Malinda Jenkins (1825–1913)

I have to admire Malinda Jenkins (and her daughter, May) for the way they lived their lives on their own terms during a time when, for various reasons both good and not so good, most women did not. But the book is not as good as it could have been. I'm not sure how much editing was actually done by Jesse Lilienthal, but it seems as if he just let her ramble on, and transcribed it verbatim - which is great in some sections, and not in others. There were areas of the narrative that dragged quite a bit, which is why my rating is only 3 1/2 stars. I especially liked reading of Malinda's younger life and of her adventures in Alaska, but not so much her days as the owner of race horses. And in the end, the narrative just sort of petered out and stopped (at the death of a major character, who was not Malinda). An epilogue of some sort, would have helped the book to feel 'finished.'… (mehr)