Sixteen Brides

Title: SIXTEEN BRIDES
Author: Stephanie Grace Whitson
Publisher: Bethany House
April 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0513-2
Genre: Inspirational/historical

Sixteen women, widowed by the war, are enticed by the promises of free land in the Nebraska territory. All they have to do is live on the land for five years. Since they all have things they want to escape, they catch the train with the land agent, and go west. But then they discover that all is not as it seemed. The land agent had collected money from men and promised that these war widows would be their brides.

Seven of these women had no intentions of being anyone’s bride. They’d come west for the land. And they were determined to make it work. With Ella’s planning, they devised a plan where they could all stay together and yet form four different homesteads.

There these seven women make their stakes on the land and on the hearts of the town. As they struggle to survive in an unforgiving land, will they find more than what they came for?

SIXTEEN BRIDES is by far the best historical I’ve read by Ms. Whitson. I totally loved this story, the seemingly seamless way the points of view of five women and two men were woven into it and excitement that lit the pages.

All of these characters were touched by death, yet the deaths were not portrayed in the pages of the book. The characters were ready to move on, to battle the demons that tormented them, and to start making changes in their lives. I really enjoyed this book, and if you are looking for a good historical, then you won’t want to miss SIXTEEN BRIDES. It is a wonderful read. $14.99. 348 pages.