The Indifferent Stars Above

by Brown, Daniel James

• ISBN13: 9780061348112
• ISBN10: 0061348112
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co

Summary

In April of 1846, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves, intent on a better future, set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of emigrants led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starving and desperate, Sarah and fourteen others set out for California on snowshoes and, over the next thirty-two days, endured almost unfathomable hardships and horrors. In this gripping narrative, Daniel James Brown sheds new light on one of the most infamous events in American history. Following every painful footstep of Sarah's journey with the Donner Party, Brown produces a tale both spellbinding and richly informative.

Author Biography

Daniel James Brown is the author of the widely acclaimed Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894. He lives in the country east of Redmond, Washington, with his wife and two daughters.

Table of Contents

Author's Note	p. xi
Prologue	p. 1
A Sprightly Boy and a Romping Girl	p. 7
Home and Heart	p. 9
Mud and Merchandise	p. 25
Grass	p. 45
The Barren Earth	p. 59
Dust	p. 61
Deception	p. 76
Salt, Sage, and Blood	p. 93
The Meager by the Meager Were Devoured	p. 117
Cold Calculations	p. 119
Desperation	p. 140
Christmas Feasts	p. 159
The Heart on the Mountain	p. 176
Madness	p. 189
Hope and Despair	p. 204
Heroes and Scoundrels	p. 222
In the Reproof of Chance	p. 243
Shattered Souls	p. 245
Golden Hills, Black Oaks	p. 256
Peace	p. 264
In the Years Beyond	p. 267
Epilogue	p. 274
Appendix: The Donner Party Encampments	p. 289
Acknowledgments	p. 293
Chapter Notes	p. 295
Sources	p. 325
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.