A CLEARING IN THE WILD by Jane Kirkpatrick

This is a story of a group of people in Bethel, Missouri in the 1850's who are seeking to live in the world, but set apart from the things of the world. In this "society" is a young lady, Emma, who has outspoken ways and often finds herself clashing with the leader of the colony. Emma soon finds and marries her mate, Christian Giesy, and all seems well. But the leader of the colony wants to send Christian West to find another area for their colony to live. Emma is not excited about her new husband leaving her for over a year, so she has a way of working her way into the group of men going West. What she doesn't bother to tell anyone is that she thinks she is pregnant. This story deals with the journey West, Emma and Christian learning how to live and love each other, and how to adjust to the new land they find themselves in. Emma continues to question the colonies tactics and beliefs as she yearns for more and sees her God as someone different than what the leaders of the colony portray him to be. This is the first book in this series and I will be reading the rest of the series to see how this all turns out.