Jubilee Trail
Written by Gwen Bristow
Narrated by Gabra Zackman
4/5
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About this audiobook
A recent finishing school graduate, eighteen-year-old Garnet Cameron is desperate for direction. Too driven for the restrictive manners of the upper class, Garnet is naturally drawn to Oliver Hale, a frontier trader from the West. Unlike the men to whom she's accustomed, Oliver treats Garnet as an equal and respects her independence. His tales of adventure on the plains thrill her. And his proposal of marriage is accepted. Garnet eagerly grabs hold of the promise and prospects of an exciting future, only to discover how ill-prepared she is for the punishing landscape of the Jubilee Trail and the even harsher realities of human nature.
Made into a feature film, Jubilee Trail is a classic novel of a woman in the old West, beloved not only for the rebelliousness and resilience of its heroine, but for its authenticity, its grand sweep, its unsparing intimacy, and its honest portrayal of the survivors and victims-and victors and villains-of a defiant American wilderness.
Gwen Bristow
Gwen Bristow (1903–1980), the author of seven bestselling historical novels that bring to life momentous events in American history, such as the siege of Charleston during the American Revolution (Celia Garth) and the great California gold rush (Calico Palace), was born in South Carolina, where the Bristow family had settled in the seventeenth century. After graduating from Judson College in Alabama and attending the Columbia School of Journalism, Bristow worked as a reporter for New Orleans’ Times-Picayune from 1925 to 1934. Through her husband, screenwriter Bruce Manning, she developed an interest in longer forms of writing—novels and screenplays. After Bristow moved to Hollywood, her literary career took off with the publication of Deep Summer, the first novel in a trilogy of Louisiana-set historical novels, which also includes The Handsome Road and This Side of Glory. Bristow continued to write about the American South and explored the settling of the American West in her bestselling novels Jubilee Trail, which was made into a film in 1954, and in her only work of nonfiction, Golden Dreams. Her novel Tomorrow Is Forever also became a film, starring Claudette Colbert, Orson Welles, and Natalie Wood, in 1946.
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Reviews for Jubilee Trail
99 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I decided to re-read the 1950 historical novel Jubilee Trail by Gwen Bristow because when I originally discovered this author in my teens some forty years ago, I galloped through all her books in record time and, looking back, I had a hard time remembering which one was which. Set in the 1840’s, Jubilee Trail is the story of two women who meet and although are very different in both personality and background, forge a strong friendship. For different reasons they undertake the hardship of wagon travel across America to the then-Mexican territory of California.There is a lot to take in with this book. The story is long and epic and the author includes meticulous historical detail about the early days of California both as a Mexican territory and then it’s acquisition by the United States. The rebellious and resilient heroines and the men they become involved with are adventurous and colorful. The settings are varied, from the rich land holdings of deeded rancheros to a lively bar and gambling hall in the small, disreputable town of Los Angeles. I felt that the author was a little long winded in her detailed descriptions and her characters were slightly cookie-cutter including as it did the bad woman with the heart of gold and the naive good girl who was looking to escape her genteel upbringing. Yet this stirring story still managed to totally captivate me with it’s sweeping adventure.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As the forward says, it's the 1950's writing about the 1840's, and it's long. But not boring, and so far as I know, historically accurate. the view of the "diggers" and of slavery depicts the veiws of the 1840's.I didn't read this one of Bristow's books as a teenager, guess the library didn't have it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Interesting historical romance with the emphasis on the historical rather than the romance. Have to admit that I rather enjoyed reading more about Garnet's (the main character) friend Florinda (the bad girl with a heart of gold type), and tended to admire the latter more than the former. The historial aspects of the novel are reasonably accurate, but what I do dislike about the book are the clearly negative racial images and negative stereotypes of the native Californians. They are portrayed as fat, lazy, dirty and generally as sub-human, with no clear or fair explanation of what dreadful persecutions these people had undergone. The sufferings and injustices plied upon the Californian tribes was unbelievably terrible, and what is more alarming is that the information is generally quite scanty. The author's views of the characters' circumstances are locked in the mindset of her times (written in 1950) and "manifest destiny" is still considered rational, appropriate and a source of pride. Despite what some readers may find distasteful today, it still is a ripping good yarn and keeps you interested from start to finish. The language is simple enough for a youth reader, rich enough for adults. The romantic scenes are tame and understated by today's standards, again making it a good choice for younger readers.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I can't believe I had never heard of this book before, and I am grateful to my Amazon friend who did review it or I would never have found it. I was quite surprised, as Amazon is usually so good at recommending similar items once it picks up on your reading habits. This is the story of just out of finishing school Garnet, who meets and falls in love with Oliver Hale while he's visiting New York from California. Garnet has an adventurous spirit that Oliver indulges and they're off to California via the Jubilee Trail. Along the way they meet up with Florinda, the "bad" woman with a heart of gold and Garnet and Florinda become great friends, and support each other during the good and bad times as they cross the country and come to California before it is governed by the US. The author does a very nice job of setting the scenery and the conditions along the trail -- you almost feel the dust in your mouth and on your skin and hair. I loved the way she used John's love of nature so that you can visualize everything from the snow topped mountains, to the red rocks of the southwest, to the wide open ranges, and the flora and fauna of California. All in all a jolly good yarn, I had a hard time putting this down until the very end at the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill. Highly recommended for any lover of historical fiction, and as this was written 50+ years ago, the love scenes (if you can call them that) are very chaste and well suited for a younger reader.