THE CHILDREN'S BLIZZARD (2021)

The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One hundred thirty three years ago on January 12, 1888, a terrifying blizzard hit the Northwest Plains. They say the temperature dropped almost 100 degrees in 24 hours. Referred to as the children's blizzard, at least 232 people perished, many of them children just dismissed from school.

Author Melanie Benjamin has taken a true event and shaped it into a compelling story. The first half, "A Disturbance in the West," sets the background for her story of two young sisters, both school teachers, and the impossible choices they are forced to make to protect their students when the unexpected storm hits. The description of the blizzard is overwhelming. The narrative switches among Gerta, her sister Raina, and Gavin Woodson, a jaded newspaper man banished from New York to Omaha.

Part two, "The Maiden of the Prairie," deals with the aftermath of the storm and consequences of the life or death decisions that were made. Holding all the stories together is the reporter who, guilty of having written false copy luring many immigrants to this desolate area, commits to write about the aftermath of the blizzard.

To make sure today's reader understands the conditions in 1888, the author describes the realities of life during that time period that allowed this tragedy to happen.

The narration of events during the unrelenting blizzard are knuckle-biters. This is a story where the reader will have no trouble remembering the characters or their ultimate fate. This is not an 'everyone lives happily ever' story but rather one of survival.

BOTTOM LINE:  This is a book you will read and recommend to all your friends! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. 

 

DISCLAIMER: A copy of The Children's Blizzard was provided to me by Delacorte Press /Net Galley for an honest review.

 

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press (January 12, 2021)
ISBN-10: 0399182284
ISBN-13: 978-0399182280

THE AUTHOR: Melanie Benjamin is the New York Times bestselling author of Mistress of the Ritz, The Girls in the Picture, The Swans of Fifth Avenue, The Aviator's Wife, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, and Alice I Have Been. Benjamin lives in Chicago, where she is at work on her next historical novel.

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