Inspired by Nellie Bly's trip around the world, Clara's free-spirited but unreliable mother suggests that they walk nearly 4,000 miles to save their farm from foreclosure (a publisher offers them a $10,000 advance if they make it in seven months) and bring attention to the suffragist movement. Bright, hard-working 17-year-old Clara dreads settling down with the steady but lackluster boy wooing her. Whether learning to stand their ground in the face of danger or learning to trust one another, this is a story of women finding strength in each other.Debut author Dagg writes a captivating story about the determination of a mother and daughter, who in 1896 walked from Washington State to New York City. The hardships faced on the journey mirror the hardships in their relationship, and Estby Dagg steers the characters through this admirably with a realistically fallible mother-daughter relationship. She gets directly into their adventure and then keeps the action going through short chapters peppered with Clara’s letters home.
Shy Clara is tested in ways she never imagined – fighting bandits, flash floods, and hunger – but finding in herself strength she never knew she had.Įstby Dagg limits her story to the months of Helga and Clara’s journey, choosing not to include their plans beforehand or the aftermath. Her 17-year-old daughter Clara, an aspiring writer rather than a suffragette, reluctantly comes along, with curling iron and notebook in her satchel. In 1896, such a journey is unheard of, especially by a woman. A publisher promises $10,000 if Helga completes the walk within seven months, as an advance on the book she’ll write of her travels. from Spokane to New York City, gathering famous signatures and garnering publicity for suffrage along the way.
In danger of losing the family farm, gutsy Helga Estby proposes to walk across the U.S. As a descendant of both, she brings heart. Carole Estby Dagg brings more than meticulous research to the story of these remarkable women. Having previously reviewed a book about Helga and Clara Estby’s walk across the U.S., I was eager to read this.
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