Everything She Didn't Say {Book Review}

In 1911, Carrie Strahorn wrote a memoir entitled Fifteen Thousand Miles by Stage, which shared some of the most exciting events of 25 years of traveling and shaping the American West with her husband, Robert Strahorn, a railroad promoter, investor, and writer. That is all fact. Everything She Didn't Say imagines Carrie nearly ten years later as she decides to write down what was really on her mind during those adventurous nomadic years.

Certain that her husband will not read it, and in fact that it will only be found after her death, Carrie is finally willing to explore the lessons she learned along the way, including the danger a woman faces of losing herself within a relationship with a strong-willed man and the courage it takes to accept her own God-given worth apart from him. Carrie discovers that wealth doesn't insulate a soul from pain and disappointment, family is essential, pioneering is a challenge, and western landscapes are both demanding and nourishing. Most of all, she discovers that home can be found, even in a rootless life.

With a deft hand, New York Times bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick draws out the emotions of living--the laughter and pain, the love and loss--to give readers a window not only into the past, but into their own conflicted hearts. Based on a true story.

Where do I start? This book is SO GOOD! I had really low expectations for it but it blew me away! I really, really, really loved the authenticity that this book has (I mean, it is based on a memoir but this book felt super authentic). I felt as if Carrie "Dell" was sitting next to me and talking to me. One of the things that I really appreciated was the fact the Carrie struggled with her body image, which I haven't read much of. This is something that I have an on-and-off battle with so this was so great to read. All the descriptions made me feel like I had stepped inside that time period and was traveling all over the place with "Dell" and "Pard".  I could also feel Carrie's pain and teared up a few times. I also learned a lot about Manifest Destiny and even though Robert and Carrie Strahorn are real and did so much, I don't think I've ever heard of them.

I love books that make me laugh, and (you guessed it), this book made me laugh. I was reading and started cracking up and my sisters gave me the "yep she's insane" look. The humor felt really real and it wasn't forced. I'm laughing now just thinking about it.

The adventures were so great! Again, they all felt very real and a lot of them were hilarious. But whenever something went wrong my heart started pounding and you just want everything to turn out alright.

Okay, so the book starts out with Carrie and Robert getting married and yes, I did want to smack Robert a few times, but his adoration for Carrie was soooo adorable. And Carrie's love for her husband was so real (seeing a pattern here?:P) and inspiring.

I actually can't think of anything that I disliked. I really liked this book xD

Like I said, the book starts with Carrie and Robert getting married so there are some references to that - and they can't have children - but it's clean besides those few references.

Take a wild guess....

5 stars

So I love Historical Fiction but this one just blew me away! I now want to read Carrie Strahorn's real memoir 15 Thousand Miles By Stage, just to compare the two.

Have you read Everything She Didn't Say or 15 Thousand Miles By Stage? Did you like them? Do you want to read them?

I would like to thank Revell Reads for giving me a free copy of Everything She Didn't Say in exchange for my honest opinion.