Review – Katharine’s Remarkable Road Trip by Gail Ward Olmsted
Synopsis
In the fall of 1907, Katharine decides to drive from Newport, Rhode Island to her new home in Jackson, New Hampshire. Despite the concerns of her family and friends that, at the age of 77, she lacks the stamina for the nearly 300-mile journey, Katharine sets out alone. Over the next six days, she receives a marriage proposal, pulls an all-nighter, saves a life or two, crashes a high-society event, meets a kindred spirit, faces a former rival, makes a new friend, takes a stroll with a future movie mogul, advises a troubled newlywed, and reflects upon a life well her own!
Join her as she embarks upon her remarkable road trip.
Katharine Prescott Wormeley (1830-1908) was born into affluence in England and emigrated to the U. S. at the age of eighteen. Fiercely independent and never married, Kate volunteered as a nurse on a medical ship during the Civil War, before founding a vocational school for underprivileged girls. She was a philanthropist, a hospital administrator, and the author of The Other Side of 1862, as well as the noted translator of dozens of novels written by French authors, including Moliere and Balzac. She is included in History’s The Unsung Heroines; History of American Civil War Women; Who’s Who in America 1908-09; Notable American 1607-1950; A Biographical Dictionary; and A Woman of the (19th) Leading American Women in All Walks of Life and figures prominently in With Courage and Civil War on the Peninsula by Nancy Scripture Garrison.
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Review
This is a fascinating tale of one woman’s journey to her new home in 1907. The story takes place over a week, and it is filled with adventure, memories, and interesting characters.
Kate is in her 70s and moving to New Hampshire. Since this is 1907, the mindset is different for women, and her sister worries about her making this journey alone. The trip is only 300 miles, but I admired Kate for setting out on her own and not letting the norm define her or her capabilities. She meets many interesting people along the way, and Kate’s kind nature shines through as she helps many, has meaningful conversations, and discovers that she still has a lot left to give to those around her. She is very kind and giving and doesn’t hesitate to share with those less fortunate than herself.
I enjoyed learning more about Kate and her life. She is a talented and accomplished woman. She served as a nurse in a floating hospital, translated books from French to English, and so much more. While she never married, she did have a few loves in her life, and we learn about these people over the course of the book.
While this story is fiction, Kate is a real person. Some of this could have happened and probably did, but perhaps not in the way it is portrayed. The description of Kate, her journey, and the towns she stops in and those she interacts with, are well described. I felt like I was there. And I thought it was very interesting that she drove a car without the top up for most of the trip. That was fine except for when it rained. And to help protect her eyes, she wore goggles. I could just picture an older woman with goggles driving a car with no top.
My only wish is that we had been told what her medical issue was at the end of the book. We are left wondering what her doctor told her, and it might have explained a little more about why she was making this final move to her home in New Hampshire. I don’t know if the medical issue was real or not, but even if it wasn’t, we are left wondering about something that was mentioned multiple times.
Overall, this was a delightful read, and we give it 5 paws up.
About the Author
Gail Ward Olmsted was a marketing executive and a college professor before she began writing fiction on a fulltime basis. A trip to Sedona, AZ inspired her first novel Jeep Tour. After three more novels: Driving on the Left, Guessing at Normal and Second Guessing, she began Landscape of a Marriage, a biographical work of fiction featuring landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, a distant cousin of her husband’s, and his wife Mary. Her latest, Miranda Writes, is a contemporary novel with a legal twist. She loves writing about quirky, wonderful women in search of a second chance at a happy ever after.
