Pamela Nowak Livres

"Sacrificing dreams and risking family, five women follow their husbands to an isolated Minnesota settlement. Struggling to survive, they develop resilience but none are prepared for the challenges they face when starving bands of Santee Sioux (Dakota) take up arms against the whites during the 1862 Dakota Conflict. Laura Duley left Indiana as a newlywed. Promised a perfect life, she endured years on the hostile frontier and the loss of family only to be taken captive by the Dakota. Independent and protective, Lavina Eastlick was shot, beaten, and left for dead after witnessing the death of several of her children. In the hope that two still survived, she stumbled miles to reach safety. Christina Koch was a headstrong German immigrant determined to make a new life in America. Challenging her captors at every turn, she finally escaped to safety. Almena Hurd, unwavering in her commitment to family, was already dealing with a missing husband when she was sent alone onto the prairie with two small children. She survived by carrying one, then returning for the other, a quarter mile at a time. Julia Wright, the honest, practical wife of an unscrupulous trader, used her language skills and understanding of the Dakota to help the captives during their ordeal, becoming so valuable that her captor refused to release her to her rescuers, the Yankton Sioux Fool Soldier Band. Their braided stories reveal a common will that allowed them to hold on no matter what and to never let go"-- Provided by publisher

In 1905, Lottie Chase arrives in Denver with her ten-year-old daughter, Elsa, after fleeing her abusive uncle in New York. She secures a job at Elitch's Gardens, one of the city's new amusement parks. Everything would be perfect if it weren't for the garden manager, Caleb Hudson. Cared for by park co-owner Mary Elitch Long since he was a boy, Caleb is fiercely protective and fears that Lottie plans to take advantage of the Longs. But a series of dramatic events brings the two closer, and together they endure an attack on Lottie, extortion, and the arrival of Lottie's uncle. Lottie realizes the only way to save her relationship with Caleb and protect Elsa from her uncle is to face her past...

During the 1879 trial of Standing Bear, Lisa Dupree has a secret Sioux heritage that she just can't betray once her aunt is imprisoned by the government, and she catches the eye of D.A. Zach Spencer, who is uncomfortable having to prosecute the case against Standing Bear.