The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
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Soon to be a Major Motion Picture Starring Emmy Award Winner and Oscar Nominee Viola Davis; "An eye-opening look at the little-explored area of a black frontier woman in the American West." --Chicago Sun-Times Praised by Alice Walker and many other bestselling writers, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree is an award-winning debut novel with incredible heart about life on the prairie as it's rarely been seen. Reminiscent of The Color Purple, as well as the frontier novels of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Willa Cather, it opens a window on the little-known history of African American homesteaders and gives voice to an extraordinary heroine who embodies the spirit that built America.
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While I have some raised eyebrows because this is not an #ourownvoices story, I think this is one of the best damned pioneer stories I have read in a long time. It is what I expected to read when I tackled My Antonia last year.
Being a pioneer is hard, it is even harder when you are the only Black settlers for miles. We meet Rachel in the middle of a drought and her past comes to us from flashbacks. The amount of grit and perseverance Rachel shows is outstanding, she is my hero. However, when she says enough is enough- you are right there with her. One thing that sets this apart from other tales about strong women, in my humble opinion, is that Weisgarber also shows us Rachel at her weakest moments, we see the crack in the façade, and then watch her pull herself together again.
In the end, this is really about a mother's love for her children.
