The Daughter's Walk | Review

The Daughter's Walk is a historical fiction novel based on two women from the 19th century - Helga and Clara Estby. Helga accepted a wager from the fashion industry to walk from their small town in Washington state to New York City. The two would don fashion-forward dresses for new age women as a form of advertisement. The challenge was to arrive in New York in precisely seven months where time Helga was to be paid ten thousand dollars, which would be used to save the family farm.

Helga was accompanied on this journey by her 18-year-old daughter, Clara. The two women slept in train stations and worked for meals and new shoes as needed while they struggled through many unforeseen hardships along the way of their 3,500-mile trek.

Upon their return to the Estby farm more than a year later, Clara decided to claim her own freedom as an independent woman. She left her family and changed her name, which lead to more than a twenty-year separation from her family.

Kirkpatrick weaves history and fiction together to explore Clara's continued journey. In an era where women were expected to marry and have children while silently supporting their husbands, came the Women's Suffrage Movement. The details Kirkpatrick includes made it easy for me to imagine myself alongside these women - great read!
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I give this book a rating of 9/10 and here’s why:

Text: Kirkpatrick writes well. She created a well-researched, provocative read that speaks of community and forgiveness.

Dialogue: For the most part the dialogue was good; however, some of the word choices I felt were slightly out of character for 19th century language.

Plot: The growth of the characters was impressive. Kirkpatrick's story-telling ability had me engrossed from start to finish, all the while cheering on Clara's independence even as she walked into, what I could tell, was trouble..

Characters: They came to life. Even though the story is based in the 19th-century, I found it easy to connect with Clara, to understand where she was coming from.