Every Fixed Star

Every Fixed Star by Jane Kirkpatrick is an historical novel based upon the life of Marie Dorion, who was the first mother to cross the Rocky Mountains. Marie is haunted by a past filled with mistakes and she struggles with more than just the physical stresses and dangers of early pioneer life in the Northwest. Marie believes she is undeserving of a rich, good life -- until she makes a life-changing discovery. A technically flawless recording, Every Fixed Star is very ably narrated by Barbara Rosenblat. Highly recommended listening, Every Fixed Star is also available in a CD format.

This book continues the story of Marie Dorian. Again the detail means it is an excellent learning tool - about both history and people. This is the better of the two (if you can actually split them!). I found it useful to reflect on events and memories in my own life - and to think about what is an individuals "calling" in life. Amongst other things it is a moving spiritual experience. As an historical novel it is among the best I have ever experienced.

In Both A Name of Her Own and Every Fixed Star, Jane Kirkpatrick has done of superb job of compiling a huge amount of historical information and weaving it into a captivating story. I am a direct descendent of Marie Dorion and I loved the way Jane has portrayed Marie, along with her fellow pioneers, into people with strong personalities. She has interconnected a great number of historical figures in this series, people that just may have crossed paths. Jane has turned Marie Dorion and my third great-grandfather, Louis Venier into real, loving people. These books speak to my heart. Jennifer

Jane Kirkpatrick has a way of turning a phrase that is almost poetic, lyrical in its beauty. The result is stories that are immensely evocative and visceral. I can't explain it, but it carried me along like a canoe on a smooth-flowing Oregon river as I devoured the first two of Kirkpatrick's "Tender Ties" series, "A Name of Her Own" and "Every Fixed Star" (Multnomah).One doesn't have to be avidly interested in the early pioneers of the Old West to become emotionally involved in this based-on-real-life story of Marie Dorion. Marie was a contemporary and perhaps even a friend of Sacagawea, the Indian woman who helped guide Lewis and Clark. As the series begins, Marie, a young Ioway Indian woman, is married to Pierre, a hard-drinking mixed-blood man who is an interpreter for the Wilson Hunt Astoria expedition of 1811. Marie refuses to be left behind with her two small sons, Jean Baptiste and Paul. As the expedition makes its westward way through incredible hardships, we come to deeply appreciate and admire Marie's strength and courage along with her tenderness and vulnerability.While intimately involving us in Marie's life, as well as that of her family and her fellow travelers, Jane Kirkpatrick paints a fair and balanced portrait of the conquering of the western part of our nation. It's a complicated mix of courage, greed, injustice and bravery-and Kirkpatrick's gifted pen brings it to vivid life. As the second book, Every Fixed Star, begins, Marie and her sons have already faced and survived a tragic ordeal, and Marie is on the brink of finding love again. Marie can't bring herself to trust the joyful times, fearing the bad times that she expects will follow. Still, we see her being drawn inexorably closer to the Provident God that her former mother and mother-in-law told her about in her youth-the God who has given every fixed star a name, and loves each soul individually.As I read A Name of Her Own and Every Fixed Star, I found myself marveling both at the character and courage of the people who formed the backbone of our country in its early days, and at the talent of the author who has made it so real in these books. I can't wait to read the next book in this remarkable trilogy.

In the first Tender Ties historical novel, I was moved by the story of Marie Dorion, a Native American woman who earns respect from men and white folk alike while traveling to the unexplored Pacific Northwest. She faces tragedy and triumph, and Kirkpatrick's graceful writing underscores Marie's emotions with a no-nonsense approach. Every detail is researched, every nuance believable.In "Every Fixed Star," once again we find Marie struggling with tragedy. Her sons are increasingly withdrawn, and, when she finds new love, it too leads to sorrow. Marie's guilt and questions in the face of her sons' anger is heartwrenching and true to character. Marie is a woman searching for her life's calling, her "metier" (in French). She finds herself taking blame for things, then questioning God's hand in certain events. Her wrestling is something with which we can all relate.Kirkpatrick's storytelling separates the tender ties of life and weaves them together into a colorful tapestry. She allows the dark and the bright cords to twine together, her words contrasting heaviness and joy. Although the decades worth of Marie's life made it more difficult for me to connect than in the first book, I pulled with her all the way, and am left wondering what will happen in the finale. Some questions simple must be answered. If you read it, you'll know what I'm talking about. This is one tapestry you'll want to wrap yourself in.