Spirit Dancer is the story of a woman and how she held on to her faith even when all seemed lost. This adventure follows Hannah, who kept her faith when times became desperate and too hard to live through. She was just seventeen years old when she married Caswell. He was a good husband, but a couple of months after their marriage, Caswell decided that they would be moving west where his uncle had a better job opportunity for him.
Hannah didn’t really want to leave her family and everything she had ever known behind, but she had no choice. She just had to keep faith in God and her husband. Embarking on the wagon train going west, her life changed radically. There were storms, death, and livestock stampedes. She endured it all, but when her husband caught a terrible contagious disease, the wagon train left them behind. With a sick husband and a long way to go, Hannah had to struggle through the wild wilderness of the west and reach safety. With so much going on around her, can Hannah keep the faith? Will she still trust God to help her through? Or will her faith crumble with her life?
What an adventurous novel. Hannah is such an empowering woman; she is strong and resilient and she never backed down. Her faith is admirable. She is certainly no little woman; she took charge when she needed to and made sure that she never failed. This is Christian fiction, but it is a lot more than that. It is a humanistic stance set in a time when women were no more than a burden.
A Powerfully Inspirational Story To Embrace And To Remember
Freshly married and journeying out West, Hannah will have her faith and trust in God tested as she learns that blessings and trials will come hand in hand.
Hannah has not been married long when her husband tells her that they are journeying West. Hannah is shocked. She remembers the letter that came from Caswell’s Uncle offering him work, but she never thought that he would accept. At least, she thought, not without talking to her first. The last thing that Hannah wants is to leave her family and home behind, but she will diligently follow her husband wherever he goes. He tells her that God has called for them to go, but she balks at this. She does not wish to believe that God will want her to leave her family behind, but she decides to put her faith in God. Her faith will truly be tested while out on the wagon train and in the wilderness. There will be danger from fellow travelers, and there will be the tragedy of death that cannot be avoided. Hannah’s truest test will come when it is feared that her husband has come down with a contagious disease and they are left behind. Her tests will continue to come, but if she can stay strong in her faith then she can persevere.
Spirit Dancer by Cissy Hunt is a story set in the 1800s when travel was still by wagon, and sickness is a major problem. This book is a spiritual novel that follows Hannah and her husband on their journey. Hannah is not excited to make this journey leaving all that she knows behind. But Hannah knows that she must stand with him and make this journey. I like that although Hannah is young, only 17 years old, that she does not let the situations that she faces overwhelm her. Death strikes frequently along the wagon train, but she stays strong for her friend who needs her. One of her biggest tests comes when her husband becomes sick. Since there was no way to tell what was really wrong with him, the others believe he is contagious and leaves them behind. I like that there were a couple who choose to stay with her and help. Hannah faces a lot of trials in this book, but she forges through so many of them with such a positive attitude. I like that she never loses her faith. There are moments of where I feared that she would begin to waver and doubt, but no matter what she remains steadfast.
The author does a wonderful job simply highlighting Hannah’s and her husband’s never-wavering faith, despite the tragedies that come their way. The story is beautifully told by using natural dialogue and prose. Readers will become immersed into the well-drawn characters and their lives, their fears and their triumphs.
Spirit Dancer is a story about people who grow, change, embrace life and who know what really matters in life. It’s also a story where different cultures come together with amazing results.
