Way of the Wagons

by Isobel Stewart

Tired of constant scraps with the English, by 1837 the Dutch settlers in South Africa had resolved to trek north into the interior.

Orphaned Laura Conway is living with her Dutch stepmother whom she dearly loves, so it seems natural that she should accompany her and her people on the Great Trek. Paul Venter, leader of their small band of trekkers, is resolutely opposed to Laura’s presence, for he can never forget what the English have done to his people. But how can Laura, the daughter of an English captain, overcome his blind hostility? Especially when she is uncertain if her own feelings for Paul are for an enemy or a friend ...

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't going to leave a review for this but since there isn't any already I guess I will, and since there isn't much on this book, I will try to give a small plot description, basically it's about a young woman named Laura who is living with her loved stepmother after her fathers recent enough death, her father was a English captain and so she is also English and this book is set in South Africa so there is much hostility towards her for being English, the book starts with her family deciding that there is not enough where they are currently settled due to the English so they trek north through dangerous territory and of course there are things that go wrong but this is the main plot of what happens, as for the romance in the book, well the main guy is the leader of the trek Paul who is initially hostile to her due to his hatred for the English, and then there is Stephen who is her stepmother's cousin, he is in love with Laura and wants her to marry him which she keeps turning down because while being very fond of him she is not in love with him and during these times she happens to be drawn to and falling in love with Paul and many things happen between them but every time Paul returns with his English hostility so then in return Laura becomes hostile and after one of these ecounters she agrees to marry Stephen after she sees how loyal he is to her, and that's basically the whole book, I left a few things out as to not spoil just in case.
I wish there was 1/2 ratings on here, I would probbaly rate this 2.5, it was ok, I don't regret reading it but it was nothing special and certain parts annoyed me, like how she was going to marry another man in it while being in love with another, and had the obvious convience of what happened to the man not happened she would have married him even though her heart wasn't in it and I didn't like that, and this somehow was seen as admirable and brave, I disagree, being admirable and brave would have been to be honest with the man even though it would be hard, he was a good man so he deserved to know that she was marrying him out of honor and not out of love. A forgettable book by all means but if you happened to come across it it's worth a try I think.