Your bedroom is just perfect – finally. You’ve got everything just where you want it. The bed is comfortable, your possessions are on nice shelves and you can get a little bit of privacy if you want it.

Yep, this bedroom is much better than the one in your last house.

Spending your entire childhood in one place is pretty rare these days; in fact, Americans move up to 14 times in a lifetime. So imagine moving across the country on foot, leaving everything you love behind, carrying your belongings – and sometimes your children – on your back. In Women of the Frontier by Brandon Marie Miller, you’ll see what it was like.

Nearly 200 years ago, when the United States was hit by economic depression, Americans began looking for a ray of hope. They’d been reading the accounts of traders, trappers and adventurers in the West and so, beginning around 1841, many people packed their belongings in wagons and carts and headed to California, Oregon and parts west of the Mississippi River.

Most of them were penniless, but they were optimistic. The newly expanded United States held opportunity and a chance at a new life. Many of the emigrants came west from Germany and Scandinavia.

Most were single men, but a relatively small handful were women.

For the women, the decision to emigrate was usually made by their husbands and, while wives eagerly anticipated the possibility of better lives, they hated leaving their homes, possessions and families – maybe forever.

Their trip usually began with great excitement that quickly soured. River crossings were dangerous, Indians weren’t always friendly, the heat was unbearable and walking for hours each day sapped a person’s energy.

Pioneers slept in the dirt, and meals (when there was food to be had) came from an open fire.

The burden was greater for mothers of young children and women who were pregnant.

And yet, there were advantages to being a woman on the frontier. Women were allowed to own land long before they were allowed to vote. Since feminine company was scarce, women often had their choice of men and divorce was easily attainable.

Women owned businesses, wore pants, escaped slavery and found work. They could make a lot of money – or they could lose everything.

Edge of my seat.

That’s where I was while reading Women of the Frontier. Author Brandon Marie Miller packs this book with excitement, heartbreak and adventure as well as blunt truth and painful realities, and she’s adept at making the narrative personal.

What I mean is, it’s difficult to read what’s here without imagining yourself in the pitiful shoes of our foremothers. Could you withstand losing your family, pets and precious possessions, bit by bit? How would you start over with nothing? Those are sobering scenarios, and definite food for thought.

While this book is meant for readers ages 12 and up, I absolutely think adults of any age will enjoy it, too. Historians, feminists, adventure-lovers and -whiners will surely find Women of the Frontier to be very moving.

Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was three years old and never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books.

Readers with questions or comments may write to Terri in care of this publication.