Pilgrim's Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier ( 2002)

Pilgrim's Wilderness: Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier by Tom Kizzia is captivating and disturbing at the same time. Kizzia documents the story of Robert Hale and his large family in a journalistic factual manner, yet he grabs your attention with his foreshadowing and tone. As I was reading, I had to keep reminding myself that it is a true story and not a Hollywood movie script. Robert Hale was not the loving, devoted father that he portrayed in public. But instead he was tyrant that had total authority over his children. It is terrifying to realize that there are people that live, worship and think as the main character in this epic story. It is even sadder to think that his children had to live through the events. I had chills and was horrified, but could not put the book down. I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.