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Book Review: The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber & Giveaway

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When a story opens with a family lowering one of their younger daughters into a well because they are desperate for water you become invested in the story quickly. That is exactly what happened to me with The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber. This novel takes you to another time and place in history when things were a lot tougher. When not getting rain meant life or death or even worse no food to feed your children. It is heart wrenching and real and an absolutely wonderful novel.

When Rachel first sets eyes on Isaac DuPree she is a cook in his mother’s boarding house. Rachel has always wanted a man with ambition and Isaac is exactly what she wants in a man. However he is not interested in marriage at all. All Isaac is interested in is owning land and it is in this that Rachel succeeds in getting Isaac to marry her. Rachel is able to stake a claim on her own piece of land and that is a huge attraction to Isaac. With this they strike a bargain. Isaac will marry her for her land and after a year she can leave and come home. Isaac never expects her to be able to survive the harsh life of the Badlands of South Dakota.

Isaac underestimates Rachel though. She’s a strong and ambitious woman. She wants a home and family and ultimately that is what she gets. Fourteen years later she has her children and her home. She and Isaac have built a life but it hasn’t been easy. The Badlands are a tough place to survive and prosper. The work is hard and there are very few women. Rachel finds herself lonely a lot of the time.

The drought and her latest pregnancy really steals Rachel’s spirit. She wants more for her children than this life. She wants them to experience friends and dances and most of all love. More and more she realizes that this won’t happen for them in the Badlands and Isaac will never agree to leave. Should she leave and go home to her mother? Will it be the best the best thing for her children? These are the decisions that Rachel has to make as she contemplates what is best for her and her children.

Ann Weisgarber writes of the landscape and harsh realities of the Badlands in such a realistic way that you feel you are there breathing in all that dust. You can feel your mouth dry and gritty because there is no water. Your stomach growls with hunger. You can see the vast openness of the land and feel the loneliness of living out in the middle of nowhere as a homesteader. I would definitely recommend this novel to those who enjoy reading about African American history and those who enjoy reading stories that take you back to the time when homesteaders struggled just to live. This is an excellent novel well worth reading!

I read The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber for her book tour with TLC Book Tours. You can see what others on the tour think of the novel here. Be sure to pop in and visit Ann’s website as well. You can purchase your own copy of The Personal History of Rachel DuPree here in the US and here in Canada.

 

GIVEAWAY DETAILS
I have one copy of The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber to share with my readers. To enter…

  • For 1 entry leave me a comment entering the giveaway.
  • For 2 entries, follow my blog.  If you already do, thank you, and please let me know in a comment so that I can pass the extra entry on to you as well.
  • For 3 entries, blog or tweet this giveaway and spread the word.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on Saturday, November 26/11.  Good luck!

My copy of The Personal History of Rachel DupPree by Weisgarber was received for review from TLC Book Tours and the publisher.

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  7. I think I am going to be starting with this one next week for the tour, and can’t wait to get started with it. It sounds wonderful! Great review, Dar!

  12. I can picture the family lowering the little girl into to well. This must be a very powerful book.

    Please enter me in this giveaway.

    CaroLNWong(at)aol(dot)com

  15. I would love to read this powerful book of times of hardship and love. Makes us think of how good we have it .

  23. Great review for what sounds like a powerful book! Thanks for the giveaway –
    PMNSL95 at triad dot rr dot com

  31. This book sounds just BRILLIANT! Thanks for teh great review! Please enter me in the giveaway. (BTW I am a follower)

  33. This sounds like a very interesting story. One that I would love to read.

    lkish77123 at gmail dot com

  41. Darlene, thank you for this wonderful review. I’m thrilled and appreciate your willingness to read Rachel DuPree.

    Just to share a little inside information, I got the idea for the well scene when I read a short essay written by a woman who had been lowered into a well to scoop water when she was a child. As soon as I read that, I pitched the original first chapter and started again.

    Since publication, I’ve met people who told me their brothers had been put into wells to scrub the walls. They didn’t think a thing of it.

    Times have changed and that’s fine with me!

  42. Great review — I’m reading this for the tour and really looking forward to it — I spent some of my early teenage years in western South Dakota and found the landscape frightening and beautiful.

  45. I hadn’t heard of this book before. Just from your discription, I’m already emotionally invested in Rachel! I’d love to read it. New follower. GFC: Gabi

  52. This is the first I have heard of this book. Your review has me sold, Dar! I have never heard of people going down into wells either or sending their children down them. You caught me right away with that statement. I would love to read this book! Thanks for offering it as a giveaway.

    bthgordon(at)yahoo(dot)com

  54. This sounds like a really good read and like you I was instantly captured by the idea of lowering your child into a well for water. How interesting…I’m gonna have to pick up this book at some point. Great review Dar!

  55. Thank you for offering this book contest. I would like to enter my name in the draw. Thanks!

    pboylecharley(at)hotmail(dot)com

  56. Ooo I was almost on this tour. This book sounds like I’d like it.

    Thanks!

    I’m a follower of your blog and I’m tweeting about it at vegasbookgirl

    Cheers!
    Amanda
    libraryofmyown at gmail dot com

  65. Sounds like a great read! Please enter me in the drawing 🙂

    I’m a follower.

    Beth
    bharbin07[at]gmail[dot]com