They want to leave their troubles and worries behind and create new lives for themselves and for their families. What I liked: As noted in the afterword, Katsu took numerous liberties with the real-life narrative, in telling this tale of the group of settlers migrating west in the hopes of settling in California. You could see the people and smell the families as they approached the unpassable pass and when things went dark and dirty (and boy do they ever) Katsu dimmed the light and drew the shades and made this readers stomach curdle. You could picture the slow moving wagon train crossing the plains. I know it’s an odd phrase to use, considering plot, but the landscape and terrain felt so vibrant, so alive throughout that it felt more cinematic than literal. It is with that back drop that Katsu delivers a novel of sublime beauty.

They never made it and when they were discovered, it was found that some had resorted to eating those who perished before them to try and stay alive.

The group of people who attempted, and failed, to cross over west through a high mountain pass. If you’ve been a life long fan of the mysterious, the macabre and the dark, you’ve no doubt come across the haunting tale of The Donner Party. That is 100% my bad and now having read this brutal piece of historical fiction, I can’t believe I didn’t read this sooner. This book has arrived at the top of my TBR two times over the last year or so, but each time I bumped it for an urgent review book for over on Kendall Reviews.

The hunger book alma katsu