A few weeks ago, it was National Uncles and Aunts Day. The author of this title tweeted out a link to her website article outlining which relatives the various characters in her book were based on. I quickly read through them with a small amount of interest. After finishing this novel last night, although it was extremely late, I immediately went back to that article (after quite a bit of searching) and read with a much greater amount of interest.

The Edge of Nowhere is about a woman who felt her only option in life was to be strong. There’s a good reason for this after going through unimaginable situation after situation. She’s widowed during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl with many mouths to feed-not her first tragedy by far. Even with that, for the life of me, I could not muster sympathy for this woman. She was rigid and unmoving when she didn’t have to be. If she could have tempered some of her strength with common courtesy, she probably could have fared much better without having to make some of the sacrifices she made. I did cheer for her though and wanted her to come to better circumstances, especially for the sake of her children.

This isn’t a feel-good story, nor is it billed that way, but it’s a really good story-a story that I’m glad I had a chance to read. It’s set during a period in our history that was devastating yet the author didn’t steep us in absolute misery where we wouldn’t want to continue reading.

I would have liked to see more of her anger rather than being told she was very angry, but that’s extremely minor in the grand scheme of the story. I could use my imagination to understand how angry she must be.

Overall I would recommend this book, especially to those who like historical fiction, women’s fiction, or just a strong story.