A Claim of Her Own by Stephanie Grace Whitson

I am so happy that I had the chance to review the book A Claim of Her Own by Stephanie Grace Whitson. I am a history buff and love anything that can bring history to life for me and it's so much the better when the story involves God, the Creator of all!

Mattie O'Keefe travels to North Dakota to find her brother who is mining in the Black Hills territory. She arrives, running from bad memories and bad choices, to find a shock that she wasn't prepared for. I must admit neither was I. The twists and turns in the book keeps you guessing and turning the pages right up to the very end, and then you want more.

I had a hard time putting down this book from the time I started two days ago until I finished it today - I struggled to put it down. Stephanie Grace Whitson really did a surperb job in the writing of A Claim of Her Own, a work well worth reading. From the moment Mattie walks into the city of Deadwood on a frieght wagon train your attention is pulled in and you can feel for Mattie.

There is something to be said for a book that can make you feel the character, her or his emotions - wether it be fear, sadness, grief - if the author can make the reader feel that it's a job well done. An even better job is done when you can feel the hem of your dress caked in mud, the dirt in your hair, the stench in the streets and the sounds coming from the saloons. If the author can pull the reader so that the reader feels they are there in the story then that book is a success.

I look forward to reading more of Stephanie Grace Whitson's books and am pleased that I had the chance to review this book.