Shirley A. Leckie

Alice Grierson was the wife of Colonel Benjamin Grierson, and an indefatigable correspondent. The letters she wrote to her husband and family members as she followed Ben from outpost to outpost during the second half of the Nineteenth Century paint an amazing picture of life in the frontier military posts of the time. She raised a large family and dealt with the duties of the commanding officer's wife with fortitude and patience. Her "voice" is that of a woman I would have enjoyed knowing.

The delightful part of this story is Alice's spirit, humor, and the love she bears for "My dearest Ben." Alice was a bit ahead of her time in her insistence on equal respect and an equal voice in the marriage, and Ben supported her strongly - to his credit. There is sorrow, too, and she loses children both to death and to mental illness. She and Ben have much to weather, within and without the family, and they bear it with love, strength, and faith.

A well-written portrait of life on the frontier. Recommended.… (mehr)