and sacrifice will tear at your heart.”—Sandra Dallas, author of Prayers for Sale
“Insightful and heart-wrenching. Powerfully written, this novel kept me entranced.”—San Francisco Book Review
"Beautifully written. Burton gives us a flesh and blood Tamsen Donner, brave, independent, kind, and determined." —Nina Sankovitch's Best Books of 2010
"A moving story of human courage and frailty. Tamsen Donner's tale will stay with you long after you've read the last page."
— Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank
"Burton's writing tears out the reader's heart as it brings closure to her quest to understand a woman lost to time. "Impatient With Desire" finally rescues Tamsen Donner from ignominy, bringing her back to us a robust and very alive woman."
—Erika Schickel, LA Times