In 1851 life at the Bethel Colony in Missouri was truly communal. All the money that was earned was used by everyone. Food was harvested and shared by the entire community. No one lacked for food, shelter, or clothing. But seventeen year old Emma Wagner was not happy with the whole situation. She wanted to stand out; she didn't want to look and acts like everyone else. She wanted to be an individual. It drove her crazy that woman's opinion weren't valued because she had a lot to say. The colony's leader Father Keil led their religious group with a controlling hand. After Emma married 37 year old Christian Giesy, they and a group of others from the colony headed from Missouri to Oregon in search of a place to start a new colony. This is the story of Emma following her heart, her love, and God to a new life that she never expected she would be living.

At the end of the book the author listed the historical facts that were used for creation of this work of historical fiction. She had a lot of facts to use and she made them work well in the story. The one thing that she made up was the way Emma Wagner was and how she reacted. She did a great job of making her headstrong and feisty but still very likable. This book shows the hardships early Americans had trying to find a place to live, build a house, and also be able to provide food. It was interesting learning about the Bethel Colony. I enjoyed this book from the beginning to the end.

This is the first book in Jane Kirkpatrick's Change and Cherish Historical Series. You can read an excerpt here. Emma of Aurora: The Complete Change and Cherish Trilogy includes all three books in the series, which are: A Clearing in the Wild, A Tendering in the Storm, and A Mending at the Edge.

I received a free copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah and Blogging For Books in exchange for my honest review.

I thought this was a wonderful book - good historical content. I was especially interested since I grew up in Oregon and know Portland and Aurora. I am looking forward to reading the other two in this series.

Kirkpatrick is a master of historical fiction. What is especially great about her novels is that they are based on true stories.

During the mid-nineteenth century, a scouting group from a religious sect of German descent left Bethel, Missouri and headed west to find a new and more remote location for their utopian religious community. Among them was one woman, Emma Giesy, wife of the leader of the group. Feeling very suppressed by the dictatorial leader of the community in Bethel, Emma managed to get herself included in the scouting party. They initially headed to the Washington Territory. But when the rest of the community arrived, there was disagreement and they eventually ended up in the Willapa Valley in the Oregon Territory.

Kirkpatrick combines actual historical records with fictional events and dialog to give us a good sense of what life was like in the religious community and in the wild Oregon Territory. They certainly experienced hardships that had to be endured for them to survive. Of central interest is the place of women in that era. Emma rebelled against the accepted place. She desired a community where there was more equality between men and women. She was a strong woman but her exhibiting that strength came at a price for the community.

There are many issues discussed in this novel and the Discussion Questions included help make this a good choice for reading groups. There can be lively discussion about the place of women in the church and ministry and about how much authority a religious leader should have and if he should be followed without question.

I think you will find this historical novel well written and very interesting. Not only will you get a sense of pioneering in the mid-nineteenth century but also the characteristics of the religious communities that were formed during this era.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

I am fascinated by history, but I don't often read historical fiction. I find some books not very believable or realistic, but that was not the case with A Clearing in the Wild, a book set in the 1850s. The book is told from the perspective of Emma Wagler Geisy, who is a member of the Bethel Colony, a community of Christians living in Missouri who are skeptical of the "outside world" and the evils and sin it contains. Emma is outspoken and doesn't often agree with the colony's attitude toward women, so when her husband is chosen to be a scout to choose a new location for the colony in the West (Oregon, Washington), she finds a way to go along.

The story is based on fact, and it's hard to know what really happened and what the author imagined, but I was impressed with the little details about life in the 1850s that the author included - like how Emma would have learned what worked as diapers for her baby from the Indians of the area, what was safe to eat, and what to expect from various seasons. The book gives a glimpse into the choices that the scouts had to make when choosing a new location, how they solved conflict, and the hard, back-breaking work that was created to carve a living out the wilderness. When the Leader of the colony comes west and doesn't fully approve of the choice of settlement, Emma and her husband have to make hard decisions that determine their family's future with the colony.

I would recommend this book as a very good read, and hope that the rest of the series is just as good. I learned some United States history, and a lot about what life was really like in the 1850s.

I received this book for free from Waterbrook in exchange for my honest review.

Young Emma Wagner seems to be born into controversy.

As a Bethelite woman she is expected to be content with a simple communal life where everyone dresses the same, individuality is frowned upon, and women are expected to keep silence. When Emma Sets her heart on marrying Christian Giesy despite the fact the leader of the colony opposes it, it doesn't take a lot of persuasion for him to agree to letting her accompany her new husband and a group of scouts on a mission to Oregon.

As their scouting mission progresses Emma begins to question the Bethelite leader and his ideas that women are little more than the servants of men. As she begins to find her voice in a male dominated society, she also starts to believe that God chooses individuals not communities, and that He made His creation to be unique and individual.

A Clearing in the Wild is absolutely inspiring!

Although she can be selfish and short sighted at times, Emma is a heroine. She follows the old German proverb " Begin to weave/God provides the thread". Even when things don't make sense she still "weaves", still leads as God guides her and provides the "thread".

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.