Author Gabrielle Burton, who has studied Tamsen Donner for over 35 years and has written two books based on the ill-fated heroine, will be in Truckee July 30 and 31 for a book signing and reading.
In her 2010 novel, ‘Impatient With Desire,’ Burton recreates Tamsen Donner’s lost journal, particularly the months Donner was trapped in the snow with her dying husband and five starving daughters. Though she eventually got her children safely out of the mountains, she stayed with her husband until the end. The novel is full of dark places, but it’s ultimately about hope, courage and love.
Burton’s memoir, ‘Searching for Tamsen Donner,’ published in 2009, is about Tamsen Donner’s influence on Burton’s family, as they travel around the country visiting every place Donner had been from her birthplace in Massachusetts to North Carolina and George Donner’s farm in Illinois. Burton and her family, including their family dog named Tamsen, follow Donner’s path west to California as well. The memoir contains 17 of Tamsen Donner’s letters, published for the first time in one place.
Both events are free and open to the public.
July 30, 6:30 – 8 p.m. Book signing and readings at the Bookshelf at Hooligans Rock, Truckee.
July 31, 10:30 – 3:30 p.m. Readings each half hour at the Emigrant Trail Museum, Donner State Park, Truckee.
Info: gabrielleburton.com
