Tender Ties Series

  • Based on the life of Marie Dorion, the first mother to cross the Rocky Mountains and remain in the Northwest, A Name of Her Own is the fictionalized adventure account of a real woman's fight to settle in a new landscape, survive in a nation at war, protect her sons and raise them well and, despite an abusive, alcoholic husband, keep her marriage together.  With two rambunctious young sons to raise, Marie Dorion refuses to be left behind in St. Louis when her husband heads West with the Wilson Hunt Astoria expedition of 1811. Faced with hostile landscapes, an untried expedition leader, and her volatile husband, Marie finds that the daring act she hoped would bind her family together may in the end tear them apart.  On the journey, Marie meets up with the famous Lewis and Clark interpreter, Sacagawea. Both are Indian women married to mixed-blood men of French Canadian and Indian descent, both are pregnant, both traveled with expeditions led by white men, and both are raising sons in a white world.  Together, the women forge a friendship that will strengthen and uphold Marie long after they part, even as she faces the greatest crisis of her life, and as she fights for her family's very survival with the courage and gritty determination that can only be fueled by a mother's love. Based on a true story. The first book in the Tender Ties series. Awards:
    • Bestseller List, 2003, Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA)
    • Independent Bookstore Pick, 2003, National Booksense (now known as IndieBound)
    • Caldera Achievement Award, 2006, Nature of Words
    • Distinguished Northwest Writer Award, 2005, Willamette Writers
    • Finalist, 2004, Oregon Book Award, Portland Literary Arts Organization
    Other books in this series: #2) Every Fixed Star, #3) Hold Tight the Thread Reviews:  "The historically accurate details are woven in with care, and the characters are fully imagined...A truly fine novel."—Denver Post "Impeccably written."—Romantic Times, **Four-Star Review** “Jane Kirkpatrick has…created her own genre of fiction.”—Statesman Journal Price includes shipping and handling.
  • Her desire was to have a life worth living. Her hope was to survive. Following a family tragedy, a battle for survival, and a test of faith, Marie Dorion begins again in the rugged northwest landscape known as the Okanogan settlement, By 1814, the Astor expedition she has joined to cross the Rocky mountains has disintegrated. New trials confront Marie with an abrupt ending to love, separation from friends, the disappearance of one child, a puzzling, painful division from another. Through it all, she struggles to know her purpose and worth. What could this God of the stars care for the survival of a mere woman? Fed by memories of her distant friend, Sacagawea, Maries discovers that inside every challenge is a gift to be treasured.  Based on a true story. The second book in the Tender Ties series. Awards: none Other books in this series: #1) A Name of Her Own  #3) Hold Tight the Thread Reviews:  "A complex novel with strong characterization and an authentic Native American voice." —Romantic Times, **Four-Star Review** “Jane Kirkpatrick has a rare gift, for her novels touch both the emotions and the intellect. Every Fixed Star is the moving, heartfelt story of one woman’s journey toward accepting herself. Like all of Jane’s novels, it’s more than a ‘good read’; it’s a life-altering experience.” —Liz Curtis Higgs, bestselling author of Thorns in My Heart and Bad Girls of the Bible Price includes shipping and handling.
  • As the 1840s bring conflict to the Pacific Northwest's rugged Columbia Country, new challenges face Marie Dorion Venier Toupin: the wife, mother, and Ioway Indian woman who crossed the Rocky Mountains with the Astor Expedition, the first big fur trapping expedition after Lewis and Clark's.  On French Prairie in the newly forming Oregon Territory, Marie strives to meet the needs of her conflict-ridden neighbors: British settlers and Americans, missionaries and disease-stricken natives, fur trappers, and French Canadian farming families, and the surviving natives of the region. At the same time, as a mother, Marie must weave together the threads of an unraveling family. One daughter compares and judges as she seeks to find her place; another reaches for elusive evidence of her mother's love. Marie's memories are threatened with the emergence of a figure from the past. In the midst of this turmoil, Marie discovers an empowering spiritual truth: Unconditional love can shed light on even the darkest places in the heart. The third book in the Tender Ties series. Based on a true story. Awards: Other books in this series: #1) A Name of Her Own, #2) Every Fixed Star Reviews:  "...when these and other characters commit such offenses, they are neither demonized nor tidily redeemed. In combining historical authenticity with an exceptional ability to render poetic the thoughts of her characters, Kirkpatrick achieves a novel that enchants as it educates." —Publishers Weekly "…Thorough research backs Kirkpatrick's compelling fiction. Her description and much of the language are poetic and imaginative...This book will appeal to mothers who are raising children and grandmothers watching their grandchildren grow. It provides a realistic scene of the time period which history bugs will enjoy, and Christians will appreciate the insights Dorion gains as she learns about her faith."— Esprit, the Magazine of Evangelical Lutheran Women Inc. Price includes shipping and handling.

Title

Go to Top