This is book 5 in the series. The wagon train is the same train in all of the books but there is a different main character. The story is told from that characters experience in the wagon train. The character in this book, Rebecca, shows signs of depression all through her experience. She has good reason to be depressed. Her depression is seen in her pulling into herself, manic episodes so she does not have to think about the life experience that has depressed her, not wanting to be with the people she loves most and who love her the most, shirking her responsibilities. All are behaviors of which she would not usually be guilty. Her attitude moves between not wanting to be there at all to being driven to go forward. Rebecca is unpredictable. Sometimes we view depression as withdrawal but it has many more sides. Friends and family try to help her, they probably think that they have barely scratched the problem but Rebecca does go back and think about their words often rejecting them in the beginning but they continue to roam around in her head giving her the opportunity to see some truth in them.
Satisfying and Exciting Western This is a great series to read. It should be read in order to get the full enjoyment of it. The author is basically writing the same story from different points of view as each immigrant truly experiences things in a unique manner. This episode focuses on a newly widowed young woman and her emotional battle to get past her grief. Anyone who has suffered a deep loss will be able to identify with her internal battle. The story is very satisfying as the reader faces the many hardships and few joys of the trail along with the characters. I am already anticipating the next story.
The principle struggles with depression and anxiety, seen through the lens of her husbands untimely demise. The journey west is very full of problems and issues, but our journey heroine takes a long time to look past her grief.