Diary of Mattie Spenser

Sandra Dallas

Book cover for Diary of Mattie Spenser
Image for variant 9780312187101
Book cover for Diary of Mattie Spenser
Image for variant 9780312187101

Diary of Mattie Spenser

Diary of Mattie Spenser

Sandra Dallas

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Description
Nobody was more surprised than Mattie herself when Luke Spenser, considered the great catch of their small Iowa town, asked her to marry him. Less than a month later, they are wed and setting off in a covered wagon to build a home on the Colorado frontier. Mattie's only company, aside from a taciturn and slightly mysterious new husband, is her private journal, where she records the joys and frustrations not just of frontier life, but also of marriage to a handsome but distant stranger. As Mattie and Luke make a life together on the harsh and beautiful prairie, battling the fierce odds imposed by weather, illness, and lawlessness, Mattie learns some bitter truths about her husband and the woman he left behind, and finds love where she least expects it.

About the Author

Award-winning author Sandra Dallas was dubbed "a quintessential American voice" by Jane Smiley, in Vogue Magazine. She is the author of The Bride's House, Whiter Than Snow, Prayers for Sale and Tallgrass, among others. She is the recipient of the Women Writing the West Willa Award and the two-time winner of the Western Writers of America Spur Award. For 25 years, Dallas worked as a reporter covering the Rocky Mountain region for Business Week, and started writing fiction in 1990. She lives with her husband in Denver, Colorado.

Critical Reviews

"A wonderfully vivit portrait of frontier life...Mattie is a marvelous creation...It's a story that's genuinely moving and impossible to put down." --Rocky Mountain News

"One of the bright new voices in historical fiction...Dallas's authentic period details, her colorful minor characters, and most of all Mattie herself lend charm and emotnional truth to this appealing marital and pioneering adventure." --Publishers Weekly

Publishing Information

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pub date: 1998-05-15
Length: 240 pages

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