Jane Kirkpatrick

Historical fiction is a favorite of mine - add into it a real person and I'm extra excited! I found this to be not only an interesting but extremely timely story with all the current cultural issues we are facing. It was interesting how Natalie took her own personal traumas and turned them into good for others. The very fact that she brooked convention and went off and did things a "good woman" would not have normally done in her lifetime speak volumes for her character and determination. We show more are still struggling mightily with these issues today. I cannot imagine the prejudices and hate she must have faced trying to preserve a culture from the status quo. The fact the she herself found healing through doing so is a double bonus. She was truly ahead of her time in her thinking. I have visited the area a little and have seen and felt the past that Kirkpatrick so richly describes in her book. show less

Little did I realize how timely this book would be---all about the effort it has taken and even now....getting the right to vote to women but even more so now.....the right and responsibility for everyone to vote. Kirkpatrick did an amazing amount of work to produce this historical fiction account of Abigail Scott Duniway's life's work! I was overwhelmed with what this one woman managed to do in one lifetime! The book is incredibly thought-provoking with where we are now in terms of the show more rights of not only women, and finally, black women, but of all people. Abigail worked so hard but not without just incredible personal struggles---she was so many things to so many people, from her family obligations to her professional ambitions and at a time when everything from housing, cleaning, laundry, meal preparation, gardening, writing, and just on and on---how did she accomplish so much but at the same time, how did women in general do so much? It was just "expected" of them. In some ways, have we gone backwards? I was fascinated and impressed with not only the story version but with the facts of one woman's life and what she managed to do in her years on this earth. show less

Beneath the Bending Skies by Jane Kirkpatrick is an eloquent and unique work of historical fiction. Based on real-life events, this story focuses on Mollie Sheehan Ronan and her experiences growing up and forging her own way in the wilds of the West.
This is my second Jane Kirkpatrick book, and I love her writing style. Reading like a memoir, Mollies story is delivered intimately, full of details of her life and the emotions that troubled her for many years. I grew to love Mollie: her show more passion for life, her quick wit, her love of books, and her desire to please God. I even did a Google search to learn more about her!
The author does a fantastic job of building the landscape of the West with her words. I grew fond of the land alongside Mollie and felt her loss as she left the beauty of Montana behind. In every way, I felt fully immersed in Mollie’s story from beginning to end.
What I love the most about this kind of story is that it keeps history alive. Mollie’s memory lives on. Her life, though maybe not extraordinary by some standards, was still beautiful, emotional, and inspirational. And now, it’s been given new life through Jane Kirkpatrick’s talented words.
Fans of historical fiction will enjoy learning about Mollie and the impact of her life on history.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher with no expectations of a positive review. All opinions are my own. show less

Kirkpatrick's tale of moving to a remote, nearly inaccessible patch of raw Oregon desert along the John Day River, intent on creating a self-sufficient farmstead, is either a triumph of faith over common sense or a head-scratching decision that sounds romantic on first telling but quickly devolves into a saga of brutally difficult effort.

Imbued throughout with the couple's firm commitment to their Christian faith and to the belief that Divine Providence will guide them on the appropriate show more path, they sell their home in central Oregon and move to the unimproved property, which has no electricity, potable water, or telephone service, and which is can be reached only by air or via a treacherous hillside roller-coaster path generously called a road.

Kirkpatrick and her husband are neither flower children nor tenderfeet. They go into the venture with carefully made plans -- improbable, but carefully made -- and a clear understanding of what it will take to reach their goals. Most readers will end up shaking their heads in amazement that anyone -- particularly a couple in which one partner has significant physical disabilities -- would tackle such a brutally difficult project with so little guarantee of eventual success.

Along the way, Kirkpatrick seques from administrative work with the Warm Springs Indian Reservation to full-time writing, with a specialty in the fictionalized lives of early women pioneers in the area. She and her husband battle climate, wildfire, family upheaval, rattlesnakes, flood, wind, and isolation with a persistance that at borders at times on mania. They also become part of a ranching and farming community that shares their devotion to the land, providing friendship and support.

She gets extra ploints from this reader because of the locale. It helps if the reader is familiar with the area, and it's always a thrill to recognize a place name, a family name, or an event with which one is directly acquainted.

Beyond that, the book is neither a how-to manual nor a fish-out-of-water comedy. There's humor here, and heartbreak, and an honest representation of what it takes to create and sustain a self-sufficient haven on an inhospitable piece of land. Whether the reward is worth the effort is a decision each reader will have to make on their own. show less