Product Description

In a compelling fiction debut, Nancy E. Turner's unforgettable These Is My Words melds the sweeping adventures and dramatic landscapes of Lonesome Dove with the heartfelt emotional saga of Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All.

Inspired by the author's original family memoirs, this absorbing story introduces us to the questing, indomitable Sarah Prine, one of the most memorable women ever to survive and prevail in the Arizona Territory of the late 1800s. As a child, a fiery young woman, and finally a caring mother, Sarah forges a life as full and as fascinating as our deepest needs, our most secret hopes and our grandest dreams. She rides Indian-style and shoots with deadly aim, greedily devours a treasure trove of leatherbound books, downs fire, flood, Comanche raids and other mortal perils with the unique courage that forged the character of the American West.

Rich in authentic details of daily life and etched with striking character portraits of very different pioneer families, this action-packed novel is also the story of a powerful, enduring love between Sarah and the dashing cavalry officer Captain Jack Elliot. Neither the vast distances traveled nor the harsh and killing terrains could quench the passion between them, and the loss and loneliness both suffer only strengthen their need for each other.

While their love grows, the heartbreak and wonder of the frontier experience unfold in scene after scene: a wagon-train Sunday spent roasting quail on spits as Indians close in to attack; Sarah's silent encounter with an Indian brave, in which he shows her his way of respect; a dreadful discovery by a stream that changes Sarah forever; the hazards of a visit to Phoenix, a town as hot as the devil's frying pan; Sarah's joy in building a real home, sketching out rooms and wraparound porches.

Sarah's incredible story leads us into a vanished world that comes vividly to life again, while her struggles with work and home, love and responsibility resonate with those every woman faces today.These Is My Words is a passionate celebration of a remarkable life, exhilarating and gripping from the first page to the last.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #145515 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03-01
• Released on: 1999-02-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 388 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Based on the real-life exploits of the author's great-grandmother, this fictionalized diary vividly details one woman's struggles with life and love in frontier Arizona at the end of the last century. When she begins recording her life, Sarah Prine is an intelligent, headstrong 18-year-old capable of holding her own on her family's settlement near Tucson. Her skill with a rifle fends off a constant barrage of Indian attacks and outlaw assaults. It also attracts a handsome Army captain named Jack Elliot. By the time she's 21, Sarah has recorded her loveless marriage to a family friend, the establishment of a profitable ranch, the birth of her first child?and the death of her husband. The love between Jack and Sarah, which dominates the rest of the tale, has begun to blossom. Fragmented and disjointed in its early chapters, with poor spelling and grammar, Sarah's journal gradually gains in clarity and eloquence as she matures. While this device may frustrate some readers at first, Taylor's deft progression produces the intended reward: she not only tells of her heroine's growth, but she shows it through Sarah's writing and insights. The result is a compelling portrait of an enduring love, the rough old West and a memorable pioneer. First serial to Good Housekeeping; author tour; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections. (Feb.) FYI: Selected as the March 1998 Good Housekeeping "Novel of the Month."
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA-This novel in diary format parallels the early history of the Arizona Territories as Sarah and her family travel from the New Mexico Territory and settle down to carve out a new life on a ranch near Tucson in the 1880s. Sarah's diary, based on the author's family memoirs, is a heartwarming and heartbreaking fictional account of a vibrant and gifted young woman. Sarah starts out as an illiterate, fiery 17 year old. Eventually, her writing becomes as smooth and polished as Sarah herself as she becomes a tenacious, literate, and loving wife and mother. A treasure trove of discovered books becomes the source of her self-education. Turner describes the trip in such detail that one has a sense of having traveled with Sarah, experiencing all of its heartache and sadness, its backbreaking exertion and struggles, its danger and adventure, its gentle and lighter moments. Life in the new country brings the constant fear of Indian raids and the threat and reality of floods, fire, and rattlesnakes; bandits; rough men, and pretentious women all have an effect on the protagonist but her strong marriage makes the effort worthwhile. Sarah centers her world around her home and family but maintains an independent spirit that keeps her whole and alive throughout her many trials and heartaches. This is a beautifully written book that quickly captures readers' attention and holds it tightly and emotionally until the end.
Dottie Kraft, formerly at Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The first pages of Turner's work read like soap opera. Death by snakebite, Indian attacks, death in childbirth, rape, amputation without anesthetic are only some of the horrors of the first two chapters, in which action overwhelms character. Fortunately, these early entries of the diary of Sarah Agnes Prine are followed by others that introduce us to a remarkable woman and her family. The 30 years she chronicles begin in 1881, when she is 17 and en route from New Mexico Territory to Texas and back. Sarah's courage, resourcefulness, and skill with a rifle help her family survive after the death of her father and the loss of most of their property. However, the most lasting consequence of the ill-fated journey is her acquaintance with Captain Jack Elliott, commander of the troops assigned to protect the settlers from Texas to the Arizona Territory. Sarah resists her attraction to him, but after a brief, loveless marriage leaves her a widow with a child, she acknowledges her love. Their marriage is strong but unconventional, with her managing a growing ranch while he is away on extended military assignments. Readers come to admire Sarah, to share her many losses and rare triumphs. Turner based her novel on the life of her great grandmother. If even half these events are true, she was an amazing woman. For fans of historical fiction.?Kathy Piehl, Mankato State Univ., Minn.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Historical Fiction at its best!
These Is My Words begins with Sarah Prine's family pulling up stakes and traveling toward a new home in the early 1880s. Deciding to record the events of her life in a diary, Sarah takes us step-by-step through the real tragedies of life on a frontier but also through the triumphs that make life bearable. Sarah is a tough young woman who is a sharpshooter, both with a rifle and her spirit. Young and impressionable, she finds out that people and events are not always what they seem and she makes plenty of mistakes along the way. The love story between she and Captain Jack Elliott is one of the best I've ever read; you can feel the love between the two jump off the page and grab you around your own heart. Finding a stopping place in this wonderful book is next to impossible and to say that your soul will become involved is to state the obvious. Sarah and her stories will live a very long time within me. This is historical fiction at its absolute best. Highly, highly recommended.

TRANSPORTS YOU BACK IN TIME VIA COVERED WAGON
This is a book that I would never have picked out on my own but I'm so thankful that it was recommended to me by a poster on one of the book boards. Just the cover alone makes the purchase worthwhile. I especially liked the way Nancy Turner wrote this book in the form of a diary which is written over the course of 20 years. The two main characters, Sarah Prine and Captain Jack Elliott, are larger than life. She's smart, great with a gun and stubborn. He's ornery, romantic and loves her more than life itself. What a match and what a book. I recently recommended this to my book group and they've been raving about it ever since. My only disappointment is that I had to finish it.

I travelled with Sarah all the way
I work casual hours in a bookstore and my manager picked up These Is My Words to let me know that it was on the New Releases list. The title had me at once. I bought it immediately.

Never have I felt so as one with a novel. Reading Sarah's entries, I too fought those Indians, felt the hurt with the loss of loved ones and loved Jack. On more than one occaison, I found myself in the most absurd places reading this story, (one morning for an hour sitting on the edge of the bath tub). I have been waiting for a book like this my whole life and now that I have found it, I doubt anything can replace it.

Nancy Turner's characters are vivid, believable, real. They grow through the course of the novel to become your friends, family and loved ones. I have never cried, laughed and siged with relief so many times through one book. I just hope that this treasure stays safe within yellowing pages and bypasses the big screen.

Truly amazing, an adventure everyone should have. Thank-you so much Nancy Turner!