Rating: 
Summary: An emotional story!
Review: "The Diary of Mattie Spenser" is an exceptional book! If you're looking for a sugarcoated tale of a woman's life in the West, then look for another book. Dallas' book illustrates the nitty-gritty things women endured while traveling west and once settling. The standards women needed to abide by were treacherous and merciless. I felt an array of emotions while reading this: pity and strength for Mattie, repugnance and detestation towards Luke, ardor and fondness for Tom, etc. Women may have been the "lesser" sex, but men could not endure what the women had. I recommend.
Rating:
Summary: An emotional story!
Review: "The Diary of Mattie Spenser" is an exceptional book! If you're looking for a sugarcoated tale of a woman's life in the West, then look for another book. Dallas' book illustrates the nitty-gritty things women endured while traveling west and once settling. The standards women needed to abide by were treacherous and merciless. I felt an array of emotions while reading this: pity and strength for Mattie, repugnance and detestation towards Luke, ardor and fondness for Tom, etc. Women may have been the "lesser" sex, but men could not endure what the women had. I recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Sunday afternoon read!!!
Review: A friend loaned this book to me and simply because of the cover I moved it to the top of my "to read" pile! I couldn't put it down. I truly loved Mattie Spenser and in reading her story, felt so many of her emotions...her love and joys, fears, terror and much of the pain! I think Sandra Dallas is a fabulous author and I can't wait to get my hands on everything else by her! I do hope they make this a movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Frontier Story Spoiled by Modern-Day Romance
Review: A story within a story, the meat of course being the personal diary of a young frontier wife, Mattie Spenser, setting out with her husband to settle the wilds of Colorado. In the three years chronicled by the diary, the strong yet plain Mattie deals with failed crops, Indian attack, childbirth, and multiple deaths. The crushing blow is the betrayal of her husband, Luke, a man she's come to love though she knows the feelings are not reciprocal.It's a compelling story, but disappointing. Unfortunately I smelled the trap of the "romance novel" as it was set. And sure enough, when it was sprung, it was a dull snap. This book lacked the surprise twists that mark Sandra Dallas' other novels. Perhaps the romance intrigue just mentioned was intended to fulfill that design, but it seemed too "formula" to me.
Rating:
Summary: Naive dreams turn to frontier drama and rich experiences.
Review: A young pioneer woman inhabiting a sod house on the frontier discovers her strength and experiences the nuances of love and romance with the same emotions as a woman of the 90's. Only the customs, conveniences and external details differ. The internal questions and fears are the same. With fewer options, our heroine elected to bake another rhubarb pie in effort to win Luke's affection. What Mattie lost was herself. Bit by bit she gave up parts of herself and her possibilities for real happiness. Giving in to mores of the day and opinions of others, she lived out her life shut off from her feelings and in the absence of joy and fulfillment. Luke was brought to his knees only after awakening to the the atrocious reality of his thoughless and self-serving behavior. After 3 years of calculated deceipt, he shapes up but it's too late. For Mattie, in her grief, is devoid of love. An all too real outcome. This is either the ultimate experience of forgiveness or the tragedy of leading an emotionally isolated life. Keeps the family together at a great personal price. This book in its straightforward simplicity was a great read from start to finish.
Rating:
Summary: Strong women live here
Review: After finishing the Persian Pickle Club, I immediately had to have more more more of Sandra Dallas. I like the diary format, and the story introducing us to the diary was nice, but not as exciting as the story itself. I could not believe all that happened to Mattie in her lifetime, and wanted more of a what happened later type "sequel" after I finished this....but, it was a marvelous read and none of the events that happened seemed a bit contrived, since no doubt this is what happened to people in that generation....maybe not as frequently as it appears in the diary, but we must remember that in fact, a lot was true. The births, illnesses, and even deaths of small children, young mothers and old alike is a fact. I loved Mattie's diversion with one of the bachelors and probably wouldn't have been so kind and forgiving to her husband as she was, but life in those days was so different. I could not in my wildest imagination have endured what she did. As a character she was real and I admire her greatly for what she survived. Sandra Dallas did it again. And I look forward to her latest since I'll be needing it after finishing Buster Midnight's Cafe!
Rating:
Summary: What a great read!!!!!!
Review: After reading "These Is My Words" I found "The Diary of Mattie Spenser", another book in diary format. How lucky I was to take a chance and order this from Amazon! It was a very good read and made me stop all my other projects and read this book! I only hope Sandra Dallas has more books to come. The "Persian Pickle Club" by Sandra Dallas was also a good book.
Rating:
Summary: the 1990's sensibilty was too close to the surface
Review: Although I enjoyed this book a great deal in the beginning , as it went on I began to weary of the 1990's touches the author had thrown in for the amusement of the readers, such as the lady pioneers, who "wink, wink" don't need a husband. Although the book was entertaining I would have enjoyed it more had the narrator viewed things in manner more in line with times. The ending was also a bit of a disappointment, for I had hoped for something else for Mattie.
Rating:
Summary: A glimpse into the hardships of prairie life
Review: An interesting way to learn of the difficulties pioneers had in settling the Colorado Territory. Mattie is an admirable character who meets the challenges of prairie life and marital disappointment with courage and integrity. Despite some contrived events, this is a heartwarming book.
Rating:
Summary: One of My Top Ten Favorites!!!!!
Review: Being a diary writer for more than 30 years, I am drawn to books written in diary format. This book portrayed a woman reaching spinster status, who was suddenly asked to wed and travel west to the Colorado frontier by a man she never expected was "interested" in courting her. The book continues through the travails of cross country travel, including an Indian attach, to settling on the plains where life is hard for anyone to survive, but particularly for her female acquaintenances. I disagree with a previous reviewer who indicated that author never developed the other characters. In defense of the author, and from my own journalling experiences, I must state that that reviewer must never have kept a journal. This format is definitely not for everyone. But it is a true, one sided, narrative that is very typical of journal writing. Everything is seen through the eyes (writing) of the main character. Being in the first person, it is going to be prejudice at times. But there is also a frankness that cannot be gained from other forms of writing. I could feel what she was feeling. My only regret was that Mattie took so long to find out why she was chosen a bride to Luke Spencer. Some reviewers called her a forward thinker, ahead of her times. But I found her to be completely naive to the the ways of a man and woman. I don't want to give too much away, but if you like diary style writing, and history of the frontier, read this book!!!!!
|
