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Brave Hearted

The Dramatic Story of Women of the American West

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Brave Hearted

By: Katie Hickman
Narrated by: Katie Hickman, Nerissa Bradley
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The extraordinary, dramatic story of the women of the American west

'Brave Hearted is not just history, it is an incredibly intense page-turning experience. To read what these women endured is to be transported into another universe of courage, loss, pain, and occasionally victory. This book is a triumph.' Amanda Foreman

'This book delivers a blazing 360 degree view of the American story. Each page is packed with gumption and grit and genius.' Bettany Hughes

'Absolutely compelling; telling the stories of women who for so many years have been written out of history' Christina Lamb, Sunday Times

Whether they were the hard-drinking hard-living poker players and prostitutes of the new boom towns, 'ordinary' wives and mothers walking two thousand miles across the prairies pulling their handcarts behind them, Chinese slave-brides working in laundries, or the Native American women displaced by the mass migration of the 'whites' to their lands, all have one trait in common: that of extreme resilience and courage in the face of the unknown.

Reading the extraordinary accounts they have left behind them, their experiences seem as strange to us today as it must have been to have lived through them, perhaps even stranger. They were put to the test, in terms of sheer survival, in ways that we can only dimly imagine.©2022 Katie Hickman 20th Century Americas Modern United States Women Old West Wild West
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Critic reviews

Brave Hearted is not just history, it is an incredibly intense page-turning experience. To read what these women endured is to be transported into another universe of courage, loss, pain, and occasionally victory. This book is a triumph.
A vivid, fascinating rag rug of cultural history that braids together stories usually kept apart . . . Gripping, eye-opening, enlightening (Emma Donoghue)
This book delivers a blazing 360 degree view of the American story. Each page is packed with gumption and grit and genius. (Bettany Hughes)
Katie Hickman has gathered a collection of intriguingly vivid first-hand accounts written by some of the women who ventured west. . . Hickman's Brave Hearted puts the rough texture of personal experience back into the big narrative of how the west was won. Along the way, she shows us what was lost. (Lucy Lethbridge)
Beautifully written, this gripping book explores the stories of the fierce women who helped shape the American West. (Clover Stroud)
In the past 50 years there has been an explosion of scholarly research that has served to dismantle those hoary old myths about the Wild West as a white male space in which women looked worried or sashayed into a saloon bar looking for trouble. In Brave Hearted Hickman makes deft and sensitive use of this new material. The result is a glorious patchwork . . . does these extraordinary women proud (Kathryn Hughes)
In this richly evocative book, Hickman takes us to the crux of women's experiences in that fast- changing world, where opportunities for women were opening up in an often lawless atmosphere of greed, gambling, drinking and whoring. It was a rough ride, and the survivors were heroines, all of them.
'Working mainly with published sources, [Hickman] has woven together an extraordinary range of women's first-person voices - we hear from more than fifty of them - into a gripping narrative.'
A triumphant narrative that brings many overlooked women into the spotlight.
As easy to read as any Western with the added advantage of showing a new version of the Old West, one vital for readers to explore.
Full of heartrending accounts of courage and tragedy, this is a vital contribution to the history of America's frontier.
An unforgettable cast of characters brings an epic tale to life.
Absolutely compelling; telling the stories of women who for so many years have been written out of history, and making us completely rethink our image of the Wild West. (Christina Lamb)
[A] wide-ranging survey of the multifaceted roles of women in the 19th-century settlement of the American West... Hickman writes sensitively... A welcome corrective to the long-skewed male-centric history of westward expansion.
All stars
Most relevant
Loved listening to this book very interesting subject not something I would ever have considered before

very interesting

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Having recently read other accounts of the indigenous population’s demise set during this period, it is very interesting to hear of chronological tales. Very informative.

An interesting account

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What a wonderful book, thoroughly enjoyed the journey the author takes us on. I am thankful that the difficult parts of this history are not sensationalised and that the story and voice of the women remain the focus.

A history we all should know

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Some stories were more riveting than others but undoubtedly it was struggle by almost ALL women against men, the elements, the land and their own minds during the "founding" of modern America. How the physical characteristics shaped the journeys and ambitions of the colonialists is something I'd never really considered before. In the UK, you tend to hear about the pilgrim father's etc but the stories about the Oregon trail was new to me.

In terms of the present day, the uncanny parallels between colonalisation of America and Israel explains why the former is supportive of the latter. The notion they were given a God given right to steal lands from native populations and claim them as their own. The genocidal tendencies and the brazen superiority of white men and women with few notable exceptions are clearly documented by the author.

Overall, the story of Olive Oatman and her tragedy left me wondering how she truly felt about her life and the people she had encountered. We will never truly know.

Heroic women against all odds

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