Book Review: These is My Words

These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It seems that most of my girlfriends have read this book this year. Everyone gave it a thumbs up, so I felt compelled to read it. I was very surprised by the violence. Some time ago I read Dead Man's Walk and found the gruesome descriptions of the fighting between the calvary and the Comanchee Indians to be such that I only recommended it to my brothers. So I was taken back by the greater amount violence in this book - from Indian raids, to rape, murder, and infidelity, this book was not just about being a pioneer as I had imagined.

While I enjoyed the story, I wondered if parts of it could possibly be true. For instance, the sharp shooting ability of Sarah, from everything I've ever heard, the guns in that period were so poor that being a sharp shooter was nearly impossible. So when Sarah kills a rattlesnake that is climbing up the chair where her baby daughter is sitting....I wondered. I guess it's just a story and so I shouldn't worry about the details.

Here is what I did like - the relationship between Sarah and her husband Jack Elliot. To me, it was the perfect combination of love and independence for Sarah. While she often longed for him to be home taking care of her, in reality she was capable of handling almost every situation she encountered. I could picture myself in her shoes, wanting the attention and the romance and the help when needed, but not restricted to having her husbands do everything for her. I love that he was there, holding her for the times that she really needed him, but then was gone and believed in her ability to handle everyday life and even really hard situations. I love that he had been in love with her for a long time, even while she was married to Jimmy. I love that he was attentive to her personal desires and did what he could to help her satisfy those desires.

One thing I really related to was the journal keeping. In the beginning when she is a young girl, she keeps her journal very regularly. I love her sharing her inner desire to learn and her desire for more education. As life goes on, she becomes busier with the needs of a growing family, the responsibilities of managing an income and serving others. Her journal keeping becomes less regular, she begins to write weeks apart and then months and even years. But at the same time you know that she isn't writing simply because she is so busy and so tired. Even though she isn't writing it, you know that she stills love the beauty of sunsets, is concerned for others, and misses Jack.

I think it was the perfect ending. Hard, yes, but perfect for the story.

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