The word “daunted” is synonymous with words like “bothered,” “fazed,” “intimidated,” “overcome,” “discouraged,” and “dispirited.” After reading, learning from and totally enjoying Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West, it’s apparent that the book’s two main characters, Dorothy and Ros, lived a life that was completely the antonym of all those words.
Author Dorothy Wickenden, Executive Editor of The New Yorker since 1996, has skillfully woven the true story of two friends taking the path of most resistance to their own piece of history. She places the reader smack in the middle of this profound journey of two female pioneers by expertly drafting details from their personal diaries and correspondence, interweaving their saga with poignant black and white photos, and transporting the reader back in time almost 100 years.
Nothing Daunted epitomizes Robert Frost’s classic poem, “The Road Not Taken,” which was, coincidentally, written in 1915, within a year of Dorothy and Ros’s life-changing experiences in Elkhead. Their true story — “an alternative Western,” as Wickenden describes it — actually plays out far better than the poem. Whether you call it irony or destiny, their wealthy, high society upbringing allowed them to diverge from their expected paths to embark on an adventure to a foreign territory known as the Wild West — land certainly never before seen by socialites.
Wickenden follows the friends from high society to a rudimentary classroom in a clever foreshadowing that is initially touched upon in the beginning chapters of the books. Wisely-placed details like Dorothy and Rus first meeting in 1892 in one of the first kindergarten classrooms in the United States, and tales of formal dinners served in drawing rooms by servants while being surrounded by “embroidered French white curtains” are added not only for effect but to give the reader information that further enhances this historical dichotomy of Dorothy and Rus’s journey from their privileged existence in the wealthy town of Auburn, New York to the truly rustic “unknown.” The details are so vivid, readers will feel as though they personally knew Dorothy and Rus in their younger years and would have expected them to follow the path of other young ladies in their circle: to get married young to a professionally established man and quickly have children.
Wickenden makes it clear upfront that the lives of the two main characters could have been trite and unremarkable if they had stayed on that expected path. Instead, in 1916, they chose to change the course of their destiny and, in turn, their legacy. Wickenden captures that spirit and spins it into a thrilling page-turner that not only recounts Dorothy and Rus’ experiences but also reveals them as heroes of their time.
Wickenden’s expert storytelling places the reader in the clothing, rooms and customs of the period through vivid depictions and perfectly placed quotations skillfully extrapolated from diaries and letters. It is as if time stood still just long enough for the reader to heave upon a saddle and ride along with Dorothy and Ros on their tumultuous journey.
Nothing Daunted is a tale of two friends who traveled from certainty, safety, and security to, literally, unknown territory.
Wickenden – who happens to be the real-life granddaughter of the story’s Dorothy – has pieced together an entertaining tale that is part history, but mostly a tale of heroism. The title itself begins the book’s play on words, its symmetry, and the story’s polar opposite of expectations.
With Nothing Daunted, Wickenden offers an opportunity to ride along on the wild journey of two friends as they diverge onto the road less taken. The journey leaves the reader – just like the two friends — more educated about life, and with the tools to face the unfamiliar and unexpected with passion, dignity and anything but a daunted response.
I always enjoy when your readers review a book. This story sounds interesting – will put it on my summer reading list.