There wasn’t much in this category, but I did like the use of “confirmed bachelors” and the hints toward future settlements in San Francisco, and I also liked that the confirmed bachelors of the group were some of the kindest, most realistic characters in the book. At times she’s ignorant and judgmental, realistically so, even if she’s not by far the worst of the characters we meet. Lee, as a narrator, has certain opinions gained from her experiences and family, but she’s no modern-woman saint that provides a comfortable-to-us point of view. Honestly, I could spend multiple reviews on this issue alone, but instead, I’m just going to leave it here to say that Carson also did a great job handling these issues without getting preachy. This was also a time of huge turmoil based on race, from the slave division north and south to the way the Native Americans were being treated. This time in history has a lot of religious conflict and concern in it, and Carson uses that as a background on which to lay many of the points she wants to get across – without it ever feeling heavy-handed or preachy, or even anti-religious, despite there being a lot of negative aspects to religion throughout the book. There is conflict and control and indifference rooted in religion. There are Mormons who, as in every Western, inevitably show up from time to time. There are kind religious people and mean religious people. There are funerals used as a way to lecture people on their heathen ways (I’ve experienced those!!). There are preachers who pray instead of taking action, and there’s the idea of “converting” the savages of the west. There are different kinds of Christians at war with each other, deciding what’s the right path.

Religion is a huge thematic element all throughout Walk on Earth a Stranger – indeed, even the title is from a hymn. There were so many wonderful things about this book that I’m having trouble organizing my thoughts. I worried that it wouldn’t be my kind of book, as I’m not really a fan of historical fiction, even when there is trace amounts of fantasy involved. Let me just start by saying this book was phenomenal. Her world comes crashing apart, however, when her parents are murdered and her uncle shows up, intending to use her gold-finding magic to get rich, and Lee takes the first opportunity to run away, westward, in the California gold rush. Her father may be sick, her family may be poor, and she may be saddled with most of the farm’s chores, but her parents love her, and she has a secret that keeps them all from starving through the winter.

Leah Westfall is happy with her family on their claim in Georgia.

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson