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“The Daughter’s Walk” is the new historical novel by Jane Kirkpatrick. Jane writes about women in history who are significant in their own way, and this book is no exception. 1896 Helga Estby and her daughter, Clara, undertake a risky challenge in an effort to save their family farm from foreclosure. They must walk from Seattle to New York. If they make it before the deadline, they will be awarded $5K, enough to pay off the farm.

The first half of the book is their walk including their struggles and triumphs. It is fascinating how they are able to make it, without all the modern conveniences we consider essential. They could not beg but were expected to work for their room and board. They found some compassionate along the way, but were also shunned by others.

The second half of the novel is where Kirkpatrick shines! She creates a story for Clara following the historical walk. While she is shunned by her family, she finds success with the help of others.

This book is very well written and is captivating. The story moves along well and the characters are come alive. As compared to “A Gathering of Finches”, “Walk” is easy to read. Clara is trying to find herself and her self assurance. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend this to others.

I received this book from Waterbrook Press by being a member of their Blogging for Books program. All opinions expressed are my own.

Based on true events, this novel tells the story of the famous 3,500 mile walk made by Norwegian Helga Etsby and her daughter Clara in 1896, when they followed the railroad from Washington to New York. The story continues on from there to tell how the walk affected their lives and how Clara lived the next twenty years estranged from the family she tried so hard to help. While the walk is a real historical event, the author has used research and speculation to fictionalize an event and create a tale that is very captivating.

I found a lot to ponder about this book. The walk in itself was a great feat and I found myself wishing that it had been a little more detailed. There are many questions I have about how that was really like for two women to be alone and make the trek across country. The rest of the story after the walk was very interesting and I felt deeply for Clara and her struggles with her family, who did not realize the sacrifices she and her mother had made. I caught myself not liking Clara’s sister Ida at all. She was so very judgmental and treated her mother like a naughty child. The book deals with family dynamics in a very realistic way that will make every reader stop and consider her own family relationships.

While the writing is good and the story interesting, I have to admit that I was rather disappointed with the ending. It did not turn out exactly as I had hoped. The book also did not have as much spiritual content as I would expect from a Christian fiction novel. It’s a clean story but that is about it. Given the title of the book, it would have been nice if it encouraged people in their Christian walk as well.

I received this complimentary copy from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group through their Blogging for Books program. A positive review was not required and the opinions expressed here are my own.

I found this story to be well written and it went into detail about women suffrage. This story was about a family's struggle to gain money for the mortgage on their farm. Helga and Clara go on a walk to New York, not able to beg for food and shelter, but having to work for it, with the goal of $10,000. Clara learns a lot about independence and finds herself a place in life. Although she is shunned by her family. I found this story to be a great journey.