#27   
Title:   Jennie’s Tiger
Author:  Eva Gail Six
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Rating:  A
Published:  2011
Read:   1/4/12 - 5/12/12
Pages:  303

I’ve savored this book for the better part of four months and marveled at the work Eva Gail put into this novel.  I’m looking forward to writing her a note to say how much I enjoyed getting to know Jennie and Wes Wooding and their boys, neighbors, and animals, the adventures they experienced and the relationships they forged over the 23 year period that the book spans.

Jennie’s Tiger is based upon a true story.  The story of Jennie Wooding is sub-titled A Woman’s Pioneering Stand in an Untamed Corner of Washington State.  The setting is the Pend Oreille area of northeastern Washington; the years covered are 1900 to 1923.  Those formative years in that part of the state lend themselves to the earthy, down-home nature that still abounds. 

As I read Jennie’s story I not only came to know and love her and her family but also Eva Gail and her husband, Al.  I’ve known this couple for years though more recently have only exchanged Christmas cards.  Yet I felt that in the conversations and camaraderie of the characters I was hearing how the Sixes relate to each other, too.  And that made me smile.  Their love is reflective of how Eva Gail paints the people of her prose.  And I’m  hoping she’ll soon turn out another masterpiece.