Elinore Pruitt is a spitfire. When she is widowed while still quite young, instead of staying in Denver and working as a washerwoman, she decides to take a job out west in Wyoming and claim a homestead for herself. This book is a collection of her letters to a friend in Denver, a record of her escapades and neighbors, how she works and gives a woman's perspective of the rather isolated living of a homesteader.
I loved this. So much. Her voice is so fresh and fun, she's charismatic and so friendly. I was astonished by how quickly people become companions - how a fireside in the night is shared with strangers, how food becomes common to all and how people you've never met before will invite you into their home to stay for a week because they are so happy to have company. Elinore has a wonderful way with words and I loved watching her learn what she was capable of. The world she describes is pristine and wild, full of cowboys and horse thieves, canyons and buttes, making do and doing without. I love reading stories of strong and capable women living a very real and yet so different life than mine. Sometimes I had a hard time keeping all the names straight but overall, this is a great for anyone who enjoys history and personal narratives.
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