Between Earth & Sky

March 4, 1996
In a voice well matched to the simplicity of the book's epistolary format, Abigail Conklin, heading west in a wagon train with her husband and children, writes to her beloved sister Maggie, back home in post-Civil War Virginia. Chronicling a courageous life, the letters span six decades, from 1867 to 1930, when Abigail dies in New Mexico, her home for all those years and the scene of her hopes, challenges, disappointments and tragedies. Osborn (Patchwork) limns a harrowing picture of the dangers of the trek west, the primitive conditions and unremitting physical labor and the constant anxiety over daily dangers--from Indians, the weather and other natural phenomena. Over the years, Abigail almost loses her husband, has a (too convenient) brush with romance, suffers the death of two children and the emotional or physical estrangement of three others--all episodes related with a restraint that does not diminish their emotional impact. Abigail's solace is the desert landscape, which she grows to love and endeavors to sketch and paint. The heightened awareness of Abigail's painterly eye gives Osborn an opportunity luminously to describe the Southwest in all times of day and season. Nicely integrated into the narrative are historical milestones, details of 19th-century domesticity, social issues (the opposition of the Catholic Church to Protestant mission schools; the prejudice that makes Abigail a pariah when she chooses to raise her daughter's half-Mexican child). There is a certain formulaic inertia in Abigail's inability (with one exception) to leave the ranch and visit her family, and in her sister's reluctance to travel in turn. Yet Abigail is a well-developed character; strong-willed, stubborn and brave, she finds that``grief has grown next to contentment in my life.''

December 1, 1995
In 1867, Abigail Conklin leaves her family home in Virginia and travels West with her husband. The letters she writes to her sister become the chronicle of her journey and life in frontier New Mexico and a legacy for her descendants. The correspondence, which ends shortly before Abigail's death in 1930, provides glimpses into the hardships of raising a family in the desert. More often, however, the letters detail Abigail's fascination with the Southwest's dramatic landscape. Lyrical passages describing the colors and patterns of the desert that delight her artistic sensibilities alternate with brief accounts of family tragedies and achievements. The result is a charming story of an unconventional woman who defies family pressures and local prejudices to live her life as fully as possible. This novel by the author of Patchwork (LJ 5/1/91) is recommended for fiction collections.-Jan Blodgett, Davidson Coll., Davidson, N.C.

July 1, 1996
YA-A fascinating glimpse into the life of a woman on the frontier. Readers follow Abigail Conklin as she and her husband leave the post-Civil War South in 1867 in search of land and economic opportunity in the West. Through letters written to her sister, she describes the hardships women faced, not only on the long journey, but also in trying to build a life on the plains. She writes of the difficulties of everyday life on the wagon-train, from the monotony of traveling all day in a cramped wagon, keeping her children happy despite the heat and dust, to cooking meals and doing laundry. She also describes the loneliness of leaving her family, fear of Indians, and the heartache of losing a child. She describes her growing appreciation for the beauty of the desert and acceptance of the life she has chosen. The story continues into the 1930s and nicely integrates historical details as the frontier disappears. Although many YAs have studied the westward movement and pioneer life, this book offers a personalized view, as if readers have stumbled onto a box of old letters in an attic. Osborn's characters come alive. The epistolary format is engaging and offers details that will help readers understand the experiences and feelings that were common among pioneer women.-Mary Hatfield Proudman, Bridgewater-Raritan High School, VA

March 1, 1996
Osborn has the rare ability to encompass a grand time span in her quiet dramas about women's lives. Here, as in her fine first novel, "Patchwork" (1991), she maps the rocky terrain of one family's history through the interactions between sisters but has chosen to pare her narrative down to the essentials by using an epistolary style. It's just after the Civil War, and Abigail has reluctantly left her Virginia home with her husband and their two young children to seek their fortune in the gold mines of New Mexico. She writes regularly to her sister, Maggie, chronicling their arduous journey by covered wagon and all the tragedies that punctuate their arrival in the desert. Sorrowful as her losses are, Abigail soon falls in love with the vast, satiny sky and the subtly hued land. As the years go by, she and Maggie grow further and further apart and more entrenched in their radically different environments. Maggie becomes increasingly bourgeois and intolerant, while Abigail is liberated: independent, strong, and accepting of all that life brings. And Osborn is lyrical, focused, and enchanting. ((Reviewed March 1, 1996))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1996, American Library Association.)