Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

Title: Where the Lost Wander
Author: Amy Harmon
Published: 2020
Length: 343 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

In this epic and haunting love story set on the Oregon Trail, a family and their unlikely protector find their way through peril, uncertainty, and loss.

The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at twenty. Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both.

But life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. John’s heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together.

When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi’s family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. Ripped apart, they can’t turn back, they can’t go on, and they can’t let go. Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually…make peace with who they are.

How and when I got it:

I received an ARC through NetGalley when the book was released last year.

Why I want to read it:

I do love historical fiction, and I love discovering books that present a piece of history that I haven’t read in fictional form before. Like every other American schoolchild, I learned about the Oregon Trail, but honestly, the first thing that comes to mind for me is the computer game, not actual history.

The synopsis of Where the Lost Wander makes it sound like a personal story of love and family set during an important historical period. I’m just as interested in the story now as I was when I first requested the ARC — the only reason I haven’t read it yet is that I’m (as always) too swamped by my towering to-be-read stack of books.

What do you think? Would you read this book?

Please share your thoughts!

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Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

• Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
• Add your link in the comments or link back from your own post, so I can add you to the participant list.
• Check out other posts, and…

Have fun!