Daniel Brown

A chronicle of the mid-nineteenth-century wagon train tragedy draws on the perspectives of one of its survivors, Sarah Graves, recounting how her new husband and she joined the Donner party on their California-bound journey and encountered violent perils, in an account that also offers insight into the scientific reasons that some died while others survived. 20,000 first printing.

The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride

The Indifferent Stars Above

Patrick Book

Very thorough, grim, and horrifying. Telling the story form a single participants perspective really helps the narrative have impact. 

A note on the audiobook version though: it takes some getting used to. The dude reading it sounds like the Beer Baron from The Simpsons.

Caroline Clutterbuck Kapulkin

A brutal, thorough history of this tragic pilgrimage. Phenomenal voice actor; Michael Prichard reads it with the weight and seriousness of a history lecture, yet not without the tender empathy that the story deserves.

Oof. I would not have finished this if it weren't recommended to me by a friend - this is a tough one.

Daniel Brown does an incredible job researching not only the events of the pilgrimage, but also cultural/societal/economical explanations that offer context to the world at the time. Brown also includes brief descriptions of other survival stories, and scientific insights into the things the Donner party would have experienced freezing in the snow.

Unlike other retellings of this story (as I've heard in true crime podcasts, etc.), "The Indifferent Stars Above" dives into the history of the people on the journey, and their lives before and after survival.

The epilogue was much-needed, and an interesting glimpse into Brown's research travels for this book. An introspective, empathetic way to conclude this in-depth look at the Donner party's horrific journey.

Daniel James Brown

In April of 1846, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves, intent on a better future, set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of emigrants led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starving and desperate, Sarah and fourteen others set out for California on snowshoes and, over the next thirty-two days, endured almost unfathomable hardships and horrors. In this gripping narrative, Daniel James Brown sheds new light on one of the most infamous events in American history. Following every painful footstep of Sarah's journey with the Donner Party, Brown produces a tale both spellbinding and richly informative.

Jennifer

Chelsea Greenwell

From the #1 bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat comes an unforgettable epic of family, tragedy, and survival on the American frontier “An ideal pairing of talent and material.… Engrossing.… A deft and ambitious storyteller.” – Mary Roach, New York Times Book Review In April of 1846, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves, intent on a better future, set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of pioneers led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starving and desperate, Sarah and fourteen others set out for California on snowshoes, and, over the next thirty-two days, endured almost unfathomable hardships and horrors. In this gripping narrative, New York Times bestselling author Daniel James Brown sheds new light on one of the most legendary events in American history. Following every painful footstep of Sarah’s journey with the Donner Party, Brown produces a tale both spellbinding and richly informative.

The Indifferent Stars Above The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride

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