While a few characters are annoying and others downright evil, the bulk are likable. The prose is fresh, and the plot twists unexpected. Where the Lost Wander is beautifully written. This book reinforced some things I knew and introduced others. I have no relatives among the pioneers, but I’ve always been intrigued by their experience. But the tension introduced – the wondering when that trauma is going to happen and how it will be resolved – stayed in the back of my mind and kept me reading. Then she returns to the beginning and works forward, from which point the story is linear. Likewise, the innocence and purpose of her own forebears, who ventured to make what they had known would be an arduous trek.Ĭleverly, the author opens the story itself with a traumatic turn suffered by her female protagonist mid-trip. Her fascination with Native American culture is obvious she presents it with detail and compassion. Along with all their worldly goods, they travel with a full contingent of challenge, triumph, and loss.įirst, let me tell you about the end – actually, the afterword in which the author explains that she is descended from the pioneers on whom many of the characters are based. It takes place in 1850’s America, following a wagon train carrying families west on the Oregon Trail.

Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually.make peace with who they are.If you’re a fan of historical fiction, you’ll find Where the Lost Wanderby Amy Harmon, a wonderful read. Ripped apart, they can’t turn back, they can’t go on, and they can’t let go. When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi’s family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. John’s heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both.īut life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death.

Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West.

The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at 20. In this epic and haunting love story set on the Oregon Trail, a family and their unlikely protector find their way through peril, uncertainty, and loss.

Where the lost wander a novel