“People get tired of constant bad news, they shut it out after a while, become immune to it.”
The Children's Blizzard by: Melanie Benjamin
narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
rating: liked
US Historical Fiction set in the 1800s, homesteaders, based on a real event, narrated by my favorite audiobook narrator Cassandra Campbell... This should have been a recipe for success. However, I only just liked this book. And it's the premise that carried me through the whole thing. The premise is this: in 1888 a blizzard blew through the Midwest right as children were leaving school. That morning was unusually mild so many children weren't prepared for the cold, especially the cold of a freak blizzard. School teachers at the end were just children themselves at around 16 and weren't prepared to handle this type of emergency. Poor planning, and lack of supplies lead to many succumbing to the weather.
But here is what didn't work for me: There are very few likable characters. There is a notion of women not needing men in the midst of the lonely miserable prairie, that does not fit with the reality of the time. And the plot drags. When I got to the end of part 1, I was sorely disappointed the book wasn't over.
The author mentions a non fiction book by David Laskin by the same name as her inspiration for this book. I wish I would have read that one instead.
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