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Sense of Foreboding
Along the Trail follows a young woman traveling westward with her family in search of new beginnings on the Oregon Trail, who learns about resilience, love, and the freedom and cost of such a dangerous journey. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I grew up in Kansas City, MO, which is about 20 minutes from the town of Independence, where the Westward Trails began. It was a point of interest for me, starting all the way back in elementary school. I found everything about it fascinating: the adventure of it all, the beauty of the wilderness, and the extreme grit and hope that the people of that time had to possess in order to even begin. But I also wanted to make sure to highlight the drudgery, the discomforts, and the dangers that they faced along the way. I didn’t want it to be overly romanticized, as that would downplay the magnitude of the obstacles that the travelers faced, which was the opposite of what I hoped to do during the story.
Winnie is a charismatic character that readers get to watch figure out who she is and what path she wants to follow. Were you able to achieve everything you wanted with her character in the novel?
I doubt any author can ever say they achieved everything they wanted with a character, haha. Well-developed characters often seem to move through their story on their own, and it’s all the writer can do to keep up with them! But honestly, I wanted Winnie to be representative of her time and her circumstances. That said, she had to be open-minded enough to recognize that some of her initial reactions to things she encountered during their journey were not justified reactions – rather, that some of them came as a result of fear and not from her own experience. I do think that she’s a relatable character, and even an admirable one. Not everyone will so readily admit to being wrong as she does. Not everyone chooses personal growth, but Winnie does.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I think one of the biggest themes for me was that the setting (thousands of miles of wilderness) was often the protagonist, but also sometimes acted as the antagonist. Such an environment was brutal and beautiful. Stunning, and stifling. It had to flow and change along the way, and at other times, remain so similar and vast as to seem unconquerable, like the travelers were barely making progress at all. It was important to me that the setting inspire both a sense of wonder and a sense of foreboding.
Another theme that I hope comes across is that of resilience, enduring hope, and personal growth. The characters experience some grueling physical challenges, and also some tough mental ones – things with the potential to break anyone’s spirit. But instead of turning on one another, or even turning back, they come together to form a community and rely on each other in times of need. I didn’t want my characters to be stealing from one another, or harming each other – I wanted them to represent the best of humanity, to help rather than harm, wherever possible. Perhaps that’s a bit naive, but there’s enough doom and gloom in the world these days; I chose to highlight human resilience and hope rather than focus primarily on division.
That’s not to say there aren’t some nuanced perceptions that the characters have to overcome to achieve personal growth, because that’s one of Winnie’s main character arcs. But she gets through it because she has the introspective honesty and open-minded nature to acknowledge a prejudice in her world, analyze the validity of it through what she experiences (rather than what she’s told by others), and come out the other side with her own opinion. And I hope that journey shines through for readers.
Will this novel be the start of a series, or are you working on a different story?
I’m seriously considering writing a sequel and making it a duology. There is a lot left to explore with the Hayes family once they reach their destination, and also a lot that I’d like to expand on with Mae and some of the other strong secondary characters.
Even though their journey ended once the overland travelers chose a spot to settle, their hardships did not. It was grueling work to build a homestead, to make it through winter in an unfamiliar territory. There’s a lot to discover there that I think would make for a great second novel.
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Threatened by storms, wild animals, and outlaws, Winnie must rely on the bonds she’s made and all she’s learned in order for them to make it to Oregon alive. She also must decide if she is ready to risk forming an attachment to Hal, the cowhand who has a knack for showing up just when help is needed, or whether she will emulate Mae, the free-spirited daughter of their trail guide.
Along the Trail
The story follows Winnifred Hayes, a young woman traveling westward with her family in search of new beginnings on the Oregon Trail. Through her eyes, we see the monotony of walking behind wagons, the terror of storms and stampedes, and the tender, sometimes complicated bonds that hold families together during hardship. Alongside her sister, Lenora, her hardworking father, her stern but caring mother, and her little brother Elijah, Winnie navigates the endless prairie. She meets other travelers, grows close to a cowhand named Hal, and learns about resilience, love, and the freedom and cost of such a dangerous journey. The novel mixes sweeping depictions of frontier life with intimate family moments, placing the reader right in the dust and uncertainty of the trail.
This book stirred me in ways I didn’t expect. The writing feels honest and unvarnished, like the trail itself. Curtis doesn’t romanticize the hardships, and that makes the fleeting moments of joy all the brighter. I found myself drawn to Winnie’s restlessness and quiet strength. She isn’t fearless, but she pushes forward anyway, and I admired that. Some scenes were so vivid. The dialogue feels natural, not polished, and that gave the characters a warmth I believed in. There were moments when I wished the pace slowed a bit to linger on Winnie’s inner life, but the brisk rhythm mirrored the constant forward push of the journey, so it worked.
What really struck me was how the book captures the pull between freedom and expectation. Winnie looks up to women like Mae, who ride freely and live outside traditional roles, yet she feels the weight of what might be waiting at the end of the trail. That tension hit home for me, because it speaks to how we all wrestle with carving our own path while others try to define it for us. The tender way Curtis explores family ties, especially the quiet understanding between Winnie and her mother, moved me deeply. At times, I felt frustrated right alongside Winnie, and at others, I was swept up in the simple sweetness of a kind smile or a shared laugh.
I’d recommend this book to readers who love historical fiction rooted in real grit and humanity. If you enjoy stories about ordinary people facing extraordinary trials, or if you’ve ever wondered what it felt like to cross a continent with only faith, oxen, and a dream, this is for you. Along the Trail would especially resonate with those who like novels centered on strong young women finding their place in uncertain worlds. It’s heartfelt, raw, and quietly beautiful.
Pages: 289 | ASIN : B0FL1C55WW
LITERARY TITAN 