The Indifferent Stars Above

From the #1 bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat comes an unforgettable epic of family, tragedy, and survival on the American frontier “An ideal pairing of talent and material.… Engrossing.… A deft and ambitious storyteller.” – Mary Roach, New York Times Book Review In April of 1846, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves, intent on a better future, set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of pioneers led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starving and desperate, Sarah and fourteen others set out for California on snowshoes, and, over the next thirty-two days, endured almost unfathomable hardships and horrors. In this gripping work of narrative nonfiction, New York Times bestselling author Daniel James Brown sheds new light on one of the most legendary events in American history. Following every painful footstep of Sarah’s journey with the Donner Party, this pioneer story produces a tale both spellbinding and richly informative. This definitive account of the Donner Party reveals: Pioneer Biography: Follows the harrowing journey of twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves, providing a deeply personal and human lens on the legendary tragedy. Westward Expansion: Explores the stark realities of the American frontier in 1846, from the initial hope of the cross-country trek to the desperation of being trapped in the Sierra Nevada. Survival Story: Details the grueling thirty-two-day trek on snowshoes made by Sarah and fourteen others in a desperate bid to escape starvation and the elements. Historical Nonfiction: Meticulously researched and richly informative, this epic tale sheds new light on the Donner Party’s harrowing saga through the eyes of one young woman.