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Hi, I’m Pat Jurgens, writer and retired librarian. Wanderlust led me south from the New England area where I grew up to graduate from Duke University, east to India for study abroad, and west to University of Denver for an MLS. In recent years, a passion for travel and an interest in other cultures has taken me to Europe and Asia, Central and South America, Australia and New Zealand. Colorado, where my much-loved children were raised, has been my home for nearly six decades.
Since moving to a cabin in the mountains of Evergreen, Colorado in 2000, I’ve published numerous articles in local and regional magazines. Also dabbling in memoir and poetry, I’ve made contributions to several anthologies and won awards from the Denver Women’s Press Club, Jefferson County Historical Commission, and the Poetry Society of Colorado.
Falling Forward, a Woman’s Journey West is my first novel. The inspiration to write this story came from my grandmother, whose young life in the late 1890s is threaded through the initial chapters. In the process of writing the book I visited the San Joaquin Valley of California, Mennonite country of NE Ohio, and neighboring Golden, Colorado, to dig up historical details. It was a journey and a great adventure. I hope you enjoy stepping back one hundred years into this story of Louisa, a young woman who follows her dreams to the American West.
Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite
I so admire authors who can take a piece of history and create a wonderful 'herstory' around it. That’s what Pat Benedict Jurgens has done with Falling Forward: A Woman's Journey West, her story of Louisa, a courageous and sometimes feisty member of a Mennonite community back in 1897. While Louisa loves and respects her austere, hard-working father, a community elder, after her mother dies Louisa is forced into looking after her siblings and the household needs. She does so unbegrudgingly, but after marrying a non-Mennonite and becoming increasingly unhappy with the restrictions of her community, she and her beloved husband leave to make their future elsewhere. The move proves fatal in more ways than one and Louisa finds herself raising her two children alone. But if nothing else, Louisa is resourceful. She is also a free thinker and believes what men can do…like run a business… she can do. She opens a successful bakery and joins other forward-thinking women looking to gain equality. But the men are there at every turn, doing their best to oppose such women and make sure they know their place.
There is so much more to the plot than what I’ve outlined here. The rest is for you to discover and enjoy. I was enlightened about the hardships families, and especially women, faced at the turn of the century and I particularly enjoyed learning about the Mennonite community. Pat Benedict Jurgens’ characterization skills are excellent: readers feel at one with Louisa and those around her. The dialogue flows easily, setting descriptions are vivid, and the pace is beautifully controlled. And if you think you can predict the ending, think again. It took me by surprise! Falling Forward is a superb historical fiction novel that will be especially appealing to female readers. If you're looking for something to help you escape today's harsh realities, try Falling Forward with Louisa to a better future.
