Books that Hook: The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
Books that Hook
BY KALIE CHAMBERLAIN
Our senior book reviews are written with the understanding that mature, sensible, premium-aged people may not want the bother of searching for well-written, sleaze-free reading materials—that’s why we’ve done the searching for you. We hope you enjoy this month’s pick.
This Month’s Fiction Selection: The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
Author: Ann Weisgarber
Publisher: Viking
Length: 321 pages
The story begins this way: in the Dakota Badlands, in the middle of a terrible drought, a mother watches her five-year-old daughter being lowered into a well that has nearly gone dry. Deep down in the dark beyond sight of her family, the child slowly ladles up the muddy water, sending up a bucket at a time. The mother chokes back tears, wondering if her daughter will ever forgive her for what they have asked her to do—and for what they will have to ask her to do again tomorrow.
The mother is Rachel DuPree, heroine of Ann Weisgarber’s debut novel. Isaac DuPree, Rachel’s husband, is one of the largest landowners in South Dakota. He and Rachel are also African American. Individuals of great courage, Rachel and Isaac face the hardships of homesteading with grit and determination. Despite loss, drought, and financial strain, the DuPrees succeed where it seems no one else can.
Filled with pulse-pounding moments of worry, dread, excitement, and rejoicing, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree will keep you up, turning pages late into the night. You’ll fret with Rachel over the fate of her unborn child. You’ll shade your eyes and look to the sky for a hint of clouds that could mean rain. You’ll fall in love with Isaac DuPree, a hard man to love and a harder man to disappoint. You’ll struggle with the confusing relationships between Indians and distant neighbors. And with Rachel, you’ll silently long for days past in Chicago, with its indoor plumbing, iceboxes stocked with provisions, and Saturday evening dances swaying with ragtime music.
Weisbarger’s novel was seven years in the making. Her inspiration began on a trip to the Badlands National Park when she saw a picture of an African American woman homesteader. Sadly, the woman’s name and history had been lost to time. It was her story Weisbarger set out to tell.
The Personal History of Rachel DuPree was published in 2009 and won the Steven Turner Award for Best Work of First Fiction and the Langum Prize for American Historical Fiction. Charged with all the drama and passion of Nancy E. Turner’s These is My Words, the story of Rachel DuPree isn’t one you’ll soon forget.
You can borrow The Personal History of Rachel DuPree from your local library. Purchase it from a local bookseller or at www.amazon.com. Also available in e-book and audio book format.