Take a step back in time!
This author takes you on a trip back in time. J.L. Oakley’s book was a pleasant surprise. This book tells of a time when a woman wasn’t allowed to vote, and was limited on written information about their own bodies. A book on marriage told how to give a party, but skipped the chapter on sex and childbirth. In “Timber Rose”, Caroline eloped and then found herself estranged from her family, so there was no one to explain the personal side of married life. She finds herself blessed with an enlighten friend that is willing to explained what her mother should have told her.
Hiking in a skirt?
The book, Timber Rose tells the story of a woman from the privileged class who, against her parents wishes, belongs to a mountaineering club. The book is set in the American Northwest in the 1840’s where a woman hiking and mountain climbing was not considered a proper activity. Timber Rose gives you a look into the first women climbers who dressed in long skirts, loggers’ boots, and if you were really brave, knickerbockers (A loose man’s pants with full legs.) to see the world from a mountain peak.
She considered herself a new woman.
Caroline tried to be the proper daughter. but parties did not interest her. She liked nothing better then hiking into the wilderness, and that is how she found herself on a boat crossing a lake where she and a friend were scheduled to climb Mount Rainier. How was she to know she would meet a man who would change her life?
Not the proper man!
Bob Alford’s family was not a pillar of society and did not have money, but he was the one who caught Caroline’s attention. At first they met casually, then with the help of Caroline’s cousin they would sneak off to spend time together. Alford had been a logger but he wanted more, he learned about the plant life in the Northwest and he had been accepted as one of the first members of the newly formed Forest Service. The job came with a house, so the next thing to do was propose to Caroline and write her father for permission to marry his daughter. They belonged together and no one could separate them. .
Love, family, marriage and friendship.
His family is loving and excepting while hers disowns her. They begin their life with her family sending thugs to bring her home and they leave Bob bruised and beaten. They are married and no one can keep them apart. In this book you learn about small town life, friendships and a love that continues to grow stronger in spite of the hardships that come their way.
Very entertaining! I highly recommend this book!
Happy Reading, Linda
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