The Fields

Rating:
Summary: Historical fiction at its most authentic.
Review: Conrad Richter's "The Fields" is the middle book of his "Awakening Land" trilogy, and is no less powerful than the first, "The Trees," with its authentic use of pioneer speech and dialects, and its realistic depiction of the triumphs and tragedies of real Americans. Set in the original "West" of Ohio, "The Fields" continues the story of Sayward Luckett Wheeler as she and her growing family settle their land and deal with the everyday task of surviving. What was a handful of isolated trapper's cabins in the first book has now become a collection of settlements that is clearly on its way to becoming a bustling town. Sayward, as stoical as always, strongly confronts every realistic challenge and victory frontier life hands her. She's a refreshingly strong feminine character who is truly the reason why the West was settled. Her strength and determination holds her large family together as the frontier is pushed further westward. Mr. Richter was a truly gifted writer who manges to make the daily life of these long-dead heroes exciting and worthwhile.