Book #20 - Nothing Daunted

When I read the title of this book, I immediately thought of some reality TV shows. There was one a while back called Frontier House. I also pictured Paris Hilton trying her hand at managing a cattle ranch in Kansas or so. Luckily for me, this book was much more enjoyable and the main characters were not morons, but hardworking women.

Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden, is about two women from Auburn, New York who sign up to be teachers in rural Elkhead, Colorado.  It reminds me a little of the Little House books in that the main characters, Dorothy and Rosamond  remain very joyful and don't seem depressed or weighed down by any of their circumstances. 

Dorothy Wickenden writes lovingly about her grandmother's adventures, as well giving a good dose of history.  At times the historical side can be a bit thick, but that is mainly because one is so interested in the characters and wants to know what happens to them.  The information helps put the story in perspective for me.  It is so easy to romanticize life back then, but politics, social issues, and life were still complex. 

I feel like Americans were made of sterner stuff back then, when I think about the conditions the frontiersmen and women lived in.  Many of the children in the book walked or skied 3 miles each way to school everyday in the snowy Colorado winter.  Clare doesn't even walk to our school which is less than a mile away regardless of weather.