Impatient With Desire?

"You shouldn't have to work so hard to read a book.", my friend told me, when I told her about my frustration in reading Impatient With Desire.

Ms Burton seemed to be trying to get SO much information in this novel that it made it a muddle to try and read.

The journal entries themselves were hard to follow. Many entries seemed to be talking about several different periods of time within the same entry and it wasn't always clear (to me) when. There were many lists of people, far too many to keep track of in this fairly slim volume. While I was reading I repeatedly referred back to previous entries, trying to figure out who was who and when something was happening or had happened.

Ms. Burton's goal was to help readers have a better understanding of pioneers, as well as get a glimpse into one woman's heroic journey. In this she (at least partially) succeeded. There were some exquisite and evocative passages in the book, describing their lives in Illinois before leaving for California, Tamsen's fierce longing to travel and be part of the western migration, her love for her husband and children, as well as of the horrors they endured during those four and half months in the mountains.

I loved some of the individual passages in this book. Reader friendly? Not so much.