Adult Review: The Daughter's Walk

Please Note:

I'm sure you've noticed I've started adding adult type book reviews to the blog. I'm in the process of moving my reviews for non-children's books to this site and I would appreciate it if you'd let me know your thoughts on this.  Many of them will be Christian with some secular mystery/thriller (not creepy vampire/dark type books). Thanks so much!

The Daughter's Walk

by Jane Kirkpatrick

ISBN: 978-1400074297 Publisher: WaterBrook Press
Purchase online:
Amazon - $8.19 paperback

               - $9.99 kindle

About the book:

A mother's tragedy, a daughter's desire and the 7000 mile journey that changed their lives.


In 1896 Norwegian American Helga Estby accepted a wager from the fashion industry to walk from Spokane, Washington to New York City within seven months in an effort to earn $10,000. Bringing along her nineteen year-old daughter Clara, the two made their way on the 3500-mile trek by following the railroad tracks and motivated by the money they needed to save the family farm. After returning home to the Estby farm more than a year later, Clara chose to walk on alone by leaving the family and changing her name. Her decisions initiated a more than 20-year separation from the only life she had known.





My Thoughts:
This is the story of 2 women, mother and daughter, who make a 7,000 mile trek (ON FOOT) across America to earn the money to save their family farm. Helga (the mother) has agreed to start out the journey in normal everyday women's turn of the century attire and part way there they are to switch to split skirts to promote women's lib and show that women are just as hardy and able to hold their own without men in their lives.  Helga volunteers her 16 year daughter as her companion and also agrees to speak to women (and some men) along the way to share their experience and help promote women's lib.

Along the way they battle freezing cold, hunger, desert conditions and near death - the only way their deadline can be extended is through illness.

Outstanding book! I really enjoyed it and actually stayed up late into the night to read it. I sympathized with the daughter more so than the mother. It is actually the daughter's story more than the mother's. There is a father disappointed and disillusioned with the mother choosing to leave home to do this (he feels her place is at home), a sudden split in the family, dishonesty and loyalty, and also the story of how the daughter (Clara) makes her way into the world and finds the support of two women who educate her and support her after she finds herself unemployable and suddenly without a family.

I found it amazing and strangely uplifting to read what these two women went through all for something that the mother believed in whole-heartedly and that ultimately made a difference in women's lives in future America.


I strongly encourage women to read this book. It's suitable for kids 13+ to adult to read. I can't think of anything that is questionable as far as language, premaritable sex, etc. It's a great way for young women to learn about the fight women had to get basic freedoms other than the right to wear pants and work outside the home.

About Jane Kirkpatrick:
Jane believes that our lives are the stories that others read first and she encourages groups to discover the power of their own stories to divinely heal and transform. Visit her website for more information about her current projects and the privilege of following one's passion wherever the dreams may lead.

You can find Jane Kirkpatrick here:
Words of Encouragement (blog)
Jane's Facebook Author Page
Jane's Twitter Author Page

What others are saying:
"Jane Kirkpatrick is a wonderful writer who creates a story full of strong, admirable characters with human flaws. Clara and Helga come to life with dimension and depth pulling us into their world. I walked across the country with them, experienced their triumph and disappointment, and faced the shattered, angry family when they returned. Jane has given readers a wonderful story of a family schism that comes full circle to love and grace and the importance of family, especially when one has been an outcast. I highly recommend The Daughter’s Walk!"
~ Francine Rivers, New York Times Bestselling Author.

Much thanks to Blogging For Books by WaterbrookMultnomah for sending me a copy of The Daughter's Walk to review. No money exchanged hands and I was not required to write a positive review.


Would you consider (pretty please) ranking my review so i can get other books to review for you? I really appreciate it!
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