I Am a Stranger Here Myself

I picked up this book to learn more about Narcissa Whitman. However, I learned so much more. This fun to read, couldn’t-put-it-down book gave me some insight into myself as a granddaughter, daughter, mother, wife, woman, and dreamer. It gave me permission to look back at my life and ancestry with ap......more

I am in the minority on this one. I did not love it. It is very well written, but it dragged for me. The Whitman story is fascinating. And I could relate to the change in how we view Native Americans today versus the myths we were taught in school and from movies and tv shows. But, overall, I couldn’......more

Debra Gwartney’s I Am A Stranger Here Myself is a courageous, unflinching, and masterfully written probe into history, identity and place. It lays bare the human tendency to assign the primacy of one’s belief system over all other perspectives, regardless of the cost. Gwartney doesn’t make it easy o......more

Debra Gwartney’s book is what memoir strives to be—questioning, curious, exploratory and deeply reflective. The writing is fabulous—phrases roll off the page as the author explores what it means to inhabit the West. Braiding her story with that of Narcissa Whitman, an early American missionary who r......more

I've always had a fascination with the Whitman missionary story, just like this author. I could have never written about it in the way she has done here ... intertwining with her own path of self-discovery. Really interesting, sometimes frustrating, but it feels like a really authentic memoir.......more