Jessie: A Novel of Jessie Benton Fremont - Softcover

Free spirited and intelligent, Jessie Benton grew up listening to her father talk about politics in the shadow of the White House. With a powerful father and an ailing mother, Jessie sees the world through her father's eyes and longs to be a part of it. Senator Thomas Hart Benton delights in sharing his interests most of all, westward expansion with his daughter. He is proud of her knowledge and enthusiasm, but he does not agree with her choice in men. John Charles Fremont is a handsome young explorer who falls in love with Jessie. Jessie does not care that he is illegitimate, poor and unsuitable to her parents she sees only the good in John and wants to be with him, whatever the cost. Against her parents' wishes, Jessie and John secretly meet for several months and finally elope. Despite the rift it causes between her and her father, Jessie is happy to be the wife of someone as brave and adventurous as John Fremont. Forced to leave her parents' house, Jessie and John first go to Baltimore, but eventually return to Washington, D.C. Over the years, their travels will take them from one end of the country to the other. Through triumph and sorrow, happiness and tragedy, Jessie grows into an extraordinary woman of strength and courage. Her life is influenced by the two men she loves the most her father and her husband. Based on the real life of Jessie Benton Fremont, this is her story, told from her perspective. Emotional and powerful! Judy Alter is an imaginative, gifted storyteller! A touching story of a life well lived. Jessie Benton Fremont's story was one worth telling and worth reading! Judy Alter is one of the finest writers of western fiction! Her realistic portrayal of historic events touches the imagination and stirs the spirit! Jessie is a remarkable story of an incredible woman! Judy Alter gives Jessie a voice that reaches out from the past and lingers with us long after the book is finished!Kristina Wright -- Copyright © 1994-97 Literary Times, Inc. All rights reserved -- From Literary Times

Alter's re-creation of Jessie Ann Benton Fremont's (1824-1902) exceptional life lulls the reader into forgetting that it is fiction. The winner of a Spur for Mattie, Alter is a meticulous researcher but never at the expense of the skillful first-person narrative. Jessie was the daughter of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton (great-uncle of the painter) and an outspoken, ambitious, brilliant woman in a time not quite ready for her. At 17, she eloped with the handsome, clever and illegitimate John Charles Fremont, bringing to him the political cunning and connections that helped build his reknown as an explorer of the West. Plucky Jessie (with kids in tow) sometimes joined John in his globe-trotting?out to California gold country via Panama and Europe?and helped him write widely read reports on the West. Fremont's undertakings (and consequently Jessie's) were not always successful?he was, as Alter's heroine describes him, an "explorer, topographer, soldier of fortune, presidential candidate, senator, governor, mining king, and, sometimes, bankrupt failure, court-martialed soldier, disgraced businessman." This is a subtle portrait of the Fremonts' relationship, one balancing warmth, humor, passion and a realistic sense of maturing love. Alter's characters (including Bret Harte and Lincoln) are believable and very human. Given the overall excellence of this work, one can easily forgive the odd cliche.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.