This family saga of westward migration is told through the voices of people who lived 100 years ago by means of letters; diaries; oral history and photographs. It includes a memoir of the author’s improbable discoveries as he found the stories of the grandfather he never knew. The Lawtons’ first ancestor arrived in Massachusetts in 1635. Its succeeding generations followed forest cutting to the west; across the northern states; until one branch of the family arrived in frontier Spokane in 1890. Will and Irene Lawton followed a string of settlers from Wisconsin; where the pine forests were playing out after a quarter century of logging. They established homes and businesses in Spokane; then left in 1906 and settled a few miles west in the scablands of the Columbia Plateau; where they bought land; took up a homestead; and commenced farming and storekeeping. The dream worked until misfortune and flawed assumptions eventually led to the loss of all they had built. The family had been multi-generational and closely knit. But by 1920 the family had scattered because of untimely deaths and the collapse of homesteading. As a fatherless boy; Walter Lawton; Will’s son; spent years in Idaho’s mountains herding sheep to get by.
#958233 in Books 2014-08-05Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.10 x 1.30 x 6.00l; .0 #File Name: 1628723777320 pages
Review
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Moving; Powerful leavened with great insight and humorBy Stephanie GoldenThis book is not only a wonderful and moving work about a daughter trying to understand her father and his past; but an amazing story about WWII and it's aftermath as seen through one man's eyes. One of my favorite things about the book is the very personal way you understand the effect that events such as the war and the Holocaust have on an individual. And certainly the truth is far far stranger than fiction. It feels like an historical novel/spy novel/mystery and coming of age story all in one. The book is leavened with insight and humor and once you pick it up you will find it hard to put down.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Someday You Will Understand: Purchased at .comBy depThis is the story of Walter Wolff; a German Jew who; with his family escaped Europe right before Pearl Harbor. Walter and his family left Nazi Germany in 1933 and took up residence in Belgium. When Belgium was invaded in 1940; they fled into France; spending 16 months on the run from the Nazi's. Walter and his family were part of a group of the last Jews to be accepted into the United States in 1941. When Walter was just 18 he was drafted into the army; eventually becoming one of the famed Ritchie Boys. I found this to be a very good book; very interesting and very well written by Walter's daughter Nina. In her writing you could just feel how much she loved her father. The only part I had trouble with was the time Walter spent in the army before becoming a Ritchie Boy. It felt like the writing kind of dragged a bit. A good read that I very much recommend.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy larry colbyGreat story. Very well written
