Book Blurb:
Firmitas, the second book in the Pocket Full of Seeds Trilogy, continues the saga of Horace and Fredericka and their flight to freedom along the Oregon Trail. They must persevere across brutal terrain rife with imposters, slavers, horse thieves, and eccentric travel partners to reach the boiling cascades of the Columbia River. Meanwhile, a young San Francisco comes to life and an unproven “shortcut” through the Sierra Nevada Mountains tests endurance beyond imagination.
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/firmitas
Author Bio:
Danuta Pfeiffer is a progressive journalist, best known for her work in radio and television in San Diego, and as her award-winning memoir Chiseled explains her behind-the-scenes experience as co-host of The 700 Club with Pat Robertson during his run for president. Today, Danuta and her husband Robin can be found tending to their 70-acre vineyard, making fine wine, and sharing it with friends in their tasting room at Pfeiffer Winery in Oregon.
Editorial Review:
Trudging across a rough continent toward an unproven haven was their only hope for a normal, free life. Hard enough for any emigrant on the Oregon Trail, harder still for slaves on the run. The plains bestowed no mercy for a slight miscalculation or a lapse in judgment, and the odds were piling up against them.
The wait is over for this much-anticipated book two in the Pocket Full of Seeds Trilogy, and the continuing journey of Horace and Fredericka, runaway slaves from a Southern plantation before the outbreak of the Civil War. This is a time period of the rapid growth of America and the outpouring of emigrants and dreamers in search of land and glory in the West as they trail across the Oregon Trail to begin their new lives. When we left Horace and Fredericka in book one, Libertas, the first taste of life on the trail begins. Along with their own inner turmoils, a bounty hunter pursues them, determined to bring them back in chains; they are sidled with their former slave owner's wife, Henrietta, who joined a wagon train after being widowed; and Horace's best friend, Jonathan, his white “brother” has betrayed him and set off with a different wagon train after putting his fiance, Emily, on a ship bound for San Francisco.
Five people's lives are transformed by their dreams of reaching the golden coast – Fredericka, Horace, Henrietta, Jonathan, and Emily – all entwined together along this journey, yet building their own story in this new world. At the outset, and a continuation from book one, Fredericka must face choices and hardships without the aid of Horace whose near tragic death has left him comatose. Daily she coaxes him from his state while trudging forward along this dry, scorching, and brutal land, all the while being the glue which keeps the rest of her companions together – Henrietta, who every day becomes more erratic; Fredericka's baby, Bo; and a young girl named Miriam, who becomes crippled from a snake bite. Every single day presents another mountain to climb or river to forge, literally and emotionally.
Shaking with adrenaline and anquish, Fredericka threw the saw aside and let out a long, bellyaching cry. She had been raised not to complain, not to think, to keep her hopes down and her eyes averted. She was taught to accept that life was merciless, but this frightening new world was full of choices and fraught with mistakes. So many things had gone wrong, and there were so many decisions to make on her own.
As with Libertas, this is an introspection about life and transformation. Whereas Libertas focused on Fredricka, the main character's freedom, this one delves deep into the things which change us as people, sometimes into someone we don't recognize anymore, especially when faced with the fact that one must keep moving forward no matter what tragedy befalls you. Life moves ever forward, and endurance is all that any of us have. Ms Pfeiffer translates this with such skill, weaving the life lessons into the narrative in an astounding way as true literature should do. Steinbeck did the same with his novel “East of Eden”, using the word timshel (thou mayst) to denote the thread of being able to conquer evil, that a man has a choice and CAN overcome... thus, Ms Pfeiffer places herself in good company alongside this literary giant who wove a historical tale in such a profound way, proving once again that she is a master storyteller.
“We've become hard and numb. So spent on getting there we forgot why we wanted to go in the first place.” Horace turned his eyes to the expanse before them, the range of mountains covered in snow, a rolling valley peppered with wild sage. “We've lost part of ourselves out there. There's no time for feelings when every minute of every day is eaten up. There's a Latin word, firmitas. It means endurance. It's all that's left of us. No time for anything else. Makes you wonder when we get to where we're going, what kind of people will we be?”
For the most part, Firmitas can be read as a stand-alone but a reader will miss out on this incredible journey started in the first book; it is well worth the effort made to read both. The action is packed and page-turning – full of pain, dashed hopes, unexpected moments, love, tenderness, fierceness, and, ultimately, hope. Yet just when you think the sun is rising and a breath can be taken, another storm brews, and the reader gets a true and stark sense of what life was like for these trailblazers. How any of them survived is astounding! And, as with book one, the stage is set for the third book in the series as Horace and Fredericka take their first steps on Oregonian land. The search for freedom and the chiseling nature of endurance follows Horace and Fredericka, and their resiliency is breathtaking. For a second time – Bravo, Ms Pfeiffer, bravo!!
They were all tattered, sunburnt, emaciated, hollowed out, and tested. After two thousand miles and over five months, their endurance had etched into them like an epitaph. Driven by a force beyond themselves, purified of emotional conceits, they were gaunt but determined, filled with an intangible hope as they faced the last hurdle to their dreams on the banks of the mighty Columbia.
*****
“Firmitas” by Danuta Pfeiffer receives five stars and the “Highly Recommended” award of excellence from The Historical Fiction Company
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