Whither Thou Goest, I Will Go [Kindle Edition]

Naomi Dathan (Author)

Book Description

For everything there is a season. A season for joy. A season for sorrow. A season for testing.

Jem Perkins has it all – money, a fine house, a handsome husband, and a new baby boy. But when her family fortunes turn, Jem’s husband Seth leads her to a new home: a sod house on a Nebraska homestead.

It is a season of growth for Jem as she reluctantly confronts her new realities: back-breaking labor, dangerous illness, and mind-numbing isolation. She learns to embrace her new role as a capable woman and marriage partner and discovers an awareness of God’s hand in her life.

Then, on January 12, 1888, the history-making Children’s Blizzard sweeps across the land, ushering in a season of hardship she never expected. Can Jem’s confidence, marriage, and new-found faith weather the storm?

Product Details

• File Size: 382 KB
• Print Length: 221 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Kirkdale Press (November 27, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006FK72QE
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #479,003 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I really cared about the characters. November 30, 2011

By Terry Sykes-Bradshaw

Format:Kindle Edition

Whither Thou Goest is an excellent first book from novelist Naomi Dathan. It is set around the Children's Blizzard in the late 1800's, and I learned so much about a period I had little knowledge of previously.But more important, to me, than the historical perspective was the relationships between the characters.

Jem begins the book as a spoiled brat who has been given everything she ever wanted, first by her parents and then by her husband, Seth. And Seth is portrayed as a gallant ex-military officer, brave and strong. Jem, perhaps deserves a good spanking at first, but when Seth drags them to Nebraska to live in a sod house, she learns more about work than she ever wanted to know.

Seth, too, has his transitions. For the majority of the book I found him insensitive, arrogant, stubborn and often, mean.

What goes around, comes around and through the trials and tribulations of trying to survive on the prairie with a small child and only themselves to keep them safe, Jem and Seth both evolve. Jem becomes stronger and more self-reliant, while Seth suffers blow after blow to his confidence.

The blizzard itself is the catalyst for most of the change in the couple.

I was captivated by the book and truly cared about what happened to Jem and Seth and their little boy, Charley. And when a reader really cares about the characters, I believe the author has done a superlative job. This Naomi Dathan did with humor and pathos and a true eye for detail.

Read it. You'll love it. You'll love Jem and Seth. And you'll be waiting to hear more from Ms. Dathan.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVED IT December 8, 2011

By Susan C. Humeston

Format:Kindle Edition

I just finished reading, "Whither Thou Goest, I Will Go" by Naomi Dathan, literally in one sitting. I could not put the story down. I have to confess that I have read a lot of Christian novels in which the characters were wooden, their lives just so much unbelievablefroth, but this book is nothing like those.

The author did her homework on the Blizzard of 1888 in the Midwest and, even though these are Christians who are going through this disaster, they are not totally spared for the sake of a comfortable story. I cannot give the ending away, but it is realistic and beautiful at the same time, a real true-to-life ending for a real Christian family. Of course, I don't know if the author actually based the story on real people or her own ancestors, but I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

The characters have depth and complexity and the well known story of pioneer life on the Great Plains in the late 1800's is fascinating no matter how many times I've read about it. The story's main plot line is the killer Blizzard 1888, but after the first chapter opens on the midst of the Blizzard, Ms. Dathan takes you back in time to the beginning of the marriage of our heroine and her husband. She tells you about our heroine's life before moving to the Great Plains, the vastly different society she was born into and her expectations of what her future holds for her with her new husband.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves history. The Christian theme is not forced or phony and by recommending this story to anyone, I mean whether Christian or non Christian. The majority of the people that lived on the Plains at that time were devout believers, no matter their denomination, and a story without that aspect would be false.

I very much enjoyed (and was on the edge of my seat) Ms. Dathan's book and will be looking up more titles by her.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down! November 30, 2011

By Myra Johnson

Format:Kindle Edition

I am not an author, publisher or book reviewer by trade however I do enjoy reading a good book. I was asked to read and review the book before it was release. With that said I have to say I enjoyed reading this book and it is now in my favorite top ten books. My only regret is that I will not be able to own it in hard cover.

I enjoy reading books set in the frontier times about the lives and times of not just the settlers but about the native Americans also. Although this was the first book that I have read from this author in my opinion it ranks up there with Allan W Eckert, James Alexander Thom, Don Wright and of course Laura Ingalls Wilder.

From the beginning I fell in love with the main characters and was drawn into their love story and hardships. Jem at times I adored and at times I just shook my head at her whining. She was a girl that was taken from a well to do family in the heart of the city (where every wish was granted and things where done for her) and because of her love for her husband Seth followed him to the wild frontier (where every thing is worked for and you do everything) to homestead. Their life was not easy, there were battles, heart breaks, feelings of betrayal, loneliness, sickness, but there was also a dream!

I couldn't put this book down and lost sleep to finish it. I am praying that there will be a second or a series of books for the characters. I want to know more about Jem and Seth, her father, her sisters, William and Susan, and well all of them!

For now I think I'll reread the book! It's a great read I loved it!

More About the Author

Naomi Dathan is a story-teller first, and author second. The business side of writing demands that an author stick to a single style of book of a certain length and voice. It's called branding. Naomi has not, thus far, mastered branding. When inspiration hits, Naomi writes. This means:

She loves romance, so she wrote Second Friday Jess, a sweet romance about a tough Army man is thrown into the one conflict that nearly puts him under: Myra and her three clever little girls. This book will be released later this year by Wild Child Press.

Her years as a home day care provider, combined with seeing a beloved family member be abused by someone who should have loved her, were the seeds of the story that became the romantic suspense, The Temptation of Mrs. Emily Templeton (Wild Rose Press, 2012).

Her fascination with prairie life began when her third grade teacher read Little House in the Big Woods to the class. She finally indulged this fascination with her fourth novel, Whither Thou Goest, I Will Go (Kirkdale Press, 2011). She lives in Ohio with two daughters and two undersized beagles with oversized egos.

The short story, Fur Elise, springs from her experience as a mother of two bright, beautiful daughters and her hope/fear that they will surpass her in every way.

Love's Design, a romance, was the very first book Naomi wrote. It is flawed, but reflects her life in her mid-twenties, maybe most notably with the visually impaired character, Daniel, who is one version of the man who ultimately became her husband.

To hear more about Naomi or her works in progress, you may visit her website www.naomidathan.com, which is generally neglected, or her Facebook page, which she visits every. single. day.