A Book and a Chat with Carole Estby Dagg

The grandmother of today’s guest Carole Estby Dagg, who was said to have some talent as a mystic, told her she would be a writer, it took her quite a few years but with her debut YA novel “The Year We Were Famous”( Winner, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrator’s Sue Alexander Award for most promising new manuscript) Carole has become just that.

Based on a true story of two of her ancestors, Carole’s truly enjoyable, entertaining and educational book tells the story of a mother and daughter who get sponsored to walk from Washington state to New York City. They do it all to save their farm because of money troubles. The woman in NYC offers them $10,000 to do the trip and write a book about it in the end.

This is their story of traveling across snowy mountains, hot lava fields, through Indian reservations, and much more. It's the story of the people they meet and what they learn about themselves along the way.

When you take into consideration that this was in 1896, and all they took with them for the epic journey were two satchels with a compass and maps, ponchos, first-aid supplies, journals, a pistol, and a yes a curling iron.

As we heard during the show, the original notes made on the journey were burnt, and Carol had to dig deep, investigating every local newspaper and report from the stops along the way to piece together the adventure. Making it into fiction allowed Carole to use her own imagination to fill in some of the gaps though ash she shared, many adventures and incidents were cut when the book was reduced by 200 pages from her original draft.

We do know they wear out sixteen pairs of shoes apiece on their eastward trek as they confront flash floods and snowstorms, mountains and deserts, highwaymen and rattlesnakes. Clips of their adventure tell how they met various governors and mayors, the wife of presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan, and even shake hands with the new president-elect himself, William McKinley along the way.

Just the scene of the two ladies showing native Americans how to use the curling iron, brings to my mind a picture of Geronimo looking like Shirley Temple, one of numerous adventures brought to you in “The Year We Were Famous”.

The Year We Were Famous:

Based on the true story of the author’s great aunt and great grandmother, this is a fast-paced historical fiction adventure that sets the drama of Around the World in 80 Days against an American backdrop of the suffragist movement, the 1896 presidential campaign, and the changing perception of “a woman’s place” in society.

This is a book all will enjoy, and with a second book already underway I’m sure we’ll hear a lot more of Carol Estby Dagg.

So sit back and listen to today's interesting and entertaining show as I host today's "A Book and a Chat with Carole Estby Dagg".

Barry

Direct link to the show
"A Book and a Chat with Carole Estby Dagg".

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"Carole Estby Dagg"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Carole Estby Dagg - The Year We Were Famous"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

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