Compass Club Daytime Book Group

Sun., Dec. 13, 1998

City: Spokane

Group history: The group was founded as part of the Compass Club, which began in 1948. It consists of 29 women who meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month at various members’ homes.

Book reviewed: “The Diary of Mattie Spenser” (Griffin, 240 pages, $11.95, ISBN 0-312-1871-0-6) by Sandra Dallas.

Contact person: Connie Branch.

The review: The story, told in diary format, is about a woman who, in 1865, leaves behind her home and family in Iowa to marry a man she barely knows. She accompanies him to the Colorado Territory, where she battles the hardships of homestead life on the prairie while learning that her husband is still in love with the woman who turned down his original proposal. The story explores several themes: overcoming adversity, dealing with infidelity, struggling with depression and the meaning of marital commitment in the mid-19th century. “We discussed the values and option that women have today vs. what existed in the 1860s,” Branch says. “Most members wanted more closure on the relationship between the characters than the book provided, but almost all of us liked the author.”

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