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Burrell F. Smith
Penance for Survival
Penance for Survival
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Dear Reader,
You are about to read a novel that in my opinion, needs some explanation as to its conception and purpose.
The purpose of this novel is to tell the story of the Donner Party and the migration of other sturdy pioneers west by covered wagon. This period in American History covering the great migration from the early 1840’s into the 1850’s was so documented, so common place, so successfully accomplished that we tend to forget just how arduous a trip it really was.
By using many factual accounts of the period, it is my purpose to reconstruct the trip as it might have happened based upon the facts available. When Eddy kills a bear in my novel, it is fact that his counterpart in the Donner Party, did kill a bear. A fact documented in diaries of the time. These papers do not describe the actual scene. This I do based upon my research of the firearms available at the time, actual hunting conditions, and other items that are pertinent to the scene.
Because in some cases there is not enough detail available, I had to build portions of the story using my imagination. To give me liberty in expanding the character of the individuals and to fill in the factual voids, I have chosen to make this a work of fiction.
But with fiction so closely tied with fact, the category of historical novel doesn’t seem to apply. Neither does the category of historical treatise apply. Therefore, a new category is needed. I prefer to label such a work as mine, as a “factional” novel.. Based upon fact, steeped in fact, but a novel that has taken minor liberties with the facts.
You are about to read a novel that in my opinion, needs some explanation as to its conception and purpose.
The purpose of this novel is to tell the story of the Donner Party and the migration of other sturdy pioneers west by covered wagon. This period in American History covering the great migration from the early 1840’s into the 1850’s was so documented, so common place, so successfully accomplished that we tend to forget just how arduous a trip it really was.
By using many factual accounts of the period, it is my purpose to reconstruct the trip as it might have happened based upon the facts available. When Eddy kills a bear in my novel, it is fact that his counterpart in the Donner Party, did kill a bear. A fact documented in diaries of the time. These papers do not describe the actual scene. This I do based upon my research of the firearms available at the time, actual hunting conditions, and other items that are pertinent to the scene.
Because in some cases there is not enough detail available, I had to build portions of the story using my imagination. To give me liberty in expanding the character of the individuals and to fill in the factual voids, I have chosen to make this a work of fiction.
But with fiction so closely tied with fact, the category of historical novel doesn’t seem to apply. Neither does the category of historical treatise apply. Therefore, a new category is needed. I prefer to label such a work as mine, as a “factional” novel.. Based upon fact, steeped in fact, but a novel that has taken minor liberties with the facts.
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