Sarah's Quilt: A Novel of Sarah Agnes Prine And The Arizona Territories, 1906 [Hardcover]

Nancy E. Turner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 21, 2005

Sarah's Quilt, the long-awaited sequel to These Is My Words, continues the dramatic story of Sarah Agnes Prine. Beloved by readers and book clubs from coast to coast, These Is My Words told the spellbinding story of an extraordinary pioneer woman and her struggle to make a home in the Arizona Territories. Now Sarah returns.

In 1906, the badlands of Southern Arizona Territory is a desolate place where a three-year drought has changed the landscape for all time. When Sarah's well goes dry and months pass with barely a trace of rain, Sarah feels herself losing her hold upon the land. Desperate, Sarah's mother hires a water witch, a peculiar desert wanderer named Lazrus who claims to know where to find water. As he schemes and stalls, he develops an attraction to Sarah that turns into a frightening infatuation.

And just when it seems that life couldn't get worse, Sarah learns that her brother and his family have been trapped in the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. She and her father-in-law cannot even imagine the devastation that awaits them as they embark on a rescue mission to the stricken city.

Sarah is a pioneer of the truest spirit, courageous but gentle as she fights to save her family's home. But she never stops longing for the passion she once knew. Though her wealthy neighbor has asked her to wed, Sarah doesn't entirely trust him. And then Udell Hanna and his son come riding down the dusty road. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Turner (These Is My Words) resumes the fictionalized diary of her great-grandmother, Arizona frontierswoman Sarah Agnes Prine, four years later in this day-by-day account of seven months in which the indomitable, twice-widowed rancher faces drought, prairie fire, a stampede, a hanging and a proposal. Sarah fears losing her ranch: "I need money and I need rain. Both of them in good order and flowing over." Even help brings worry: Sarah's prosperous neighbor offers sympathy and marriage; sons Gilbert and Charlie return home, defying their mother's wish that they complete their education; Sarah's mother sells land to hire a water witch with spiritual gifts and frightening proclivities; visiting nephew Willie runs away with Sarah's savings. Sarah goes to San Francisco, where her brother has lost everything in the 1906 earthquake, and Gil and Charlie ride south in search of Willie. Not all the news is bad, though. A new neighbor proves a good friend and promises to be more, while his son champions Sarah through legal challenges to her land. Older, tougher, wiser, Sarah enchants with her plainspoken energy and honesty. The title may suggest a gentle tale of domestic comfort, but the book is as straightforward, gritty and persistent as the woman who inspires it and as memorable as the landscape where she carves out her life.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The sequel to the widely applauded These Is My Words (1998) continues the previous novel's story line based on the life and adventures of the author's great-grandmother. It is set in the Arizona Territory and is as robust, authentic, and exciting as its predecessor. Sarah's tale follows the challenges, setbacks, and successes she faces from her particular vantage point on the frontier from spring to winter in the year 1906. At this point, Sarah is a widow with grown sons who still live with her on her cattle ranch, and with her brother and sister-in-law and mother all living close by, she enjoys the precious support of family. In fact, the primacy of family is the novel's major theme as Sarah negotiates a path full of physical hardships, including a drought threatening her ranch's very existence. With a highly dramatic narrative, the novel nevertheless achieves its fullest effect as a character study. Told in Sarah's charming voice, a vividly conjured picture of her place and time. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1st edition (April 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312332629
• ISBN-13: 978-0312332624
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #233,517 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Grand Prairie, Texas, I grew up for the most part in Southern California and Arizona.

I completed a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts Studies with a triple major in creative writing, music, and ceramics at the University of Arizona in December 1999. I also have an Associate's degree from Pima Community College. I started taking one or two classes a year while my children were little. I live in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains overlooking the city of Tucson.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sarah's Saga, May 18, 2005

By 

Sharon Knutson "chinamomma" (St. Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sarah's Quilt: A Novel of Sarah Agnes Prine And The Arizona Territories, 1906 (Hardcover)

Sarah's Quilt is the sequel to These Is My Words. It is 1906, Sarah's children are grown, and her ranch is gripped tightly in the 3rd year of a fierce drought. Charlie and Gil arrive home at the ranch after dropping out of college. To Sarah, an education is worth more than gold and she can't understand why they would rather work the ranch than sit in a class room and learn.

Sarah's well runs dry and things are looking very grim for the survival of her cattle when her mother announces she paid a water witch to come find a new well. Lazarus arrives on a white mule, spouting Biblical verses and sparking fear in Sarah...but he delivered and water is found...but instead of easing the struggle from the drought, more problems arise and this is only the beginning of Sarah's struggles...she faces trials that would break most people...deaths, betrayal, forces of nature that rip away at her iron will. Sarah's nephew arrives unannounced one day demanding to become a cowboy. Willie is the son of her brother Ernest and a "slatternly" woman he married, Lulu. But Willie is family and Sarah takes him in. Little does she know the pain Willie has buried so deep inside him and the tragic consequences that erupt when that pain surfaces.

The story is filled with the gritty reality of ranching in Arizona in the early 1900's. The backbone of the story is as strong as Sarah herself. This book is a fast read, filled with tension and harsh emotions...I pushed myself to finish it late in the night, because I simply couldn't put it down without knowing how Sarah would come out. I wasn't disappointed. This is a great adventure.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't get any better, July 6, 2005

By 

M. Grigsby (Kansas City, KS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sarah's Quilt: A Novel of Sarah Agnes Prine And The Arizona Territories, 1906 (Hardcover)

This continuing saga of Sarah Prine and her family is just as compelling as "These Is My Words", which was one of the best historical fiction books I have read in years. I grew up in Tucson, and the author captured the stark beauty and incredible heat of the desert so beautifully. When I was a young girl, I knew an original Arizona pioneer and used to ask her questions about living in Arizona prior to the turn of the century. I felt like this story finally describes that life. This book was absolutely as good, if not better than the first book. I would rush out and buy any new book by Nancy Turner.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Sequel, September 3, 2005

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Chapati (Chicago) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sarah's Quilt: A Novel of Sarah Agnes Prine And The Arizona Territories, 1906 (Hardcover)

Sarah's Quilt continues the life story of Sarah Prine that began in These is My Words. The book starts up about 5 years (in 1906) after These is My Words ended, in the midst of a long drought in the Arizona territories.

Sarah's Quilt is not told in diary format, the way These is My Words is, so it lacks a bit of the immediate connection readers had with Sarah in the first novel. However, Sarah's tone is clearly present- the novel is still told through her point of view, and so the effect is much the same as achieved in These is My Words.

In Sarah's Quilt, Turner focuses a great deal on Sarah's family unit- her brother and his family, her mother, and her own children. There are some bizarre characters that show up, and several odd twists to the story, but it holds your attention and Sarah is just as true and real as she was in the first novel- blunt, honest, and hard to break.

With Sarah's Quit, Turner achieves what so many authors have trouble achieving- a sequel that is true to the heart of the original, while also creating enough new plot twists and turns to keep a reader's attention.