Eliza Waite

by Ashley E. Sweeney

After the tragic death of her husband and son on a remote island in Washington’s San Juan Islands, Eliza Waite joins the throng of miners, fortune hunters, business owners, con men, and prostitutes traveling north to the Klondike in the spring of 1898. When Eliza arrives in Skagway, Alaska, she has less than fifty dollars to her name and not a friend in the world―but with some savvy, and with the help of some unsavory characters, Eliza opens a successful bakery on Skagway’s main street and befriends a madam at a neighboring bordello. Occupying this space―a place somewhere between traditional and nontraditional feminine roles―Eliza awakens emotionally and sexually. But when an unprincipled man from her past turns up in Skagway, Eliza is fearful that she will be unable to conceal her identity and move forward with her new life. Part diary, part recipe file, and part Gold Rush history, Eliza Waite transports readers to the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of a raucous and fleeting era of American history.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, American, Westerns, Adult Fiction, Victorian

327 pages, Paperback

First published May 17, 2016

About the author

Multi award-winning author Ashley E. Sweeney’s fourth novel, The Irish Girl, released December 2024. Her previous novels, Eliza Waite, Answer Creek, and Hardland, have won a total of 17 awards, including the Nancy Pearl Book Award, Independent Press Award, WILLA Literary Award, and New Mexico-Arizona Book Award. Sweeney, a native New Yorker and graduate of Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, spends winters in Tucson and summers in the Pacific Northwest.

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across an essay published just a couple of days ago by the author of this debut novel where she tells of her inspiration for the character of Eliza Waite . Ashley Sweeney says that she and her husband "discovered an abandoned cabin on a cross-island hike on largely uninhabited Cypress Island in the San Juan Islands in the fall of 2008. The cabin sat in sad disrepair: sagging roof, rotting beams, and the evidence of rodent and raccoon feces.

Who had lived in this cabin? And why?

Near the cabin, a small plaque commemorates a Mrs. Zoe Hardy, who lived alone at the location in the 1930s. A recluse, Mrs. Hardy farmed the land surrounding the cabin, eschewed strangers, and died mysteriously after a short illness. Her body was never found.

I decided that day that a novel set in that locale could be equally mysterious and intriguing. The core of the story evolved over the first two years, and as the years progressed, the story grew with the protagonist, and the protagonist grew with the story. " (http://nwbooklovers.org/2016/05/20/no...)


While I don't know any more about Mrs. Hardy other than what Ashley Sweeney says , she must have been a gutsy woman . I love reading stories which portray gutsy women from the past and Eliza Waite is definitely not an exception. She's independent and tough and survives on her own under harsh conditions doing the physical work of a man , while surviving her grief and loss. How did this woman from a family of means come from Columbia, Missouri to live in this desolate , stark cabin on an island off the coast of Seattle , this rough existence in the late 1890's? She has nothing but her memories and her recipes both of which are interspersed throughout the story . It is through these flashbacks that we come to know her story and that while she is tough, she is also vulnerable . I'm not a baker but yet I loved reading these recipes with "teacups" of flour and butter.

In this desolate place , there are amazing descriptions of the landscape and we get such a clear sense of the place . The same holds true when Eliza arrives in Skagway, Alaska to start a new life and open a bakery. It's the Klondike and it's the Goldrush and it's 1898 and Sweeney took me there . It's also the time when women are seeking the vote , when Kate Chopin is writing stories that women like Eliza want to read. But while so much happens around her , this really is the story of one woman and her journey to finding herself. I will definitely look to see what Sweeney has to offer in the future.

Thanks to She Writes Press and NetGalley.

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eliza Waite is a strong female character, someone who trekked to Alaska in the last 1800s and opened a bakery in a gold rush town, after experiencing family tragedy in the San Juan Islands. Sweeney describes the loneliness of the islands quite well and the kind of people who are drawn to Alaska even now.

I came home from my trip to this area of the world six months ago, and while I was there I bought this at Darvills Bookstore on Orcas Island, the perfect choice to bring me back to the islands and Skagway. I personally experienced many of the places mentioned and like to bake so this was a great read for me, particularly because the day I read it, we had no power due to an ice storm, and I had to read by candle light. I think Eliza would have approved.

There are recipes in this book too, but they use traditional ingredients at times and measurements like teacups. I am likely to try making at least one of them regardless.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a smallpox epidemic decimates her tiny community, Eliza chooses to remain alone on remote Cypress Island, a dot of land amidst the San Juan archipelago in Puget Sound. She could have fled to the mainland like the few left of her village, but grief over the loss of her young son roots her in place. It is the late 1890s, and a woman homesteading alone is an uncommon sight, but Eliza Waite is a rare gem of a woman, indeed.

The first half of the novel is a beautiful, peaceful meditation on life alone in a lovely, bountiful, wet, lonely place. Eliza's life is hard, dictated by a daily rhythm of work to survive. She makes infrequent trips by boat to a larger community on a neighboring island to replenish her stores. Her few survival pennies come from sewing and baking goods that she sells at the general store.

After a fall, she is nursed back to health by the general store owner's son, whose questionable past remains hidden from Eliza even as he pursues her. But her shyness and inexperience with romance - her son was the result of a rape, her marriage was arranged in haste and conducted without love - make her hesitate and she loses her chance at companionship. The heartbreak forces her to face her loneliness and she sets off, with a throng of fortune-hunters, for the wilds of Alaska.

The novel's second half shows Eliza coming into her own, with a rich cast of characters that surround her in this colorful, crazy quilt of a new life. Eliza invests her meagre savings in a bakery and within months she is successful, working tirelessly seven days a week on Skagway's rough and tumble Main Street. Eliza discovers the pleasures of her own body while the town discovers the deliciousness that emanates from her kitchen.

Recounted with a deep passion for history and landscape, Eliza Waite is a wonderful work of historical fiction. Ashley Sweeney has such a gift for detail and such compassion and respect for her characters. I devoured Eliza; it was a joy to read, to be swept away in time and place. Highly recommended!

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Compelling female protagonist that mirrors the strength and determination that ran through the veins of the men and women who pursued gold in the north during the late 19th century, Eliza Waite is a book not to be overlooked.

I became spellbound by this character who faced so much adversity and managed to pull up her bootstraps and begin life anew. Eliza Waite was certainly no Disney princess waiting to be rescued. Instead, she learned how to carve a successful business and life all by herself My only complaint would be that I became so interested in the story that I was truly sad to come to the end.

Thanks to author Ashley Sweeney and Goodreads Giveaways for a copy of this delightful book.

[Martine · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Freedom has a price, and that price is courage and uncertainty."

Eliza Waite is a character-driven novel about a widowed woman rebuilding her life after loss and hardship. Moving from San Juan Island to Alaska during the Klondike gold rush, the historical details and setting are well done. Eliza is a strong, likable character. Some parts were slow, but overall it was a decent read.

[Connie Mayo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hurray for the female protagonist who adapts to living alone in the wilderness, wearing her dead husband's overcoat and boots. Who gets by on her grit and her good cooking, striking out for Alaska to open a bakery supporting the gold rush community. Who gets it wrong repeatedly when her heart ventures out to test the romantic waters. I'll be looking for Sweeney's next historical.

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a unique and powerful book – only my second 5 star read for the year. The novel follows the life of Eliza Waite, from an unhappy childhood through an arranged marriage to the loss of her husband and child. Eliza then lives alone in what remains of her settlement where her only solace is her weekly baking from recipes she has collected through the years. Eliza is also a voracious reader – she always had been and she longed to see more of the world but couldn’t imagine leaving the place where her son rested.

One day Eliza injures herself and she manages to get herself to the mainland where the owner of the local store cares for her until she is able to go back to her solitary existence but while living in the shop she developed a relationship of sorts with the owner’s nephew and it starts Eliza to thinking that perhaps it’s time to reenter the world and to perhaps even marry again. But she isn’t sure she is ready and she had doubts about the man.

Life doesn’t bring Eliza and easy answers so she heads off on her own to the Klondike with dreams of opening a bakery. Something all her own with no one telling her what to do. It is there that Eliza truly comes into her own with the support of an unlikely circle of friends. It is not easy in Alaska but it leads her to a life of fulfillment she never could have imagined.

This was one really good book. I haven’t encountered a protagonist like Eliza in quite a while. She is not always likable but she is always compelling. The detail as to the time and period is so well woven into the narrative that you don’t realize how much you are learning as you read. It was one of those books where I felt I was there walking in Eliza’s shadow as the descriptions were so vivid. The inclusion of recipes from the day was a big bonus for someone like me who loves to bake. I’m keeping this book for another read as I know I’ll pick up additional details on a second go through that will only make the story better. Eliza Waite is a remarkable story and a character you won’t long forget.

[Harold Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

A GoodReads GiveAway.

Eliza Waite goes north to Alaska. The last north to Alaska yarn I encountered was actually a John Wayne movie.

Not yesterday, eh b'ys?

This book is a fine read. It's the time of the Yukon gold rush and Eliza is a character worth travelling with...even if to chilly Skagway where she fines...well, maybe what she has been searching for all her life.

I hope there is never a movie made of this novel. Movies can create distance/space between people and characters from fiction. Eliza needs to remain inside the covers of the book where readers can embrace her more physically...you know, give 'er a hug because you love her.

[Barbara Stark-Nemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ashley Sweeney’s Eliza Waite is written with a spare beauty and measured pace that give ample opportunity for Sweeney’s exquisite creation of late nineteenth century San Juan Island and gold rush Alaska to shine through. Eliza’s character lies between hopeless sorrow and burgeoning resilience, between subsistence living in isolation and the gifts of prosperity and community, between conventions of the past and her gender and her transformation into an independent fully realized woman. A stunning book!

[Crystal]

This novel was well written but failed to grasp me and keep me in its clutches for the entire first half. However, the book got much, much more exciting from the time that the main character moved to Alaska from the San Juan Islands. The author has an extraordinary skill for description, even in the first part of the book, I felt like I was seeing what she was describing. The harsh reality of the life in turn-of-the-century San Juan Islands, living alone, it was almost depressing. After the move to Skagway, I not only felt like I could see it, but that I was experiencing the sights, the smells, the life of the Gold Rush. I've always been interested in the Gold Rush days, and this was a novel that very adeptly placed me in the fray. I would have given this five stars had the first part of the book held my interest like the second half did. I think that the depressive nature of the main character's lonely life added to the feelings that the first part of the novel invoked, while the bustling feeling of gold rush Skagway added to the more fast-paced nature of the second half.. This was a good book that all in all I enjoyed.

I would like to thank NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for review.

[Ana Brazil · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely book! It's almost three books in one: a natural history of Washington’s San Juan Islands, a historical cookbook, and a true heroine's journey in the Klondike. Brava!

[Debra Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eliza Waite is a compelling historical novel about a woman who manages to blaze a trail for herself, from a remote island off Washington’s coast to Skagway, Alaska in the year 1898, despite every hardship imaginable. An avid reader, Eliza follows the writings of Kate Chopin and the news of the suffragettes fighting for the right to vote, as she creates a brave new life for herself in a man’s world. Clever, curious, and courageous, Eliza Waite is a character you will cheer for from tragic start to triumphant finish. A must read in this year of the Centennial of Women’s Right to Vote.

[Briana Alzola · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot to like here. I didn't really connect with Eliza, but I felt like Sweeney's research helped transport me to both the time period and the locations in the novel. I wanted to know what happened and wanted to keep reading the story.

[Laurie Buchanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

ELIZA WAITE is an impressive blend of meticulous historical scholarship and riveting storytelling that takes place in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. With each turn of the page, it's clear that author Ashley E. Sweeney labored over each sentence, gifting her readers with a gorgeous book. The words—each one painstakingly selected and placed—are delicious!

[David Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waiting for Eliza

Ashley E. Sweeney dips straight into the American Dream with Eliza Waite. Her novel is at once an anthem to our long held belief that everyone can reinvent themselves and that it ain’t over till the final page is inked. Nothing could be more true for Eliza, her resilient protagonist, who bounces back from one tragedy after another, refusing to be counted down and out. She’s the quintessential heroine, an individual who evolves from meager beginnings into a powerful, inspiring woman. Even though she lived at the turn of the twentieth century, she’s a fully modern woman.

More than that, as Sweeney confided by phone the other day, “Eliza’s a realist.” It is this quality she claims that allows her to triumph over the obstacles in her life. This was especially meaningful Sweeney added, because “given the constraints on women who lived during the nineteenth century, she understood what she could do.” And conversely – what she could not do. To begin with, she could not choose her parents. It does not take us long to learn that Eliza’s young life was cursed by a father who derided her as “clumsy as a mule, and ‘not a looker.”’ This was also a father so ashamed of his daughter that “he often wondered if Eliza was in fact his child.” And it only got worse when her favorite uncle, her father’s womanizing brother, rapes and impregnates her. Her father concedes to himself his brother has committed this obscene travesty, but it does not stop him from bribing a young pastor with an enormous sum of money to wed his daughter and remove her far from the community. He will not be humiliated in such a way and as well, he is hoping for an appointment to a judgeship which he does not want to jeopardize with his daughter’s predicament. And then, in an even more cruel twist of fate, she loses both her illegitimate son and husband to small pox – tragedy piled atop one another.

Losing her son filled her with enormous grief. Eliza’s grief does not feel cheap or reek of melancholy, as so many romantic novels often do. It is painful – bone marrow deep. Eliza reflects on this several times throughout the book, perfectly capturing this pain, universally extending it: “Yes, we are all of us wounded.” This line is but an example of her writing’s lyrical beauty. Her haunting tones reminded me of a trumpet’s guttural snare, wafting its bleated cry through the smoke-filled layers of any seedy dive, all attention glued to the cries from that horn. And Sweeney’s trumpet wails.

The nearly paralyzing grief keeps her stuck on Cypress Island, unable to pull herself away from Washington’s San Juan Islands where her purchased pastor husband had settled them to preach his dyspeptic version of Christianity. Finally though, she gathers the fortitude to leave, knowing she must reclaim her independence, recognizing “Freedom has a price, she thinks, and that price is courage and uncertainty … For the first time in my twenty-eight years, I am free to make a decision on my own, unshackled from any man.” With that realization, she loads a few essential belongings into her canoe and rows away, leaving her tragic past and all it contains – behind. Where does she head? Well, where else would a young woman, in 1898, with nothing to lose – alone with no husband or child – depart for – why the gold fields of Alaska – where else?

It is in Skagway, Alaska – gateway town to the Klondike, where Eliza spreads her wings and truly becomes a manifestation of the American Dream. While on Cypress she began collecting recipes (which she shares with us) and had established herself as a blue ribbon winner for her baked goods. Upon arriving in Skagway she does everything necessary so she can open her very own café – and she does. What follow next is a series of excellent adventures, which good taste dictates, I not share.

All that’s really important and all that any potential reader needs to know is that Sweeney has written a brilliant piece of historical fiction whose lead female character has it all. She is a woman who refused to bow to the cruelties of a misogynistic society, only less damnable than her own family. This is a woman who reached down inside and found herself. She is a character who deserves, no, is due the right of having a book named after her – and so it is.

Originally published in Anchorage Press on July 7, 2016

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The prologue of Ashley E. Sweeney’s debut novel shows her heroine embarking on a major life change. In Seattle of 1898, Eliza Waite finds an unused ticket in the street and boards a stern-wheeler bound for the Klondike, dressed in her late husband’s threadbare clothing and with $45 in her purse.

It’s no ordinary woman who would travel alone to Alaska, a place where men reportedly outnumber women a hundred to one, but the circumstances that Eliza previously endured give her the courage to take this unusual step. What’s more, they convince her that she can succeed in her goal: to run a bakery.

Following the introduction, the book is evenly split into two sections – before and after – which illustrate different aspects of women’s pioneering experiences in the Pacific Northwest. The contemplative, slower-moving first half chronicles the year and more that Eliza, solidly built and bookish, had spent in an isolated cabin on Cypress Island, in Washington State’s San Juan Islands, after losing her son (much beloved) and minister husband (not so much) in an epidemic.

Eliza establishes a rhythm for the daily chores while remembering her earlier life and enduring a burden of heavy grief. Kate Chopin, a Missourian like herself, gives her inspiration through her writing and actions. Abundant with details on life on a remote island – fishing, canning, plant-gathering, even recipes – the writing sometimes falls into repetitive patterns (of the form “she did this, she did that”) while is beautifully lyrical in others:

“She stares through the uncurtained window above the chipped enamel sink and cannot see through the dense fog that descends over Cypress. Every shade of grey colors the landscape, from steely clouds that conceal the daylight to the vague cinereous mound or Orcas rising out of the dusky sea.”

In the second half, Eliza establishes her shop in Skagway, a Gold Rush base camp barely a year old, forms a close friendship with a local madam (one of the novel’s most enjoyable aspects), and gets reacquainted with her feminine nature while avoiding romance – at least until she’s ready to approach it on her own terms. Sweeney avoids artificial drama, instead focusing on Eliza’s blossoming self-image and how she finds a home in the energetic, rough-hewn mining town, which gives those with a painful past a place to make their fortunes or die trying.

Most of the novel is written in third person; the story also dips occasionally into Eliza’s first-person viewpoint, via her thoughts and short diary-style notes that begin each chapter. This further illustrates her practical mindset. This is a satisfying read, one which brings to life a short-lived time in American history, and which acknowledges and celebrates the many facets of womanhood.

First published at Reading the Past.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating story of a young woman who survives tragedy and reinvents herself at the turn of the 20th century. The setting changes from the Missouri social scene, to living a tough life on one of the San Juan Islands, to Skagway Alaska during the Goldrush of 1898. Eliza Waite, as did many women of her time, had very little control over her life living under her fathers roof. It was only after her marriage and the tragic loss of her husband and son that she started to make her own choices on the type of life she wanted to lead. First time author Ashley E. Sweeney paints a historically accurate view of a woman on a journey of self discovery. In a time where the Woman's Suffragate Movement was just beginning, and only a few states allowed women the right to vote, I was fascinated with the idea of a woman striking out alone amidst unruly and rough men, surviving relatively unscathed, and in fact, building a thriving business. You can tell that the author researched each area and the people who lived there pretty thoroughly. She even starts out each chapter with a recipe for an item that Eliza has baked, or will bake that seems, without my trying to bake one of them, to be a real recipe. The measurements using teacups instead of cups. A touch, that adds charm and realism to the story.

I loved the every day accuracy of this novel. This was not a book that created a false warmth for the Alaska winter. This book had Eliza, dressed in threadbare clothing freezing as the wind whipped through her clothing, had miners smelling just awful, dirt squishing through toes and sores becoming infected. The contrast on my senses when Eliza was able to buy a new pair of gloves and her fingers were warmed. The smell of cinnamon permeating the air when she was baking, and light flashing from the fireworks helped set the scene in a realistic manner. The good and bad were contrasted so spectacularly, that even though every moment was not fun to read about, it made the end game that much more enjoyable.

As a woman, I enjoyed seeing Eliza come to the realization that life's experiences may not be easy, but it is better to take on the unknown alone, make her own choices and possibly make her own mistakes. This ultimately led her to a growth and happiness that she otherwise wouldn't have known.

This book will be released on May 16, 2016. Put this book on your wish list and pick up a copy when it comes out!

[Jenni Ogden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This historic novel is set in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska during the late 18oos and early 1900s. It is a part of the world I have never visited, and Ashley Sweeney’s vivid and carefully researched descriptions of these harsh and beautiful landscapes make me yearn to go. Of course it will thankfully be very different now from those places as experienced by Eliza Waite, the strong woman at the heart of this story. In fact the story is very much focused almost exclusively on Eliza, with other human characters very peripheral. The physical environments and Eliza’s passion for baking are the other two major characters here (and yes I tried two of the recipes, once I worked out what saleratus was!) Part One of the book reflects Eliza’s solitary and poverty-stricken existence and is not a light page turner. But it is worth persevering as in Part Two, when Eliza makes the life-changing psychological and physical shift to Alaska and a new love for herself, the story brightens and deepens. Eliza’s character arc from the start to end of the book is realistic, subtle, but immense, a sign of very good writing by this debut novelist. Thank you to Netgalley for providing a review copy in return for an honest review.

[Mirella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Within this mesmerizing cover is a though-provoking tale about a woman who struggles to overcome adversity resulting from the hardships and poverty and loss that has plagued her life. Eliza Waite is poor, alone in the world, and running from a horrendous past. Her tragic past makes her a compelling character.

The first part of the novel takes place on the San Juan Islands where she earns a living from the land. It is a life of hardship and constant work simply to exist. The latter part of the book takes the reader on a journey to Skagway Alaska with its chaotic economy and colorful character. Eliza struggles to adapt to her new environment. Slowly, not only does she adapt, but she is victorious in changing her life as she discovers her spirit and resilience.

Written in a lovely, flowing style, it was an enjoyable book describing a fascinating era in American history. Highly recommended.

Thank you to the author and publisher. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for visiting my blog, http://greathistoricals.blogspot.ca, where the greatest historical fiction is reviewed! For fascinating women of history bios and women's fiction please visit http://www.historyandwomen.com.

[C.P. Lesley]

Cypress Island, September 1896: a tragedy has left a young widow, mourning her child, living alone in a cabin on this isolated spot near Bellingham Bay in the very new state of Washington. Once a month or so, Eliza Waite rows two hours each way to the general store on the mainland for supplies. Otherwise, she supports herself through hard work: chopping wood, maintaining a vegetable garden, fishing, cooking, doing laundry. Each day has a chore, and they repeat endlessly until a second crisis and a lucky find send Eliza northward on a boat to Alaska, where the Klondike gold rush is at its height. There the strands of her past interweave in ways she could not have anticipated.

In Eliza Waite, Ashley E. Sweeney creates a tough, resilient, likable heroine whose compelling story will draw you in and make you pull for her success. And if all this effort makes you hungry, have no fear: the book is filled with Eliza’s recipes, and a plate of gingerbread or miner’s snickerdoodles is never far away.

Interview with the author at New Books in Historical Fiction

[Cathy Branciforte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Each time I opened it, I was transported into 1896-99 and lived right alongside Eliza; the descriptions of where and how she she lived, what she wore, were so vivid and beautifully described that I felt I was right there with her. This is why I read! I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Eliza, and her background story woven throughout. I found myself rooting for her all the way and wanting something good to happen to her. I loved when she went to Alaska and made a new life for herself, complete with her cafe, her friends, and her strength and spirit to make it. This is one terrific book and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction!
Thank you to Netgalley and She Writes Press for the opportunity to read this digital review copy.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Kudos to Ms. Sweeney for such a refreshing piece of historical fiction. Too many strong female characters end up being tropes in unbelievable circumstances or acting anachronistically. Not so with Eliza Waite, who straddles the line between modern girl power and historical realism. The story follows Eliza's journey from Washington's San Juan Islands to Skagway, Alaska at the end of the nineteenth century -- unfamiliar territory for me! However, a few of the themes echoed my academic research, so I ended up enjoying it. My half-star quibble is personal, as I prefer a more flowing and varied writing style, but it did the job.

I would recommend "Eliza Waite" to fans of Geraldine Brooks' books (particularly "Year of Wonders" and "Caleb's Crossing").

[Olya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley and She Writes Press-thank you!

This book really felt like two separate books to me. I really didn't like the first half of the book when Eliza was still in the San Juan islands. It felt like nothing happened and was really boring to me. That said, I LOVED the book once Eliza moved to Skagway. It was interesting, the pace picked up, and I couldn't wait to find out more. I do think the part in the book description that mentions someone from her past showing up should have been a bigger deal in the book, but overall, the Skagway part was fantastic. The San Juan part was 1 star for me while the Skagway part was 4.5 stars, so I rounded it up and gave the whole book 3 stars.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only gave this book (3) stars because I felt the main character did not have enough of a voice. She seemed to float through the book responding to events around her, but not participating in anything. Maybe I feel angst against the character because she epitomizes what I dislike most about myself, but in the long run it made the story slow and stale for me. The setting of the Alaska gold rush was an excellent idea because I haven't read many historical fictions set in this time period, but instead I felt only slightly educated and just a glimmer of the time period. I enjoyed the characters strength, internal analysis and her plodding analysis of life. I just wished I felt that she grew with the passing of time. Instead of enjoying her present, she was always waiting to "find the one".

[Michelle Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eliza White by Ashley Sweeney is a delight to read! I loved each of the two very different parts of the book. The first part had a thoughtful, meditative feel to it as the reader becomes part of Eliza’s solitary life on Cypress Island. The pace of the writing matches the interior thoughts and actions of Eliza in what may be called a depressed state following the death of her son and husband. In the second part of the book, Sweeney expertly picks up the pace to match Eliza’s new life in Alaska. It is a beautiful, touching story that will remain with me a long time. I am sad to be finished with this great book!

[Angie Kritenbrink · Rating 5 out of 5]

So let's imagine it's the late nineteenth century, you're living in a wild Pacific Northwest landscape, kind of clinging onto a small settlement on a small island that's been barely tamed by humans. You are married to the town minister and you have a young son. A major event happens that leaves you standing almost alone on this island with your life stretching ahead of you beyond the water, beyond the mountains, and beyond the reaches of your imagination. What do you do next?

I really loved this novel- It gets the Pacific Northwest feel and creates a very whole and interesting female character. Full review here: http://www.lifewangie.com/2016/10/eli...

[Candace · Rating 2 out of 5]

LookI really wish I could give this book a higher rating, but I just couldn't. There were several issues I had with it. The story line started out promising but faded. So many things that just did not add to the story. Do I really need to read a description of a woman's vulva? Not really. Didn't add a thing to the story, nor did many other annoying descriptive scenes in this book. It did not seem true to the era. Not sure why the author felt the need to inject this story linee into a otherwise enjoyable read.
This is the second book I've read by this author, but don'tthink I'll be reading any others.

[Dianah (onourpath) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eliza Waite manages to survive all manner of awful tragedies; there is no keeping this driven woman down. Making her way from Missouri to the San Juan Islands to Alaska in 1898, Eliza finds strength she never imagined she had. Based on gold rush history and personal diaries of the time, Sweeney tells the great story of one woman's journey alone in the world. Peppered throughout with 19th century recipes, Eliza Waite is a charming historical tale of the settling of Alaska, but also of the bravery and tenacity of pioneer women.

[Mae · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a slow starter; but, if you can power through the San Juan Islands, Alaska is very well written. I loved the images of life in Alaska - Ms. Sweeny writes it in an un-romanticized way that is much more "real" than many other writers. This is an under represented time in historical fiction and I appreciate the place this will take in the cannon. It's a great read if you stick with it!

[Kelly Glenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy my historical fiction, Eliza Waite was no exception. I really liked Eliza and her personality, struggles and demeanor. The reason I give this book 3 stars, because there were a few slow parts and it was pretty predictable. Reading the back of the book, I thought there would be more about Goldminers and fortune hunters but this was a small part of the book. It was more about Eliza and her struggles.
I really enjoyed the recipes!