Sixteen Brides

Excitement ensued when I received a copy of SIXTEEN BRIDES by Stephanie Grace Whitson from Bethany House. As an avid reader of historical fiction, I eagerly ate this book up. I had it read cover to cover in one day. The characters are very realistic, and I felt like I knew them in real life. The scenery “out west” is easy to picture, and the dialogue is easy to follow. One issue I had involved Caroline’s speech. Sometimes it was “Southern,” other times not. The story follows sixteen women as they travel out west to gain land. Once there, they discover that they are actually meant to be brides, not homesteaders. Most of the women go on to meet the men, while others stay in a small town seeking land and jobs. These women are the ones that the story follows more closely. They meet some men, most of them questionable, who they eventually end up marrying. One of the men has a mysterious past, but the clues give away what it is too soon in the story. He turned out to be a very lovable character, and his motherless daughter was a sweetheart. Hettie’s portion of the story made me sad. I understood the troubles between her and her husband, but at the end, I was left wanting much more. Ruth’s story made me smile, and I felt like Jackson, her son, led into a sequel. I will definitely read the sequel. I hope that, if there is a sequel, Jackson falls in love with Matthew’s daughter.