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The Indifferent Stars Above

The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party

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The Indifferent Stars Above

By: Daniel James Brown
Narrated by: Michael Prichard
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About this listen

From the #1 bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat and Facing the Mountain comes an unforgettable epic of family, tragedy, and survival on the American frontier

“An ideal pairing of talent and material.… Engrossing.… A deft and ambitious storyteller.” — Mary Roach, New York Times Book Review

In April of 1846, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves, intent on a better future, set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of pioneers led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starving and desperate, Sarah and fourteen others set out for California on snowshoes, and, over the next thirty-two days, endured almost unfathomable hardships and horrors.

In this gripping narrative, New York Times bestselling author Daniel James Brown sheds new light on one of the most legendary events in American history. Following every painful footstep of Sarah’s journey with the Donner Party, Brown produces a tale both spellbinding and richly informative.

 Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Americas Historical North America State & Local United States Women Wild West Old West

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All stars
Most relevant
the author provided a lot of background information into the time and culture these events took place in the context of, but without being dry. His research into starvation, frostbite and the other medical issues that were experienced by the Donner party allowed him to weave a richer story, instead of just reciting a timeline and quoting the few letters and diaries that are available from the members of the party.

Horrific story well told

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Loved this book. I knew a wee bit about the Donner party and what happened but this book told me everything I needed to know. It’s warts and all. Good backgrounds are given on those who started out and either survived or perished, the journey it’s self is covered in full detail. The mistakes made - and in my opinion there were many made - are gone into and who made them.

The lives these people had were hard at the best of times but the suffering they indured while crossing and being stranded on the sierra mountains were unbelievable. The cowards and the brave , the weak and the strong are identified and their stories are told….

A wonderful book which is narrated brilliantly and in some parts the people involved tell their story through letters and diaries. Each are given a distinctive voice. At the end the author writes about what happened to the survivors after the incident.

Worth a credit. Will re listen to make sure I didn’t miss a single thing.

Really interesting

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I had a love hate relationship with the narrators voice, took a while to get used to it, but overall, excellent

The detail and compassion

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loved this in depth history of The Donor party. The story line following the tale of one of the party made it feel very intimate and made it easier to empathize with the people in that horrendous situation. It's well written and heart felt. Narrator wasn't for me, he was very wooden and lacked some of the emotion that I feel this story needed.

Amazingly written and very interesting

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Well written and narrated. I thoughtfully enjoyed this audiobook, especially the lengths the author went to to set the story within a historical and cultural context.

Fantastic

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