The Diary of Mattie Spenser

Rating:
Summary: Light and enjoyable
Review: This book is not deep, but of course it doesn't have to be to make enjoyable reading. I thought it was a bit too modern in sensibilities to be believable, but it's easy to forgive Ms. Dallas for that since she created a heroine in Mattie who is so easy to like. Everyone in our reading circle gave "Mattie" thumbs up.

Rating:
Summary: What a great read!!
Review: This is a great book. It has everything, joy, sorrow, love, hate...all of it. Mattie is a true heroin in this book. It may be a bit of a stretch believing just how MUCH Mattie had to endure out on the prarie, but it was a good story nonetheless, not as good in my opinion as Alice's Tulips, but close behind. I highly recommend!

Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed this book thoroughly and couldn't put it down.
Review: This is a great read for those who enjoy historical fiction and have an interest in the life of a pioneer woman. The characters were engaging and the plot interesting. It was somewhat reminiscent of The All True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton, by Jane Smiley.

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended!
Review: This novel begins with a woman helping her elderly neighbor move into a retirement home. The elderly lady keeps giving her heirlooms to the woman, knowing the woman is a collector of antiques and an armchair historian. One of the things she passes along is her grandmother's diary -- a journal kept when the grandmother, Mattie, travelled West with her husband to set up a homestead in the Colorado Territory. The rest of the novel is the diary itself -- a marvelous story that made me think constantly of the "Little House" books. I really enjoyed this novel a lot and look forward to reading Dallas's other books. Highly recommended to anyone who misses the Ingalls or loves stories about strong women pioneers.

Rating:
Summary: Love Sandra Dallas
Review: This was the first Sandra Dallas book that I read & I immediately searched out her others. This was a beautiful story and not one soon forgotten. Matty is a beautiful heroine. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Love Sandra Dallas
Review: This was the first Sandra Dallas book that I read & I immediately searched out her others. This was a beautiful story and not one soon forgotten. Matty is a beautiful heroine. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyed it. Great characters.
Review: This will be the next book turned into a movie. Strong supporting characters enhance the plot between the main characters of the story. I purchased 4 copies and gave to friends.

Rating:
Summary: A great book!
Review: What a hard and frightening time Mattie had! How did those women survive? This is a very good, very believable story. Hard to put down.

Rating:
Summary: An endearing look at frontier life from a woman's viewpoint
Review: While I would not consider this book a classic work of fiction, it was so entertaining and wonderful that I did not put it down until I was done. (Reading while I was cooking dinner.) Sandra Dallas has an ability to express the inner thoughts and feelings of women in such a way that they become your friends. You begin to care about them and it's almost as if you're having a conversation with a friend. That's the feeling I got when I read both this book and The Persian Pickle Club. They are both wonderful reads and give you a real sense of the different times and places in which the books are set.

Rating:
Summary: Didn't fool me for a minute
Review: While the "Diary of Mattie Spenser" paints a true-sounding, not-very-pretty picture of frontier life, it fairly shouts "This is historical fiction". I never fully believed in the characters; except for Mattie they're not really brought to life. I agree with the reviewer who felt the author had a list of characters and plot devices that she "ticked off" to a not-very-surprising conclusion. But I must admit I've been spoiled. I read the magical, lyrical, clever and delightful "These is My Words" first.