When Winter Comes

By: V. A. Shannon

Narrated by: Susannah Jones

In the voice of an unforgettable heroine, V. A. Shannon explores one of the most harrowing episodes in pioneer history - the ill-fated journey of the Donner Party - in a mesmerizing novel of resilience and survival.

Mrs. Jacob Klein has a husband, children, and a warm and comfortable home in California. No one - not even her family - knows how she came to be out West 13 years ago. Jacob, a kind and patient man, has promised not to ask. But if she were to tell her story, she would recount a tale of tragedy, mishaps, and unthinkable choices - yet also sacrifice, courage, and a powerful, unexpected love....

1846: On the outskirts of Cincinnati, wagons gather by the hundreds, readying to head west to California. Among the throng is a 15-year-old girl eager to escape her abusive family. With just a few stolen dollars to her name, she enlists as helpmate to a married couple with a young daughter. Their group stays optimistic in the face of the journey's hazards and delays. Then comes a decision that she is powerless to prevent: Instead of following the wagon train's established route, the Donner Party will take a shortcut over the Sierras, aiming to clear the mountains before the first snows descend.

In the years since that infamous winter, other survivors have sold their accounts for notoriety and money, lurid tales often filled with half-truths or blatant, gory lies. Now, Mrs. Klein must decide whether to keep those bitter memories secret, or risk destroying the life she has endured so much to build.

©2018 V. A. Shannon (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Interesting listen

Realistic without being too gruesome. Kept my intetest throughout. Now I want to research the tragedy myself!

I couldn’t “put it down”, BUT...

It’s a story of tragedy and was disturbing on many levels. I learned a lot from this book, but it was also heartbreaking and there were definitely parts I did not enjoy, not because it was poorly narrated or written (to the contrary, narration and writing were very good), but because it was just really hard to listen to people treating each other so horribly.

Excellent Character

The main character is so believable. The author's depiction of the tragedy is very detailed.

A Tragedy

This story is tragic and heartbreaking, but done so incredibly well. I didn't get bored once.

Surprising

It never give reviews but feel compelled by this book. I am generally a non fiction reader, so I approached this with a lot of trepidation. I was very surprised at how well this was researched. The author very successfully set the fictional heroine into the true story. It was fairly well done and I felt that I could see the situation through her eyes. I especially enjoyed the descriptive elements ( the Wasatch mountains) and the deep
Insight into the foibles of the human heart and flaws of the
human characters.