Memory Weaver: A Novel

by Jane Kirkpatrick

Paperback, 2015

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Publication

Revell (2015), Edition: First Edtion, 352 pages

Description

Fiction. Christian Fiction. Historical Fiction. Eliza was just a child when she was taken hostage by the Cayuse Indians during a massacre in 1847. Now her husband wants to make a new start in another territoryâ??the land of her captivity. Can she lay the dark past to rest and move on? Or will her childhood memories always hold her hosta

User reviews

LibraryThing member lanehillhouse
Saturday, September 12, 2015
The Memory Weaver by Jane Kirkpatrick, © 2015

The Memory Weaver asks the question...how does trauma affect a marriage and a mother and a life and how do we allow love to transform a memory to bring wisdom rather than despair? What role can friends and family play in
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helping another heal from a tragedy? How much are friends and family affected by disasters experienced by someone they loved? Set in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and the land where Eliza was once held captive, this is the story of memory and how what we remember isn't always what really happened. This story will remind us all that love is more powerful than the fiercest tragedy and that we often judge ourselves harshly over things we cannot change. Forgiveness is a journey we can make together. --author Jane Kirkpatrick

I didn't know then that the healing of old wounds comes not from pushing tragic memories away but from remembering them, filtering them through love, to transform their distinctive brand of pain. ... Maybe I didn't even hear what I thought I did. Emotions wrap around memory. We don't recall the detail of our stories; we remember the experience.
--The Memory Weaver, 18

Brownsville, Oregon Territory ~ 1851
Eliza Spalding, oldest daughter, age 13 when her mother dies; siblings Henry 11, Martha 4, and Amelia "Millie" then 3. Always drawn to wildflowers, Eliza noticed more than daily chores or happenings; the indent of deer hooves, the quiet watch of an owl in a fir tree. Awareness.

"I don't believe in coincidences." Then I sermonized as though I knew all there was to know. "I believe the Lord sets our path and whatever befalls us has some meaning and purpose."
--Eliza, Ibid., 21

Andrew Warren, age 19, gravedigger when needed, hopeful future cattle spread owner. He is to learn a lot from Eliza, and she from him. Her father warns her not to keep company with any young man. Andrew has dreams. They include her.

Facts do little but annoy big dreamers, or make them more determined to show the naysayers wrong.
--Eliza, Ibid., 32

And the story weaves of the past ~ remnants remaining in the future.

“I really wanted to tell the story of how a tragic event affects not just the person in the middle of it but the people around it, the people who just stand and wait." --author Jane Kirkpatrick, blog

The Diary of Eliza Spalding
1850

You will need to read The Memory Weaver as the story surrounds the happenings and events so vivid for such a time as this. To meld warmth and remembrance to harsh realities to follow the path set before each of us individually, meandering together as course proceeds.

I enjoy Jane Kirkpatrick's chronicles of paths she has chosen to rediscover in lands she has known.

***Thank you to author Jane Kirkpatrick and to Revell Reads for sending me a review copy of The Memory Weaver. This review was written in my own words. No other compensation was received.***
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LibraryThing member lamb521
Title: The Memory Weaver
Author: Jane Kirkpatrick
Pages: 349
Year: 2015
Publisher: Revell
Eliza Spalding is the survivor of an Indian attack that took place in 1847. Her parents are missionaries to the Nez Perce Indians, bringing the gospel to them. Then tragedy strikes when another Indian tribe
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launches an attack. Many white people are killed, and Eliza and her family are forced by the missionary board to leave the Nez Perce. Eliza struggles with depression and flashbacks to the moments of the massacre. This trauma shapes her life. She performs certain things in a certain order and imagines the worst thing that can happen because she thinks that will ensure it won’t happen. She is also dealing with her mother’s death a couple of years ago, which placed her at the age of 13 as the woman of the house. She cooks, cleans and raises her three younger siblings. Her father also required her to travel with him as he distributed gospel tracts to other communities.
Her father leaves alone on a short trip and returns with a wife. This surprises everyone. His new wife knows nothing about living outside of a big city with no servants, so just when Eliza thinks she might get a reprieve from an abundance of work, her hopes are dashed. Furthermore, her parents had originally promised her a return to school in the East, but with her new step-mother’s inability to care for the family; this promise is gone as well. Her father plans on keeping Eliza at home until her youngest sister is married, which will be in another ten years. Eliza makes plans to avoid this, and realizes the consequences of her decisions.
This story was just okay for me. It started out slow and there isn’t a lot of action. It is a fictional tale based on a real person from the past. I can appreciate the research the author did and the writing flowed well throughout the story, but I just didn’t connect with Eliza. I’m not found of most stories told in the first person, so maybe that is why I didn’t make the connection with her. She did rely on her faith to see her through some difficult situations, which I found commendable. She also realized that she didn’t remember some things from her past the way they actually happened via her mother’s diaries.
My rating is 3 stars.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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LibraryThing member PDianeB
The Memory Weaver is Jane Kirkpatrick’s latest novel and once again she builds a story based on true people and events. This is the story of Eliza Spalding, the daughter of prominent Presbyterian missionaries with the Nez Perce in the Pacific Northwest.

Her parents worked closely with Dr. Marcus
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& Narcissa Whitman in the Washington territory, and 10-year old Eliza was there at the mission when they and 12 others are murdered by the Cayuse. Eliza acts as translator for a month for the 45 women and children who are held hostage and the Indians. Big task for a little girl.

The book starts Eliza when is 13 years old, her mother (also named Eliza) has died, and she is living in Oregon territory with her difficult father and younger siblings. While she continues to deal with flashbacks and memories, she meets and marries Andrew Warren and they have children.

The story asks the question, how does trauma affect a marriage, a mother, a life…?

Like many women, she longs to know her mother and her thoughts. When Eliza is finally given her mother’s diary, she is stunned to find that “what we remember isn’t always what happened.” Her mother’s diary corrects many of the things she thought she remembered and provides some context to other things.

This wasn’t a light-hearted or easy read. It’s a little somber and sad, but there are threads of joy, forgiveness, love, and hope.

Once I got into the book, I had a difficult time putting it down. Watching Eliza work through the memories – good and bad – was like watching a butterfly come free of its cocoon, or a flower slowly beginning to bloom. And it was worth it.

Disclosure: I received a free book from Revell Books in exchange for an unbiased review.
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LibraryThing member Virginia51
This is a wonderful historical novel based on a true story. I loved Eliza Spalding Warren. She is a very brave girl and grows up to be very brave. She survives a massacre as a child and learns to be her own person. She does not let anyone push her around. It does take her a while to learn to face
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what happened to her as a child but she is strong and keeps going. I had a hard time putting this book down. I received this book from Revell reads for a fair and honest opinion.
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LibraryThing member melaniehope
I enjoyed this book of historical fiction. Eliza was only 10 years old when she was taken hostage by Indians. I was a little disappointed that the story did not really go into much detail of that aspect of her Eliza's life. Instead, it was told in the present day (when Eliza is a teenager and later
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a married woman). In flashbacks, we learn a bit more about her ordeal as a hostage. We also get some glimpses into Eliza Spaulding's diaries (Eliza's mom of the same name.)

The story is a bit slow moving, but interesting. At the end, the book seemed to turn quite religious and focus on God and forgiveness. However, I enjoyed the story but was disappointed it was focused on Eliza's life as a married woman and escaping her father's demanding household.

I received a complimentary e-book via Netgalley.com.
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LibraryThing member polarmath
I enjoyed this story of Eliza's journey and having to face her past along with her future. She is faced with going to the land and memories of her past to progress to her future. She does not want to leave all she really knows and does not want to leave her memories behind. She comes across a
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journal that helps her with this journey.
I would find it hard to leave especially during the time of this story.
I received a copy of this book free to review from the publisher.
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Awards

Spur Award (Finalist — Historical Novel — 2016)

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

8.5 inches

ISBN

0800722329 / 9780800722326
Page: 0.8673 seconds