These Is My Words

Overall score:

These Is My Words is story of Sarah Agnes Prine, circa 1880, told in the form of her diary. She was born and raised in the Arizona Territory, but when she's in her teens, her father decides to move the family to Texas where the grass is greener. Unfortunately, this decision, which at first seemed beneficial to the family, turns into one disaster after another.

We are painfully reminded in the first chapters of These Is My Words that life on the frontier was harsh, demanding, and dangerous. From Indian wars, to limited medicine, to tragic events, we watch Sarah as she struggles to make sense of what happens around her, and endures through these tragedies.

But the story isn't really about the terrible things that happen to Sarah, it's really all about the redeeming power of love. And it's the love story we'll remember when everything is said and done.

Perhaps the best thing about a first person narrative is that we're able to really see the depth of a person, and Turner does it stunningly with Sarah. We watch as a teenager turns into a woman, as her self-doubts and innocence evolve and Sarah becomes a confident and experienced woman. There is some fine characterization in this story—which also means there isn't much of a plot, but you don't really mind as you read Sarah's fascinating observations.

The only problem with such a limited POV is that I sometimes wondered how reliable a narrator Sarah was. But I think that's the beauty of the story. We'd like to think that she takes people at face value and is a good judge of character, but she makes mistakes and we feel her pain as she comes to the realization of the truth. Yet she's still able, in her first-person diary, to show us enough about the people around her that they feel real and remarkable.

Turner's prose is marvelous. It begins a little rough as Sarah is still learning to write well. But it evolves as Sarah evolves, as she learns and grows and as the things that are important to her changes. Sarah's observations are flavored with her spitfire personality, and Turner has the vernacular down so clean and easy to read that I found myself saying, "Well, I reckon" to my family.

Since so much of the book does revolve around Sarah's story and her conversations and experiences there isn't a great deal of setting, but there's enough to see the rough trail to and from Texas and the harsh wilderness of the Arizona Territory.

These Is My Words is worth reading because it reminds us how powerful love is when you love a person for who they are, and that even though people come and go from our lives, they leave a mark on us that can never be erased.

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Written by Nessa on April 29th, 2008