Bitter Passage

by Elizabeth Buechner Morris

It’s 1848, and gold is discovered at Sutter’s Mill. The word spreads and the world hears – Eureka! By ship, mule, wagon, train, and on foot, dreamers and brawlers, Mexicanos and Germans, farmers, clergymen, and journalists impatiently converge on northern California in that frenzied, greedy, heroic the California Gold Rush.Hermann and Frida are emigrants from Prussia, only ten years in America, when Hermann hears the news and determines to leave New York with the swelling hoards to make his fortune in the gold fields. Frida, still missing family and friends in the old country, but knowing he will convince their sons to go along, agrees that she and their little daughter will go too.Few women go on America’s great epic trek west to the diggings, and fewer families. But under the force of Hermann’s greed and certainty, Frida packs their belongings in New York books, linens, toys, and even clothes for the opera. With Otto, Fritz, and little Lily they begin the journey under a rain-soaked portico, waiting for a stage coach.Hermann is sympathetic but belligerent, pursuing his own folly to the near devastation of them all, as this city-bred family crosses the continent. They become skilled at driving oxen and fording rivers. From others they learn a cure for scurvy and hear of optimistic short-cuts. But all the while, Hermann’s stubborn decisions plague them until the worst happens.The family’s story is interwoven with that distant period and place, as Frida, locked in a struggle between panic and duty, guides us through history. Elizabeth Buechner Morris lives by the sea in Marblehead, MA. She is a long-distance sailor and her non-fiction often appears in the sailing press. Her short stories have appeared in many literary journals.

Genres: Historical Fiction

373 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 23, 2011

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

History comes to life

I know the author of this novel but unless I thought it was good, I wouldn't review it. OK, it might not be Tolstoy or Balzac, the general plot might be simple, but BITTER PASSAGE will move you regardless. What impressed me the most about the book---an epic tale of migration to the USA from Europe--is the amount of detailed research the author must have done. While we all learned about pioneers and the gold rush of '49 in school, this tale will fill in those yawning gaps concerning what the covered wagon travellers actually went through. A family leaves Germany in the 1830s, comes to New York where they have a fairly decent life and an import business. But the husband gets caught up in Gold Fever, insists on travelling west where he "is sure to make his fortune". The bulk of the book concerns the voyage across the continent, braving storms, floods, hunger, illness, mountains, snow, and fatigue. We learn the details of what people carried, what they ate, how they managed, and at last, what fortune most of them found. The title of the novel will clue you in before you start. Everything in this novel rings true. There is no glorification, no patriotic nonsense. Relationships fray, people change, and tragedy looms. If you are looking for a good story, don't ignore this book. If you would like a novel which would portray in most realistic fashion the travails of the pioneers and the fantasies of those inflamed by the lust for gold, illuminating an important era of American history on the way, choose this one.

[The History Mom]

I stumbled across this sad story when searching for books about the California Gold Rush in 1848. I was captivated by the hard, heart-rending story of German immigrant, Frida, who follows her domineering husband from Germany to New York City to California. This book will make you hurt and cry but taught me so much about life as a woman on the frontier.

[Joanna Brady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an astonishing debut novel about a prosperous middle class immigrant family from Germany who should have been happy in their new world. Frida Reinhardt is eager to settle in, learn English and raise her family in New York. But not long after they arrive, Hermann, her driving, ambitious husband--lured by the promise of gold in the west--forces the family to cross the country with him. Elizabeth Buechner Morris has created a heart-rending, well-researched account of how Hermann's well-meaning foolishness and greed brings disaster down on the family. The story is told in the first person by Frida, which draws us into her world. The epilogue, is written about fifty years later by their eldest son, who expresses bitterness and anger about what happened. But when he plans to confront his father, circumstances intervene. In the end, it is about forgiveness.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down. The characters came alive by the author's acute, interesting studies of the family members and interpersonal relationships within the one another. The books language and observations were so descriptive it made feel like I was on the journey with them. All characters became alive and I could not wait to see how they each developed with age and experience. I do not want to give away the ending, as to say it was done with expertise and was quite a surprise. A beautifully written book rich with history of the Gold Rush and a family's devotion to one another, great respect and love for the mother and the often the frustration and inability to cope with the father's obsession to find gold to prove himself to everyone (family and friends) and provide for his family. I look forward to a second book by Elizabeth Buechner Morris!!

[Marie Fouhey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well researched but ultimately rather boring book. I think maybe she covered too much ground - she even threw in a slave auction in Missouri - so nothing really came alive.

[Stevie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hardship with a capital H. I think this book is based on a diary from a Morris relative. Four stars because the story is fascinating. In the late 1840’s a family of five crosses the US, by train, boat, wagon, and foot. The crossing was much more difficult in all ways than I had imagined. Quite a story.