Impatient With Desire/ Gabrielle Burton/ 248 pages

On the way to California, Tamsen Donner and her travelling party are trapped in the mountains for the winter. As she waits out her days until the party can carry on, Tamsen reflects on her past experiences while describing her dreary present - a makeshift underground shelter. Tamsen tenderly reminisces on her extraordinary life before she emigrated west; she recalls her childhood in Massachusetts, her first marriage in North Carolina, and her blissful second marriage to George Donner that brought her to the California trail. Tamsen chronicles the endless struggles of life in the mountains in her journal and in letters to her sister, depicting the ultimate sacrifices that everyone makes to survive. Quiet and deliberate in tone, Tamsen's story draws the reader in to the story and will leave the reader with a desire to learn more about Tamsen and the tragic Donner party.