Título: The Children's Blizzard: A Novel
Autor: Melanie Benjamin
Sinopse: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator’s Wife comes a story of courage on the prairie, inspired by the devastating storm that struck the Great Plains in 1888, threatening the lives of hundreds of immigrant homesteaders, especially schoolchildren.
“A nail-biter . . . poignant, powerful, perfect.” —Kate Quinn, author of The Alice Network
The morning of January 12, 1888, was unusually mild, following a punishing cold spell. It was warm enough for the homesteaders of the Dakota Territory to venture out again, and for their children to return to school without their heavy coats—leaving them unprepared when disaster struck. At the hour when most prairie schools were letting out for the day, a terrifying, fast-moving blizzard blew in without warning. Schoolteachers as young as sixteen were suddenly faced with life and death decisions: Keep the children inside, to risk freezing to death when fuel ran out, or send them home, praying they wouldn’t get lost in the storm?
Based on actual oral histories of survivors, this gripping novel follows the stories of Raina and Gerda Olsen, two sisters, both schoolteachers—one becomes a hero of the storm and the other finds herself ostracized in the aftermath. It’s also the story of Anette Pedersen, a servant girl whose miraculous survival serves as a turning point in her life and touches the heart of Gavin Woodson, a newspaperman seeking redemption. It was Woodson and others like him who wrote the embellished news stories that lured northern European immigrants across the sea to settle a pitiless land. Boosters needed them to settle territories into states, and they didn’t care what lies they told these families to get them there—or whose land it originally was.
At its heart, this is a story of courage, of children forced to grow up too soon, tied to the land because of their parents’ choices. It is a story of love taking root in the hard prairie ground, and of families being torn asunder by a ferocious storm that is little remembered today—because so many of its victims were immigrants to this country.
Contexto da obra
Como livro em inglês, esta obra costuma ganhar também uma camada própria de interesse editorial e linguístico. “The Children’s Blizzard: A Novel”, de Melanie Benjamin, publicado pela editora Bantam, em 2022 e com 384 páginas, integra a categoria Livros em Inglês. Por isso, o interesse da obra tende a se ampliar quando o leitor considera também a relação com a língua em que ela circula.
Editora: Bantam
Páginas: 384
Ano: 2022-01-11
Edição:
Linguagem: en
ISBN: 0399182306
ISBN13: 9780399182303
Sobre a editora
Os livros da editora Bantam oferecem uma experiência de leitura marcada por narrativas que transitam entre o suspense psicológico, o thriller investigativo e a aventura com pitadas de romance e fantasia. O catálogo apresenta histórias que exploram conflitos intensos, como perseguições policiais, mistérios familiares e embates em cenários urbanos ou fantásticos, muitas vezes com personagens complexos enfrentando dilemas morais e pessoais profundos. A linguagem varia entre o acessível e o envolvente, com ritmo que ora acelera em cenas de tensão, ora desacelera para aprofundar a construção dos personagens e suas relações. As sinopses sugerem uma preferência por tramas que combinam ação com elementos de drama e emoção, contemplando tanto o público adulto quanto leitores que apreciam narrativas mais densas e multifacetadas.
