Frontier
Virginia. 1861.
In the space of a few short months, Cara Stewart, a spoiled Southern belle, loses everything that matters to her – her home, her family, her friends, her lover – all the things that make her who she is. Against her will, she is propelled on an emotional journey towards independence and compassion as epic as the 2000 mile trek she undertakes.
For Cara, plantation life is lonely and monotonous. The arrival of a handsome stranger, Fletcher Randolph, offers the chance of escape. But ironically, in making a bid for freedom, she traps herself into marrying her penniless neighbour, Jack Ferguson, – a marriage she refuses to consummate.
Although war is looming, the newly weds set out with a wagon train from Independence, Missouri, bound for Oregon. Cara has to be forced to go, but once on the trail, she discovers that she has the freedom for which she had always longed. She is no longer lonely. Her friends include Laurel, a newly qualified doctor seeking acceptance in her profession; Ellen, a teacher, exiled because of a forbidden love affair and Rose, a prostitute seeking to escape the fate of her mother and grandmother. They, like Cara, have flouted convention and paid the price. But others, like the beautiful, abused Emmy and the bossy, middle-aged Mamie, cling to the established order. By the end of the trip, two of these women will be dead, one in a tragic accident, the other by her own hand.
But for Cara, the long trek is a journey towards self discovery. Events on the trail teach her how vulnerable women are and that life is fragile. With each mile, her horizons are broadened and she finds a resilience and resourcefulness she never knew she had. But then Cara’s past actions return to haunt her and she finds herself confronting death and the loss of everything and everyone she loves.
