The Memory Weaver, Jane Kirkpatrick
I am a big fan of Jane Kirkpatrick, author from Bend, Oregon. Her historical novels are created with a lot of research, thoughtfulness, and attention to detail, and this story was no different. This is the story of Eliza Spalding Warren, survivor of the Waiilatpu massacre that took the lives of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and many others, over near Walla Walla and Touchet, Washington, where my grandparents came from, and a lot of distant relatives live. I have been to Waiilatpu and the historical center there, so to read this story which relates to a place I know about, made it all the more real to me.
Eliza is the daughter of Henry and Eliza Spalding, also survivors of the massacre. This story, however, takes place a few years afterward, and focuses on Eliza the daughter, after the loss of her mother to illness, and the PTSD she is still dealing with. She has flashback episodes, where a sound or perhaps the sight of blood will take her back to the days she was a hostage and what she dealt with. Even though she was just a child, she judges herself for not doing more in the situation to help the other hostages/victims.
She meets a dashing young man that her father disapproves of, and begins secretly courting him, and eventually marrying him. He decides to move their family over to Touchet so their cattle will have room to spread out and feed. Touchet is very close to Waiilatpu, and it terrifies her, the thought of being over so near to it. But she finds that sometimes, we have to return to what brought us fear and trauma to see and understand what the truth actually is, overcome that fear, and begin healing.
This was a great story, with lines of redemption and restoration, not just regarding Eliza's PTSD, but also for other members of her family.
I highly recommend this book, especially if you like historical fiction.
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