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Bess: A Pioneer Woman's Journey of Courage, Grit and Love
Bess Parker is only 21 years old when she sets out by herself in 1908, leaving the safety of her childhood home for southwestern North Dakota to establish a homestead. And it takes all the strength she can muster to succeed—facing the perils of the vast prairie, making her homestead productive, conquering the dangers of the frontier, flirting with romance, struggling with the emotional needs of her heart and body, and meeting the challenges of life on the prairie. But this unique young woman has a steely determination, and her story is the epitome of courage and grit in a difficult and sometimes cruel time in the history of the west.
- GenresLGBTHistorical
274 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 5, 2016
87 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 10, 2017
When you read about the west you see mostly that it was a man's world. This is the first time I have ever read a book that shows a woman setting out on her own. Bess is a book filled with dreams, hopes, difficulties, and accomplishments.
Bess Parker is just a young girl when the dream of homesteading is put in her mind. She uses determination and a strong will and sets out on a journey like no other. She has a taboo love life for this time period and a will to make her way in the world. Years pass as she makes her homestead a home, she becomes a wife and mother, and she never gives up on her dream of making her own way and living her life.
I really enjoyed this book. Women homesteading alone is something I have never seen or heard of and this book paints a wonderful story. Bess was a character that is easy to fall in love with. She was powerful and determined and vowed to follow her dreams no matter what may come her way. This book was descriptive and wonderfully written. It showed the good parts of life in the west as well as the many difficulties that can come along the way. All around it was a wonderful, historical book.
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Bess Parker is just a young girl when the dream of homesteading is put in her mind. She uses determination and a strong will and sets out on a journey like no other. She has a taboo love life for this time period and a will to make her way in the world. Years pass as she makes her homestead a home, she becomes a wife and mother, and she never gives up on her dream of making her own way and living her life.
I really enjoyed this book. Women homesteading alone is something I have never seen or heard of and this book paints a wonderful story. Bess was a character that is easy to fall in love with. She was powerful and determined and vowed to follow her dreams no matter what may come her way. This book was descriptive and wonderfully written. It showed the good parts of life in the west as well as the many difficulties that can come along the way. All around it was a wonderful, historical book.
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February 6, 2017
MY THOUGHTS
Life back in the crude frontier would be difficult for even the most skilled and hardened man but one single woman? The land is rough, uncivilized in places and it takes survival skills to just barely make it. Bess is that woman. She is young and strong willed. She lives out in that wild frontier. She had grown up a rough and tumble tom boy. She can work right along side any man and perhaps put them to shame. At the same time, she can do all the chores that every woman back then had to do. The only thing is, when a man expresses interest in Bess, she just isn't interested back. She hasn't time for romance. The author paints Bess as a totally different person than what you normally think of women back in the 1900's. The author gives the reader a strong, determined woman who doesn't necessarily need a man to take care of her. This journey in the Dakota frontier has it's ups and downs for Bess throughout the many changes, some good, some bad. The world back then belonged to men, not women, especially a single woman. But Bess has nerve, she was brave and strong. The author gave background from some research which is evident along with actual documentation of the early life in the Dakota frontier. Bess may have been one of the forerunners in the now feminist movement. She was setting the future in motion for women. She went it alone and gave it all in order to survive the vast frontier. You can't help but respect and admire her. The author gave such vivid descriptions of the Dakota frontier and the characters that you can picture it all in your mind. What would it be like to have been there? Bess has a hidden secret, something that was definitely taboo back in the 1900's. She had met a girl while on the train. Linda and Bess spend three days together and then Linda leaves for Montana. Bess is a must read. She was definitely a "pioneer" in several fields. She was a one of a kind of woman back then, where as today, she wouldn't have been unique. She started setting the stage for the days ahead of her. What was to become a norm. The author gives you a story that is based on a true person, Bess. If you love that sense of the wild frontier of the west back in the day, then you will love this book. Not just a single woman who is strong but the author brings out many characteristics that were new to people back then. Some were secrets that were kept quiet while today they are out in the open and strong women are everywhere.
I received a copy of this book from the author, Charles Cranston Jett and was under no obligation to review it. I voluntarily decided to give a review on it.
Life back in the crude frontier would be difficult for even the most skilled and hardened man but one single woman? The land is rough, uncivilized in places and it takes survival skills to just barely make it. Bess is that woman. She is young and strong willed. She lives out in that wild frontier. She had grown up a rough and tumble tom boy. She can work right along side any man and perhaps put them to shame. At the same time, she can do all the chores that every woman back then had to do. The only thing is, when a man expresses interest in Bess, she just isn't interested back. She hasn't time for romance. The author paints Bess as a totally different person than what you normally think of women back in the 1900's. The author gives the reader a strong, determined woman who doesn't necessarily need a man to take care of her. This journey in the Dakota frontier has it's ups and downs for Bess throughout the many changes, some good, some bad. The world back then belonged to men, not women, especially a single woman. But Bess has nerve, she was brave and strong. The author gave background from some research which is evident along with actual documentation of the early life in the Dakota frontier. Bess may have been one of the forerunners in the now feminist movement. She was setting the future in motion for women. She went it alone and gave it all in order to survive the vast frontier. You can't help but respect and admire her. The author gave such vivid descriptions of the Dakota frontier and the characters that you can picture it all in your mind. What would it be like to have been there? Bess has a hidden secret, something that was definitely taboo back in the 1900's. She had met a girl while on the train. Linda and Bess spend three days together and then Linda leaves for Montana. Bess is a must read. She was definitely a "pioneer" in several fields. She was a one of a kind of woman back then, where as today, she wouldn't have been unique. She started setting the stage for the days ahead of her. What was to become a norm. The author gives you a story that is based on a true person, Bess. If you love that sense of the wild frontier of the west back in the day, then you will love this book. Not just a single woman who is strong but the author brings out many characteristics that were new to people back then. Some were secrets that were kept quiet while today they are out in the open and strong women are everywhere.
I received a copy of this book from the author, Charles Cranston Jett and was under no obligation to review it. I voluntarily decided to give a review on it.
December 15, 2016
Growing up on a farm in Cando, North Dakota, “Bess” Parker is a tomboy. She’d rather be outside helping her dad with farm chores than inside learning to cook or sew with her mother. Obedient child that she is, Bess manages to do both—get up early enough to feed the chickens, gather the eggs, help Mama with breakfast, and then go outside to help saddle up her horse and help her dad tend the sheep. In the spring she even helps with lambing and shearing, while getting good grades in school and mastering the piano, eventually being able to play complex pieces such as Chaupin’s etudes. The only thing is, when a local boy expresses an interest in courting her, Bess just isn’t interested. She wants to move farther west and homestead—on her own. Much to her mother’s dismay, Bess never seems to show any interest in romance at all.
She’s very good at hiding the feelings she has for her best friend. Nor does she tell her parents about Linda, the girl she meets on the train enroute to Haley, North Dakota, the town where she plans to homestead, or the three wonderful days they spend together before Linda leaves for Montana to visit her aunt and uncle.
“Bess” grabbed me at the beginning and held my attention straight through. I had difficulty putting it down. Mr. Jett did a pretty good job of staying in the period with only one anomaly that I found, which wasn’t bad for a first-time historical novel. Mr. Jett’s dialog could also be a bit less stilted, but making the transition from non-fiction business writing to fiction is not easy, and since Mr. Jett had the same publisher, I suspect he had the same editor who may not know as much about working with fiction. Bess is a plucky character—a strong woman who makes her own way in a man’s world. A true pioneer in more than one sense of the word. I highly recommend “Bess.”
She’s very good at hiding the feelings she has for her best friend. Nor does she tell her parents about Linda, the girl she meets on the train enroute to Haley, North Dakota, the town where she plans to homestead, or the three wonderful days they spend together before Linda leaves for Montana to visit her aunt and uncle.
“Bess” grabbed me at the beginning and held my attention straight through. I had difficulty putting it down. Mr. Jett did a pretty good job of staying in the period with only one anomaly that I found, which wasn’t bad for a first-time historical novel. Mr. Jett’s dialog could also be a bit less stilted, but making the transition from non-fiction business writing to fiction is not easy, and since Mr. Jett had the same publisher, I suspect he had the same editor who may not know as much about working with fiction. Bess is a plucky character—a strong woman who makes her own way in a man’s world. A true pioneer in more than one sense of the word. I highly recommend “Bess.”
March 12, 2017
Bess: A Pioneer Woman’s Journey of Courage, Grit, and Love was written by Charles Cranston Jett. This is a historical fiction based on the true-life story of his Grandmother Bess Parker. She spent many hours playing games with Charles and telling him stories about her life and homesteading.
Elizabeth (Bess) Parker was the only child of Nellie and Giles Parker. She was born in Northfield, Minnesota about 1887. In 1894, Giles took a job as manager of a grain elevator in Cando, North Dakota. He also had a farm where he raised sheep. Bess was happiest when she was outside helping her Father. She was even called a “tomboy” by the kids at school. However, she took this as a compliment which backfired on them. Her Mother did insist that she do household chores and learn the skills needed to run a household. When Bess was seventeen, she decided that when she was twenty-one, she would go to western North Dakota and take advantage of the Homestead Act of 1862 which gave any person, male or female, 160 free acres with the provision that they “proved up” the land within five years. Bess had no problem believing she could do this. She saved the money she earned by helping her Father so she would have the money to obtain the things she would need. She and her Father made lists of the things she would need to purchase and a list of things to look for in a horse which she would have to purchase. When she turned twenty-one, she left Cando, North Dakota with two trunks and a carpetbag, caught a train and headed for Haley, North Dakota. She had looked at maps and decided Haley was where she would head. When she got there, she decided she wanted 160 acres just south of Haley in South Dakota, so traveled to South Dakota and obtained her 160 acres. Now she had to defy all odds, the elements, and strangers to get her soddy built, fix up a shed and pasture, and obtain ewes to start her herd. How she does this makes a wonderful story.
The story is well-written and definitely makes you want to sit down and read it all the way through. Before you are very far into the book, Bess becomes so real it is as if you have known her for a long time. The characters are exceptionally well-developed and realistic. It is an excellent book.
Elizabeth (Bess) Parker was the only child of Nellie and Giles Parker. She was born in Northfield, Minnesota about 1887. In 1894, Giles took a job as manager of a grain elevator in Cando, North Dakota. He also had a farm where he raised sheep. Bess was happiest when she was outside helping her Father. She was even called a “tomboy” by the kids at school. However, she took this as a compliment which backfired on them. Her Mother did insist that she do household chores and learn the skills needed to run a household. When Bess was seventeen, she decided that when she was twenty-one, she would go to western North Dakota and take advantage of the Homestead Act of 1862 which gave any person, male or female, 160 free acres with the provision that they “proved up” the land within five years. Bess had no problem believing she could do this. She saved the money she earned by helping her Father so she would have the money to obtain the things she would need. She and her Father made lists of the things she would need to purchase and a list of things to look for in a horse which she would have to purchase. When she turned twenty-one, she left Cando, North Dakota with two trunks and a carpetbag, caught a train and headed for Haley, North Dakota. She had looked at maps and decided Haley was where she would head. When she got there, she decided she wanted 160 acres just south of Haley in South Dakota, so traveled to South Dakota and obtained her 160 acres. Now she had to defy all odds, the elements, and strangers to get her soddy built, fix up a shed and pasture, and obtain ewes to start her herd. How she does this makes a wonderful story.
The story is well-written and definitely makes you want to sit down and read it all the way through. Before you are very far into the book, Bess becomes so real it is as if you have known her for a long time. The characters are exceptionally well-developed and realistic. It is an excellent book.
July 15, 2018
Profound Story
I haven't had as story touch me as much as this one did. A young girl who just didn't quite fit into the norms of the world at that time. Wanted nothing more than to be a rancher which she did and alone the way learned many things about herself and what she was capable of. A woman who eventually came through and found her way.
I haven't had as story touch me as much as this one did. A young girl who just didn't quite fit into the norms of the world at that time. Wanted nothing more than to be a rancher which she did and alone the way learned many things about herself and what she was capable of. A woman who eventually came through and found her way.
February 10, 2019
Goodbye, good riddance, Doc.
Homesteading in 1908 gives Bess quite the challenge even though she spent years preparing for this adventure. Her courage to meet those challenges as they came her way over the next seven years made me feel she was a brave woman who would continue raising her family and never give up.
Homesteading in 1908 gives Bess quite the challenge even though she spent years preparing for this adventure. Her courage to meet those challenges as they came her way over the next seven years made me feel she was a brave woman who would continue raising her family and never give up.
January 26, 2020
A young Adult story
The heroine is a teenager planning to start her own farm/ranch when she turns 21 years old. The writing is okay but rather simplistic as if the author were a very young woman herself.
The heroine is a teenager planning to start her own farm/ranch when she turns 21 years old. The writing is okay but rather simplistic as if the author were a very young woman herself.
April 15, 2018
Good read
Was an unexpected read, for the times. Good history of the Dakota's.
Thanks
Good read, and history of the area.
Thanks
Was an unexpected read, for the times. Good history of the Dakota's.
Thanks
Good read, and history of the area.
Thanks
May 7, 2019
Great book
February 8, 2017
Bess Parker grew up on a farm in North Dakota in the late nineteenth century and like all farm children, was expected to do her share of the work. Her father worked in the local grain elevator, so he was elsewhere, meaning that Bess had to run the farm, starting at an early age. Unlike other girls, she was not attracted to boys and had no desire to get married and raise a family after graduating from high school.
Bess was also very intelligent, strong-willed and curious about the world. She devoured books in the local library, being especially curious about geography. When she learned about the Homestead program where any person 21 and over could file for ownership of 160 acres of unclaimed land, Bess decided that was what she was going to do. Even though it was considered unusual, there was no legal impediment against a woman claiming a homestead. It required that a person develop the land and after five years, if she did that the land would officially become hers.
Bess travels to the small town of Haley, North Dakota and establishes her homestead just across the border in South Dakota right after the turn of the century. Industrious and resourceful, Bess hires men to help her build a house partially made of sod, outbuildings for livestock and the fences needed to contain them.
Eventually, even though she never develops an attraction for men, Bess succumbs to the charms of a man nicknamed Doc, although he is not a medical man. He raises horses, a profession that he loves. They have children and their farm is prosperous, expanded when other homesteaders with property contiguous to theirs give up on farming and move elsewhere.
While this is a story about a hardy pioneer woman, there are many twists not found in others. There is a clear trail of lesbianism, a lack of deference to male opinions and Bess even smokes. Another positive aspect of the story is that Bess is accepted for what she is by the other people in the community. There is no hint of mean-spirited gossip by other members of their local society, they accept her as a hard-working productive member.
Growing up on a farm, Bess learned how to use firearms, so she knows how to react when threatened by man and beast. Even though most of the women engaged in the westward movement traveled with their husbands and families, there were some that went out on their own, determined to make it in a man’s world. This book brings their story to light, although it is fiction, it contains a great deal of historical accuracy.
Bess was also very intelligent, strong-willed and curious about the world. She devoured books in the local library, being especially curious about geography. When she learned about the Homestead program where any person 21 and over could file for ownership of 160 acres of unclaimed land, Bess decided that was what she was going to do. Even though it was considered unusual, there was no legal impediment against a woman claiming a homestead. It required that a person develop the land and after five years, if she did that the land would officially become hers.
Bess travels to the small town of Haley, North Dakota and establishes her homestead just across the border in South Dakota right after the turn of the century. Industrious and resourceful, Bess hires men to help her build a house partially made of sod, outbuildings for livestock and the fences needed to contain them.
Eventually, even though she never develops an attraction for men, Bess succumbs to the charms of a man nicknamed Doc, although he is not a medical man. He raises horses, a profession that he loves. They have children and their farm is prosperous, expanded when other homesteaders with property contiguous to theirs give up on farming and move elsewhere.
While this is a story about a hardy pioneer woman, there are many twists not found in others. There is a clear trail of lesbianism, a lack of deference to male opinions and Bess even smokes. Another positive aspect of the story is that Bess is accepted for what she is by the other people in the community. There is no hint of mean-spirited gossip by other members of their local society, they accept her as a hard-working productive member.
Growing up on a farm, Bess learned how to use firearms, so she knows how to react when threatened by man and beast. Even though most of the women engaged in the westward movement traveled with their husbands and families, there were some that went out on their own, determined to make it in a man’s world. This book brings their story to light, although it is fiction, it contains a great deal of historical accuracy.
February 13, 2017
Review of Bess: A Pioneer Woman's Journey of Courage, Grit and Love by Charles Cranston Jett
Bess is a standalone historical novel that will grab your attention from the very first page. I must confess I don’t usually read historical novels unless they have a pretty good share of romance, nevertheless, the story of Bess was so vivid and touching that I couldn’t put it down. Bess is pretty much what any woman would like to be. She is strong, independent, hardworking and good at almost everything she does. She can play the piano, has great grades, helps her father on his farm and her mother in the kitchen. However, her talents aren’t the only thing that makes her different from the other women in Dakota. She isn’t interested in being courted or dreaming about being kissed and pampered by a man like all the other girls her age. Truth being told, I admire her determination in standing on her own feet instead of depending on a man, like many women did in the 1900s. There is nothing with wanting a family, but it is very wrong that people try to make a woman feel she is wrong for wanting to be strong and independent.
I love how the author painted Bess as a true heroine, someone to be admired and whose steps must be followed. I was truly amazed that the author tried to make Bess an unconventional lady to the point of tangling her with a very well-known taboo of that period. I thought it was quite strange that she was so strong and fierce while hiding her feelings for her best friend. She was no coward, but I wonder if she didn’t want her secret out in the open because of fear or simple because she knew people will never understand and she didn’t want to go through the trouble they will cause. This book was very realistic. I really wish to congratulate the author for the amazing research that he did in order to pain not only the places, but also the mentality of the 1900s. I truly wish to recommend this books to those who love historical novels, unconventional heroines and stories that push towards some self growth and a wonderful adventure.
Reviewer of Romance Authors That Rock
4 <3
Bess is a standalone historical novel that will grab your attention from the very first page. I must confess I don’t usually read historical novels unless they have a pretty good share of romance, nevertheless, the story of Bess was so vivid and touching that I couldn’t put it down. Bess is pretty much what any woman would like to be. She is strong, independent, hardworking and good at almost everything she does. She can play the piano, has great grades, helps her father on his farm and her mother in the kitchen. However, her talents aren’t the only thing that makes her different from the other women in Dakota. She isn’t interested in being courted or dreaming about being kissed and pampered by a man like all the other girls her age. Truth being told, I admire her determination in standing on her own feet instead of depending on a man, like many women did in the 1900s. There is nothing with wanting a family, but it is very wrong that people try to make a woman feel she is wrong for wanting to be strong and independent.
I love how the author painted Bess as a true heroine, someone to be admired and whose steps must be followed. I was truly amazed that the author tried to make Bess an unconventional lady to the point of tangling her with a very well-known taboo of that period. I thought it was quite strange that she was so strong and fierce while hiding her feelings for her best friend. She was no coward, but I wonder if she didn’t want her secret out in the open because of fear or simple because she knew people will never understand and she didn’t want to go through the trouble they will cause. This book was very realistic. I really wish to congratulate the author for the amazing research that he did in order to pain not only the places, but also the mentality of the 1900s. I truly wish to recommend this books to those who love historical novels, unconventional heroines and stories that push towards some self growth and a wonderful adventure.
Reviewer of Romance Authors That Rock
4 <3
February 7, 2017
Bess by Charles Cranston Jett is an enriching tale about a pioneer woman's journey of courage, grit and love. Bess Parker has to be one of the bravest female characters I know. She goes out to a middle of nowhere to make her own home and life. Traveling alone is a dangerous for a man and even more so for a woman. She had spunk and real courage. Adventure of a lifetime is definitely eating on these pages. I enjoyed following Bess as she fell in love, married, gave birth to kids and started her own homestead. She isn't weak. Her personality is strong, fun, and charming. Full of life. Hardships came and went. A failed marriage and the loss of a child. The future is ahead of her. Charles Cranston Jett has created a wonderful masterpiece. Capturing the lifestyle and time period of pioneers with every detail. Bess breaks the mold for most women especially during this time period. I found it amausing and highly engaging. Overall, I recommend Bess to readers everywhere.
January 19, 2017
Frontier life would be difficult for a man or a family, but for the collective imagination to conceive of a lone woman braving such a stark and unforgiving land is nearly impossible. This is an engrossing tale about Bess, a highly motivated and determined young woman who lives on the frontier.
Charles Cranston Jett has created a phenomenal storyline that offers a radical challenge in disproving the stereotypical prototype of a woman in the early 1900's. The reader will follow the emotional roller coaster of the heroine's struggle in combating the tremendous changes throughout her journey.
Read the entire review here: bookendchronicles.blogspot.com
Charles Cranston Jett has created a phenomenal storyline that offers a radical challenge in disproving the stereotypical prototype of a woman in the early 1900's. The reader will follow the emotional roller coaster of the heroine's struggle in combating the tremendous changes throughout her journey.
Read the entire review here: bookendchronicles.blogspot.com
December 19, 2016
Charles Jett has crafted a fascinating and unusual story of historical fiction. Bess is an unusual character who falls outside the norms of her day, and makes her way in the world with strength and determination. The characters are well-developed and believable. Mr. Jett's writing is both smooth and engrossing, and kept me involved throughout. I definitely recommend the book.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews