Review: The Sweet Blue Distance by Sara Donati

 

The Sweet Blue Distance by Sara Donati

Publication Date: April 2nd 2024 by Berkley & Blackstone Publishing

Pages: 800

Audio Book Length: 28hrs 40 mins

Narrator: Kate Reading

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Bookbub | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Carrie Ballentyne is bound for a long journey out West from Manhattan, New York to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to fill a position of mid-wife/nurse for Dr. Markham. In 1857 it’s a long, potentially dangerous journey by train, steamboat, stagecoach, and horseback, so her younger brother, Nathan is accompanying her. This time period there’s unrest, just years before the Civil War, and the viewpoints and challenges were highlighted. The situation at the Markham’s when Carrie arrives isn’t what she was expecting.

Carrie’s profession as a nurse was useful and she was good at handling whatever came her way. I admired her spirit; strong, steady, and determined to do the right thing in any situation! Her brother Nathan was a fun, positive presence adding a bit of humor in. So many wonderful and interesting characters, as well as a few I’d like to have chucked off a cliff! Loved Eli Ibarra! The romance was a slow burn and oh-so-lovely!

The Sweet Blue Distance was on the long side at 800 pages, but it didn’t feel long. It was a thoroughly exciting and engrossing story, and I loved every minute of it! I think I checked the percentage counter maybe twice, I was so into the story, just riding along with whatever was happening next! I need to check out Ms. Donati’s backlist!

I alternately read and listened to The Sweet Blue Distance, and I can recommend either version. Kate Reading was an excellent narrator, performing both female and male voices distinctly, as well as the many accents required. I would happily listen to any story narrated by her. I listened at my usual 1.5x normal speed.

Five stars all the way! A definite recommend!

5 Stars

Book Description:

In 1857 a young midwife braves the perilous journey west from New York City to Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory in this captivating epic from Sara Donati, the international bestselling author of Where the Light Enters .

Carrie Ballentyne’s life was upended in 1845 when she had to leave the only home she’d ever known in the mountains of upstate New York. With her are her widowed mother and younger brother Nathan, but the separation from Bonner, Ballentyne, and Savard relatives weighs heavily.  In time Carrie finds footing as a midwife and nurse, but she never feels at ease in the city. So when, a decade later, she receives an invitation from a doctor in Santa Fe to join him at his practice, she readily accepts.
 
The trip across the country is long and often dangerous, but she travels the last leg on horseback with men who have been hired to see her safely through the Native nations fighting the westward flood of colonizers. On that journey she makes friends who will be with her for all her Eva, a young widow; and Eli, an experienced surveyor. Once Carrie is established in Santa Fe, it becomes clear that her employer is not everything she was led to believe, and she is forced to face far more challenges and responsibilities than she anticipated. But she dedicates herself to the work and the women, providing health care, delivering babies, and earning the trust of her patients.
 
In the course of that first summer in New Mexico, determined to make a life for herself in a new kind of wilderness far beyond her imagination, Carrie finds friendship, support, and even love where she least expected.