Barbara RiefeCritiques

Desperate Journey by Barbara Riefe is a story about a young woman captured by Oglala Sioux warriors in 1865. Overall this was a fairly average account of one woman’s survival, and of the feelings of hatred that existed between the Indians, the Army and the settlers. Unfortunately most of the characters were rather flat and the story was quite predictable.

John Prior, his wife Jenny and their adopted daughter Mary are part of a small wagon train heading to Oregon. While most of the men were in the woods chopping wood, the train was attacked and Jenny and Mary, along with another woman and child were taken captive. Jenny is considered quite the prize due to her flaming red hair and becomes the fifth wife of Ottowa, an Oglala chief. While her husband John begins his search to recover his wife and daughter, Jenny faces other dangers at the camp of the Sioux and is in constant fear of losing her life.

Desperate Journey was a quick read but there were discrepancies and some historical inaccuracies so not a book that I can recommend.

This novel by Barbara Riefe tells the story of a small family that journeys overland by covered wagon to California. It is 1849 and the husband, Noah , has been bitten by the gold rush bug. The wife, Lucy doesn’t want to leave her friends and family in Baltimore, but she loves her husband and so agrees to pack up her belongings and her small daughter. They are able to travel about a third of the way with a small wagon party that is heading to Oregon, but eventually they must leave and strike out on their own. The journey is hazardous, strenuous and at times heartbreaking. It amazes me what people put themselves through on the barest promise of a better life to come.

I enjoyed this book, but wished there was more to the characters. I never really felt connected to them, they always remained just black and white with no real depth. Of course, the subject matter really interests me, and it was a easy and quick read. Barbara Riefe is a born story-teller and certainly knew what she was writing about, I just wish I was able to get more involved in the story.

Cover by Wrightson