Emma of Aurora

What a treat to get to review three books at once, to have a whole series in your hands in one binding--all 1100+ pages of it. I've read several of Jane Kirkpatrick's books and enjoyed them for the most part. What I like is when she writes about real people in their true settings, but she adds life to them by filling in the blanks with her creative imagery and dialog. Her writing is impeccable and engaging. I found Emma herself to be hard to like, rather abrasive, and self-centered. But again, I found Wilhelm Keil to be hard to like, abrasive, and self-centered. Sometimes the people aren't very nice. I did not find Emma to be totally unsympathetic, though, as she came to realize that some of her troubles she brought upon herself, some were outside her ability to avoid, and some just happened, just because.

The three books narrate the story of Emma's life from Bethel, Missouri, to Aurora, Oregon; her marriages to Christian Giesy, to Big Jack Giesy; the births of her four children; Herr Kiel removing her sons from her care; her striving to adhere to Kiel's Diamond Rule (to make others lives better than your own); and her trailbreaking ideas that led to several improvements in the colony. Her acceptance by the other women in the colony came slowly, but once it happened they became friends for life. One thing that set Emma apart was her ability to collect strays, women who needed a hand up and time to heal from the blows that life had hurled at them. Almira and Christine were two of her strays, and definitely needed Emma's helpful hand.

Jane has done an excellent job of putting together a story that from where I sit was not an easy task. That I did not like Emma at first (she did grow on me) was not Jane's fault, I feel it was more a statement of who Emma was. Emma of Aurora is definitely a worthwhile read and with the three books in one cover the story moves seamlessly from beginning to end.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a Diamond ruler.