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The All-True Travels And Adventures Of Lidie Newton

The All-True Travels And Adventures Of Lidie Newton

by Jane Smiley

2.83 out of 5 (12 ratings)

Format:
Paperback 
Pages:
480 
Publisher:
HarperCollins Publishers 
Publication Date:
01 June 1999 
Category:
Modern & Contemporary 
ISBN:
9780006551782 

Description

An American classic from the bestselling author of the Pulitzer-winning A Thousand Acres. Lidie Newton is an extraordinary female protagonist, a genuine Great American Character, like Huck Finn or Isabel Archer. Lidie and her abolitionist husband join the pioneering westward migration into America's heartland in the middle of the last century. Together with their family and friends, they find themselves caught amidst two great American forces.Vicious arguments about freeing slaves, political shenanigans and peacocking encounters over claims to land are about to erupt into the bloodiest war the world has yet see-the American Civil War. Against this chaotic background,The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton soars across the vista of the birth of the modern United States of America.This classic American novel shows, through the eyes of one remarkable woman, how shattering, tragic and resilient the history of that land is.

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Showing 1-4 out of 14 reviews. Previous | Next

  • I love books that give me a new perspective on history, compelling characters, and viewpoints that shift and show nuances throughout the story. Terrific. Appreciate the careful historical research that went into this (Kansas Territory just prior to the Civil War, with the race issue building) and that the story is told from the viewpoint of a character without a concrete point of view, who changes as she lives through events. A really good read -- I didn't want the book to end.

    5.00 out of 5

    bjellis

  • My first Smiley. Nothing grand, but a nice story.

    4.00 out of 5

    debnance

  • Excellent. About a woman who moves to Kansas with her new husband in the 1850's with all the pre-Civil War turmoil going on. I have a vague idea of this period from reading American history, but never had a sense of what it must have been like to live it. Smiley is really good at giving you a sense of that. Though for me, it's not at the level of Horse Heaven for how much I loved it, or Greenlanders for how it impresses me and haunts me, it's way up there.

    4.00 out of 5

    marysargent

  • This book covers conditions in "Bleeding Kansas" in the period leading up to the Civil War. In the hands of a writer as talented as Smiley, it should have been one of the best. Maybe Smiley set the bar too high, but this just doesn't live up to the standards I expected after "A Thousand Acres".

    3.50 out of 5

    oregonobsessionz

Reviews provided by Librarything.

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