Tinsmith 1865
by Sara Dahmen
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date Sep 03 2019 | Archive Date Nov 13 2022
BooksGoSocial | Promontory Press Inc.
Talking about this book? Use #Tinsmith1865 #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
When her tinsmith father and brothers head West, Polish immigrant Marie Kotlarczyk has no choice but to go along. Family, after all, is family.
The Dakota Territories are anything but welcoming to the Kotlarczyks, and as the months trip by, Marie must pick up the hammers she’s secretly desired but also feared.
When she faces the skeptical people of Flats Town, the demands of the local Army commander, and her public failures, her inner voice grows destructively, forcing Marie to decide exactly who she is and what it means to be a woman smith.
Advance Praise
"Tinsmith 1865, Sara Dahmen’s first book in the Flat’s Junction series, delivers Marie’s story with fire and precision. The world of the Dakota Territory is developed with clarity and attention, and the Polish families that inhabit it are colorful and sympathetic. When Marie’s family arrives under the direction of her father, Stanley, after the loss of her mother—the heart of the family—there is a fair amount of distress. How will the Kotlarczyks afford to set up their tinshop? To build a home? To live? The family friend that offered them land is in less than optimal financial straits himself, so the Kotlarczyks must seek loans that come with strings that affect Marie directly. The railroad threatens to split the property, the war takes the lives of too many young men, and Marie’s father suffers too much to be of use to her. As the book progresses, we see Marie become more and more independent and more and more of a smith, thanks to instruction from her older brother, and less and less a candidate for marriage and motherhood. Marie’s journey of self-discovery in a difficult time is engrossing and entertaining. Her feisty spirit and unwillingness to compromise what she loves and who she is drives Tinsmith 1865 from the first page to the last."" — Shannon Carriger, Manahattan Book Review
""This is a wonderful novel. Sara Dahmen clearly knows her subject matter. Dahmen, one of America’s few women coppersmiths, works with tools from the 1800s to make vintage cookware. This background, combined with careful research evidenced by the included bibliography, lends a real authenticity to her writing that gives the reader a genuine sense of life in a frontier town. More than just a history lesson, however, Dahmen’s plot is refreshingly unpredictable, making it difficult to put aside by the end. Most striking, however, is the complexity of her main character, Marie. This is a motherless teenage girl from an immigrant family who is attempting to navigate young womanhood in the foreign culture of a frontier without a role model. She is also a creative spirit who resists the predefined gender roles of her time. She is a person in whom very understandable self-doubts blanket the spark of an indomitable spirit. In other words, she is a complex, fully developed character, and it is a pleasure to watch her evolve throughout the novel. Currently in production to become a motion picture, Tinsmith 1865 is the first novel in the planned, six-volume Flats Junction series. On finishing this novel, readers will almost certainly be looking for the next in that series."" — Annie Peters, San Francisco Book Review"
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781773740416 |
| PRICE | $9.49 (USD) |
| PAGES | 360 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Kathryn M, Reviewer
this was a great start to the Flat’s Junction series, it was a perfect historical novel. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and what they were doing. It was a wonderfully done plot and I was hooked from the start. I really enjoyed this series and hope to read more in this series.
“You broke this, and I know you all want it fixed so it works a tiny bit with a jig until the new one arrives, but I’ve never touched a damn tinsmithing machine, and now you need me to reheat it and bend it back?”
Sally M, Reviewer
4 stars, Changes
TINSMITH 1865 (FLATS JUNCTION SERIES BOOK 1)
by Sara Dahmen
Marie, her father, and two brothers are from a Polish immigrant family who comes by wagon train to Flat's Junction, Dakota Territory to start a new life as tinsmiths in 1865. No one realizes how much their lives will change in the next few years.
Highly recommend.
I received a complimentary copy of #tinsmith1865 from #netgalley #booksGOsocial I was under no obligation to post a review. #triggerwarnings #saradahmen #historicalfiction #tinsmith @saradahmen @booksgosocial #bibliophile #reviewer #Polish #America
Reviewer 98309
I enjoyed reading Tinsmith 1865. It was a really great piece of historical fiction to read. I am giving it five stars.
Cindy H, Reviewer
Marie's family moves to the Dakota Territory after the death of her Mom. Her father and brothers and tinsmiths and she wants to learn to be a tinsmith if they will allow her to learn. Her brothers join the army, leaving her and her father. Her father has a seizure and she has no choice but to try to finish her father's work if they are to survive. Learning this trade is hard. She is physically scarred from the tin. Will she let a man into her life, or will she choose to be independent?
I enjoyed this story, the growth of the characters, and their interaction with others. I was not familiar with work as a tinsmith so it was entertaining and educational. I highly recommend!
Betsy E, Reviewer
I am writing this review for Net Galley.
In this story we follow Maria who is traveling with her dad and two brothers. Her mom passed away before they left leaving Maria to do the woman's work. While traveling, her brothers and father told her of how she had suitors interested in her, but she didn't believe them. During this time, against her wishes, her brothers went to fight in the war. Leaving her and her father behind.
One day she found out that her brothers did not make it. Once her father found out he went down shortly after leaving Maria to take care of herself. Here she finds two suitors Danny and Thaddeus. Will Maria be able to find it in her to find true happiness again?
I really enjoyed this story even though some parts were hard for me to read given the situation I just had that was a trigger of the loss of a parent. However, I still thoroughly enjoyed this story and highly recommend.
Janalyn P, Reviewer
It all came so quickly her mother died her brother came back from the Civil War and her dad pack them all up to move to the Dakotas. So with their brand-new tin smithing machine in debt in tow they set off to the west. She was mesmerized by the new machine and just had to touch it so one night when getting food out the wagon for dinner she did and unfortunately she broke it and would keep this secret all the way to the Dakotas. When they arrive they would stay withWalter and his son Thaddeus and their apprentice who is also an orphan Jimmy. Jimmy would be her first dalliance into love or something close to it as time goes on she proves not to have the personality for sales but her talent for 10 smithing it’s something no one can deny but when her brothers go off to fight the Indians looking for a quick payday it is left up to Marie to pick up the pieces. Even Jimmy heads to the fight. Although Marie is a novice although a talented one when it comes to tin smithing her father now depends on her more than ever but with the absence of the boys come new people in new experiences and her biggest challenge will lead to the biggest Love she’s ever known. I know this summary is terrible but I didn’t want to give anything away I was a little hesitant about reading this book because I get tired of these historical romances where authors write the characters as a modern day women but that was not at all the case in this book. I should’ve known better than to think this author‘s story would be anything less than authentic and stellar. She has such a knack for historical accuracy and you don’t at all see modern day opinions and I love that about her books. I highly recommend this book it is a five star read and one I will probably read again. I am not into long drawn out books but I’m so into this Author‘s writing style that it seems the pages turn their self in before you know it the greatness is over. I truly love her books and highly recommend it. I received this book from Net Galley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.
Kelly N, Librarian
This is a well researched novel of an immigrant Polish family moving West with their trade and a hope to settle with success in a new territory.
I was provided a free copy of this book by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewer 1022532
This book was amazing from beginning to end. The historical era has been depicted with careful care and the characters came across as very believable. This book gives a fascinating insight into the craft of tinsmith, and what was more fascinating was Marie’s determination to learn the skill and help her family.
If you love quality historical fiction then this book should really be on your to-read list. I highly recommend this book.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.
Donna R, Reviewer
Another great read by this author. The story of a family, of a new life and mostly about a strong young woman.
A story of hardships of a pioneering life, Maria's life and challenges and so much more. This is a wonderfully descriptive tale, the tin-smithing is a very interesting part of the story as well. Sara Dahmen writes from the heart and researches her subject well.
You feel like you are there with Maria and you can visualise the are, the lifestyle, and the surroundings. It is a complex story with well thought out characters that you can relate to and you can immerse yourself in the story and feel what these people would have felt.
A wonderfully written story of America in the mid 1800's. of women and their roles in the family and in life. It is a truly amazing story.
Robin W, Reviewer
Marie is from a close Polish family, with two brothers living. The Civil war has just ended, and the mother just died. The father decides to sell everything and go with a wagon train West to where a friend is to work. The men in the family are all tinsmiths. Marie has watched them for years, always wanting to try. Her relationship with her father and brothers is deep. She is expected to cook and take care of them all, but doesn't really have those skills. She learns who she is throughout the story, always having to adjust to the men's actions. Very well written - you get lost in her struggle. It's interesting learning about tinsmithing. Heart wrenching story as she struggles to get out of debt and stay strong when others don't accept that she's female doing a man's trade. She struggles as hard to accept herself and fit in. There are a few spots with bad language that are disappointing, mostly towards the beginning. Another somewhat graphic sexual situation near the end. The suggestion of each would have been enough. The story is so compelling that I still gave it five stars but people I review for should be aware.
I received this book free from the author, publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
#Tinsmith1865 #NetGalley #SaraDahmen #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout
Readers who liked this book also liked:
Ashton Lattimore
General Fiction (Adult), Historical Fiction, Multicultural Interest
