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    Walk on Earth a Stranger
    Walk on Earth a Stranger
    Walk on Earth a Stranger
    Audiobook10 hours

    Walk on Earth a Stranger

    Written by Rae Carson

    Narrated by Erin Mallon

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    A New York Times bestseller and National Book Award longlist selection

    The first book in a new trilogy from acclaimed New York Times–bestselling author Rae Carson. A young woman with the magical ability to sense the presence of gold must flee her home, taking her on a sweeping and dangerous journey across Gold Rush–era America. Walk on Earth a Stranger begins an epic saga from one of the finest writers of young adult literature.

    Lee Westfall has a secret. She can sense the presence of gold in the world around her. Veins deep beneath the earth, pebbles in the river, nuggets dug up from the forest floor. The buzz of gold means warmth and life and home—until everything is ripped away by a man who wants to control her. Left with nothing, Lee disguises herself as a boy and takes to the trail across the country. Gold was discovered in California, and where else could such a magical girl find herself, find safety?

    Rae Carson, author of the acclaimed Girl of Fire and Thorns series, dazzles with the first book in the Gold Seer Trilogy, introducing a strong heroine, a perilous road, a fantastical twist, and a slow-burning romance, as only she can.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 22, 2015
    ISBN9780062395764
    Author

    Rae Carson

    Rae Carson is the author of two bestselling and award-winning trilogies, as well as the acclaimed stand-alone novels Any Sign of Life and The Empire of Dreams. Her debut, The Girl of Fire and Thorns, was named a William C. Morris Award finalist and an Andre Norton Award finalist. Walk on Earth a Stranger was longlisted for the 2015 National Book Award and won the Western Writers of America Spur Award. Her books tend to contain adventure, magic, and smart girls who make (mostly) smart choices. Originally from California, Rae Carson now lives in Ohio with her husband. www.raecarson.com

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    Reviews for Walk on Earth a Stranger

    4/5

    209 ratings29 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A deliberately paced story free of angst if not grief, of Leah whose secret ability to douse gold is not as secret as it needed to be. When her parents are abruptly murdered just as news of the gold strike in California reaches her town in Georgia, she decides to head west on her own rather than stay under her uncle's dubious protection. It is no easy trip. It is a girl with something special story, but her special ability is not really what's most important about her.
    • 5/5
      WALK ON EARTH A STRANGER combines historical fiction with fantasy. Leah Westfall is a pretty normal young girl living in Georgia in 1849 with her mother and her father on their homestead. Except, Leah can sense gold both in the ground and in finished form. Her talent is hidden by her parents for fear that she would be exploited. Because he father is ill, Lee does the farm work, takes care of the animals, and does the hunting needed to feed her family. Naturally, this makes her an object of ridicule by the other girly girls who go to school with her. Her only friends are a young man named Jefferson, who is half Native American and who is being raised by his drunken and abusive father, and her palomino horse Peony. When her parents are murdered by her smarmy Uncle Hiram, Lee decides to disguise herself as a boy and go off to California since the gold rush has just begun. Jefferson left a few days earlier and promised to wait for her in Independence if she decides to come. Thus begins her harrowing journey from Georgia overland to California.Along her journey she meets evil people, including the three men who rob her on her first day away from home, and good people, including the men on the flatboat who offer her a job and get her closer to Independence. Once in Independence, she has to find her friend Jefferson and a wagon train to join for the long trip to California.The detail about the hardships of the trip overland - inadequate food, water, medicine - are well documented. Lee's wagon train includes a wide variety of people from immigrant families from Canada and Germany, to three college boys who are "confirmed bachelors," to a bunch of hard-bitten Missouri men, to a preacher and his pregnant wife, to a sheep farmer with ten wagons. Lee and Jefferson end up working for the Joyners who are a gentleman, his wife and two small children. They insist an hauling all their furniture with them including the dining room table that they set every night with a red-checked tablecloth. In the wagon train, we get a microcosm of life at the time with its prejudices against Native American and Black Americans, with its religious intolerance, with its rigid roles for the sexes. Lee is not going to be owned by a man and wonders why she is treated like she is stupid when she is dressed as a woman. This was the great beginning to a series. I can't wait to find out what comes next for Lee and company now that they have reached California.
    • 4/5
      Intriguing read with a strong beginning and end. However, the story really lagged in the middle with hundreds of pages of monotonous travel across America. The pace was so slow that I wasn't sure I would finish it. But I pushed through and am glad I did. Despite the 'western' frontier travel, I enjoyed the book. The characters were all memorable and the plot was compelling enough to finish.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. I started it this morning and I couldn't put it down when I picked it back up this evening. I really enjoyed Lee's character and her development throughout the novel. Her journey was realistic and I liked that she had to find herself again and figure out just who she is. This novel is definitely about the journey and not about the action and things that are happening. The events are significant, but this is a very character driven book. I did find that the secondary characters weren't as well developed and there is definitely room for more to come. Hopefully in the next instalment we'll get to see that. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for the next one :)
    • 4/5
      Rae Carson continues to write heroines I can truly root for. Lee is a strong, resourceful woman who likes wearing dresses, but doesn't want to be forced into the role expected of a young woman in 1849. When her parents are murdered, she turns down a proposal from Gale Jefferson, but agrees to meet him in Independence, Missouri so they can head West to California together. She steals her horse from her uncle (it's complicated and the uncle is basically evil), dresses herself as a boy and begins working her way Westward. Things do not go smoothly, but she finally manages to make it to Independence and meet up with Jeff. They join up with the most ragtag wagon train ever and begin the long overland journey to California. Of course, this being 1849, the journey is not an easy one and not all members of the wagon train complete the journey. But, the friendships that form during this journey constitute a new sort of family for Lee and allow her to be as strong as she needs to be when she finally encounters her uncle again. Oh, and Lee can sense gold, which is part of why her uncle is evil, but the ability often felt like an incidental thing over the course of the book. It occasionally came in handy and I'm sure it'll be huge honkin' deal now that she's landed in California, but it's far from being the most important or even most interesting thing about Lee. This is the first book in a trilogy, but I can't see how subsequent volumes are going to be able to top the danger and excitement provided by a cross-country wagon journey. Even lawless California at the height of the Gold Rush is going to be a bit of a let down.

      I really liked this book a lot and if I were less vaguely cranky with the world, it would probably have gotten five stars. But, considering that I've been "meh" about everything recently, four stars is a glowing recommendation.
    • 5/5
      Heartwarming and beautiful. Great character development. I really loved this story, it made me sob and laugh and felt sooo good.
    • 5/5
      I loved it. The whole of the story takes place on a journey. It was well written
    • 5/5
      Moving and powerful and hard to put down. Sometimes quite terrifying in its realistic portrayal of 1800s America, but mostly I appreciate an appealing character in a terrible situation, who is nonetheless fighting with all her spirit. I also particularly like that her gold witchery is just that -- a small talent like dowsing, that might be realistic in the context.
    • 4/5
      Thoroughly enjoyable first book in a romantic trilogy set against the backdrop of the westward expansion of the US. The first part of Lee's story walks her in a wagon train along the Oregon Trail. There's a tiny bit of magic (Lee can sense the presence of gold), but far more historical worldbuilding, full of details of the dangers of the Trail. (Sorry, no one dies of dysentery.)

      Diversity gets more P.C. box-checking than authenticity here: runaway slave, check... gross racism against the half-Cherokee love interest and Indians in general, check... irredeemably awful ranchers shooting indiscriminately at buffalo, check. The characters say all the right things, but none of them get to be well-rounded people. Of course, neither does Lee -- she's a stock feminist romantic heroine, who shoots better than the men and dresses up as a boy to seek her fortune. "Original characterization" isn't really what this book is here for.

      Escapist historical melodrama that reads like fantasy is catnip for me, and this is a solid example of the genre. If you love Jacky Faber, Alanna, Rae Carson's first trilogy, etc., you'll probably eat this one up, too.
    • 4/5
      I love Rae Carson, but I agree with other reviewers that say this book has a pacing problem. In the beginning it's established that Leah can sense gold, but once she's on the road to California, this rarely comes into play.

      I do appreciate all of the historical detail and character work, though, and the writing js fabulous. Carson seems to be setting up the building blocks, and I'm hoping the sequel(s) are more fulfilling.
    • 5/5
      In Rae Carson’s last series I was super harsh and mean. I hated the main character and hated the ending she got because in my opinion it wasn’t deserved. But I did like the side characters and the fantasy world that Carson created was one that I really enjoyed. But finishing The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy was more a hate-reading experience for me. What makes Walk on Earth a Stranger different? It’s totally the new main character. Leah Westfall is a resourceful girl with the skills necessary and believable to survive. While she depended on others for certain things, not at one point was she completely incompetent or incapable of thinking her way out of a situation. She is on a long trek to escape her murderous uncle and to find her best friend Jefferson who left towards the California gold rush. This book had a tiny element of magic where Leah had the ability to sense gold and even then it wasn’t the main focus of the story. In her attempts to run away from the uncle that murdered her parents Leah takes her horse Peony and decides to further hide her identity and dress as a boy. She soon joins a wagon of people about to cross towards the west and into California and from there we follow her journey of self-discovery and the family she gains along the way. The themes of identity and family were woven in so nicely. There were many characters that became instant favorites for me. The world built around Leah was well done and I enjoyed every mile of the journey. Carson did her research well and in my opinion, captured the feelings and blatant racism of the company men whenever they came across Natives on the same path they were on. It would be naive to think that you could tell a story like this without exploring that reality even if the catalyst for Leah’s tragedies were a tale of fantasy. What I liked was how Carson counteracted that ugliness with the beauty of the growing closeness of Leah and those who like her, wanted nothing to do with those men aside from the strength in numbers to confront thieves, hauling heavy wagons over hills and fixing broken wheels. Between her other series and this one, I would highly recommend the Gold Seer trilogy.
    • 3/5
      I initially started this as part of Nook's serial reads, but started reading like... two days before the next month started, whoops. Low fantasy historical fiction- Leah Westfall has "witchy" gold-sense, but as far as I can tell that's in for supernatural in this world, as the rest of it is very much our historical 1849 gold rush to California emigration as she escapes after tragedy strikes her family in Georgia.

      For those who recall history class (or maybe played a lot of Oregon Trail), landmarks and the timeline will be familiar. As with actual history, character deaths happen. The only part I audibly groaned at was two of the German family's kids being named Martin and Luther (a little on the nose imo, though I'm sure there are parents who do themed names). I hadn't heard of the Dahlonega gold rush in Georgia prior to the Sutter's Mill find, so I learned something!

      I enjoyed it, though I hadn't realized it was YA until checking it out from the library. Maybe that's why it was a brisk read after starting?

      When I checked this out from the library, I also got the second book and am a third of the way through that, so... yeah. California, where my people actually show up?? cool.
    • 4/5
      When I saw this was a western, I was unsure of it, since that is a genre I have never liked. But Carson's brilliant writing made this so enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      An historical YA novel set during 1849, about fifteen year old Leah’s journey across the US to the goldfields in California. Leah’s voice is engaging, her predicament is compelling, and the way she deals with things feels very believable for a teenager with her skills and experiences. I liked realising just how much she had grown by the end of her journey.Leah has a magical ability to detect gold, but that doesn’t help her with the day-to-day life in a wagon train, so a lot of the time the fantasy element fades into the background. But that’s just fine, because there’s a lot of drama involved in running away from home, travelling incognito, dealing with tensions between fellow travellers and the challenges of the journey, and I found the historical details fascinating. (Well, mostly fascinating. Sometimes horrifying.)The Californian gold rush is a part of history I know very little about. I’m curious to see what details of life on the goldfields the sequel highlights.
    • 4/5
      "I suppose I am a stranger walking on earth, but I'm no son of God. I'm no son at all."

      A rich, captivating tale of a fearless young woman who embarks on a perilous journey following the tragic death of her parents. Bound for California and gold, Leah carries with her two dangerous secrets, her hidden identity and her magical ability to sense gold. Whip smart with a talent for horseback riding and sharpshooting, Leah, now known as Lee, is an ideal hired hand on a wagon train with its sights set on the West. Yet tensions run high and blood flows as Lee and her band of misfit pioneers and gold rushers struggle to survive six months trekking across the unforgiving wilderness.

      Walk on Earth a Stranger is a breakneck-paced Gold Rush-era adventure with an unforgettable heroine. A story of courage, resilience, and finding family in the unlikeliest of places and the start of an exhilarating new series.
    • 4/5
      Really pleasant historical fiction with a slight magical twist. Hardy characters.
    • 5/5
      I rarely pick up historical fiction, but I couldn't pass up ya historical fiction about the gold rush, especially with such a pretty cover. I am glad more females are being represented as leads in YA fiction but lately the trope has been wearing on me because so many of those books still rely on a male character to rescue the girl. This book blessedly avoided that in a wonderful way. Lee Westfall has the power to sense gold in the earth, and for years her family has been saving the gold she finds in order to support themselves. They aren't greedy, and they keep Lee's power a secret. But after her family is torn apart and her power and money hungry uncle steps in to be her new guardian, Lee flees and sets off on a journey across the country to find her fortunes, and her best friend, in gold rush country. I played the Oregon Trail game growing up and this novel is like watching a more in depth version of that game play out. I doubt it is 100% historically factual, but I really enjoyed it. There is so much subtlety in how the author treats things like childbirth, disease, the treatment of Native Americans/women/queer people that makes the story flow really well while still addressing these issues in the time period. The characters are well developed, and you mourn each loss and praise every achievement the group makes as it toils on toward its goal. I have already recommended (and will continue to) this book to several teens and adults who have trouble getting into historical non-fiction as a good soft introduction to history without being the dry bland text-book kind of stuff a lot of people think non-fiction is.
    • 4/5
      Review from Tenacious Reader

      4.5/5 stars


      At the end of every year, I think no matter how many books you read, there are a few that people rave about that you for some reason skipped over. Walk on Earth a Stranger was one of those books for me. Admittedly, I do not read a ton of books labeled as YA, so that could be part of the reason why this one fell under my radar. But, its also books like these that make me stick to my Backlist Burndown initiative.

      What I found most striking about this book is the character’s voice. It just came across as authentic, making everything in the story that much more interesting. The protagonist’s personality really shines on every page. It pulled me in from the first paragraph, and quite frankly left me wanting to hear more even after the story was done.

      It’s hardly a secret, I love the girl dressing as a boy trope, so I was even more excited about this book once I found out it also incorporated that! I know, I’m silly and predictable that way, but we all have to have our favorite tropes, and that is one that I really enjoy. Maybe partially because the girls that tend to do that also tend to have strong, independent personalities that buck social expectations at least on some level. Our protagonist Lee is no exception. She has been working to keep her family afloat, hunting, taking care of the horses and such. Jobs that are often assigned to men. But with her father unable to do them, Lee has taken over, and she is great at it.

      But her tasks on her family land are not all that Lee excels at. Set during the California gold rush, Lee has an amazing ability. One that could make her rich or get her killed. She can sense and find gold, which is an amazing talent, but also something that could get her branded as a witch. It could also be dangerous as the wrong people could try to use her for their own schemes. So, it is a secret that she has held on to, not even trusting her best friend with the knowledge.

      When tragedy strikes, Lee is forced to run, and what better place to run than to California where gold is rumored to be plentiful? With a talent like Lee’s it doesn’t even have to plentiful, as long as there is some there, she can seek it out. Her journey challenges her, forces her evaluate when it is worth trusting someone and when it is not.

      Overall, this was a very enjoyable book. It has great atmosphere, and I just genuinely like the main character’s voice and personality. Highly recommend, and I look forward to the next one.
    • 5/5
      When I was growing up, I became slightly obsessed with a game called The Oregon Trail... It was a Western survival game with tough choices about health, animals, supplies, and mapping out routes. This book brings that game to life (well life in the book world that is).

      Leah/Lee is a on the journey of a lifetime. She loses everything she knows and decides to flee to the West with her best friend soon to be love interest. In order to escape without being noticed she has to don men's clothing and act as a lad. She works for her passage and eventually finds what she is looking for. It's a unique story with emotional turmoil and charming twists. I found myself intrigued and fascinated by the western frontier. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and when I finished, I instantly went to purchase the next book.

      It was a historical fiction with fantasy elements, a tough heroine, and a slow burn romance. It captured the essence of a new time period and was able to bring aw upon the gold panning days. I fell in love and think readers of all ages will too. It's a total MUST READ!
    • 4/5
      I did not like the direction Rae Carson took her first series in. The first book was strong, the second a little wobbly, and the third was meandering and had lost all the impact of the first. I was reluctant to pick up a new series by her, and even though Walk on Earth a Stranger sounded appealing in the very early promo days, I promised myself not to get disappointed by her series again.I forgot about that promise and the appeal of a survival journey got to me. I grew up on The Oregon Trail games and Little House and everything, and can rarely resist a novel about a treacherous journey, whether by sea or land or rail. Happily, Walk on Earth a Stranger was very satisfying in that aspect, with near-death experiences (and actual death to certain villains), and a touch of suspense from the magical gold-sense in the main character.Unhappily, while it is obvious that Carson attempted to learn from and remedy some of the criticisms of her first series, she is still a bit uneven here and could use more work when it comes to writing about marginalized people. The narrative takes pains to show that while our narrator Leah is a second-class citizen in 1849 (she's a woman, she has to hide her magical ability), she is also highly privileged, especially when she is passing as a boy. In particular, she is confronted with her own racism, even though she is a good person who doesn't believe she is racist.I found, as a white woman myself, that this plot theme of privilege was depicted well. Leah has a lot of unconscious prejudices, and while they are not all called out, the narrative does suggest that they are wrong. Everywhere in the background are examples of racism or other bigotries, and it's always shown to be appalling or otherwise wrong. However, it is heavily White Savior leaning and many bigoted, racist actions or statements aren't explicitly called out as wrong. They are often committed by villainous characters, so I assumed that they were intended to be depicted as villainous actions or statements, but the narrative never explicitly says so. When it comes to the racism against Native Americans, it is especially bad, in part because Leah's best friend is Cherokee but expresses internalized racism at several points. I read these things as Carson trying to represent a wide spectrum of prejudice and privilege, and to say "this is how it is", but I was vaguely uncomfortable with the unevenness of the pushing back (if any racism is explicitly called out, it's only against black characters or immigrants) and had a lot of caveats about my enthusiasm for the book. I really like what she's trying to do, but the subtlety is going to pass over a lot of people, and besides, a lot of Native Americans have said that the depictions here are harmful to them, so I have to trust that I am too white to really understand.Some of the unevenness is also in what may or may not be a romance plot thread. I was initially pleased that Leah and her best friend are given a lot of screentime as friends and she is very clear that she has no romantic interest in him. There is, then, no romance plot. But as the pagecount increases, there are more and more hints that maybe there is a romance. I was disappointed by this, because it felt inauthentic to the character and too forced - like it's necessary for a YA fantasy novel. I liked that much of Leah's journey is also about her grief for her parents, and that she is trying to also understand and reevaluate her best friend relationship in the face of that grief and her orphan status, but the narrative is never clear (much like the privilege themes) if that is what is happening, or if it's legitimately supposed to be a slow build to a romantic relationship.Overall, I enjoyed the reading of this book a lot. It was engrossing and had me turning the pages quickly to find out what happened. I appreciated the subtle work Carson did to make the characters sympathetic and imperfect, all mixed up like real people. But I'm not sure I can recommend it as enthusiastically as I did when I had just turned the last page, and I'm wary of what will happen in the sequel, when the party gets to San Francisco (by the way, I failed to mention the gay-coded characters traveling out there, in 1849, and that's more unevenness - from a distance, it's a broad strokes stereotype, like so many characters and elements in the story, but the characters themselves were interesting and appealing).
    • 4/5
      I loved this book from the first page. It was basically a historical novel with a paranormal twist, and was a story about survival, friendship and trust. Carson managed to capture the hardships and struggles men and women faced on their way to the Californian goldfields. Lee was such a great character who grew stronger and more confident in her abilities as the book progressed. "Walk on Earth a Stranger" could easily be read as a stand-alone novel but it was a terrific start to, hopefully, an exciting trilogy, with drama and adventure all the way.
    • 4/5
      The first book in a historical fiction trilogy, WALK ON EARTH A STRANGER follows the arduous journey of Lee Westfall, a15-year-old girl, from Georgia to California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Lee is special in that, like some people can sense water in the ground, she can sense gold—it “will be like a string tugging my chest.” The problem is, her nefarious uncle Hiram Westfall has murdered her parents and is now chasing Lee in the hopes of using her gold sensing abilities in California. An exciting, dramatic, and interesting take on the Gold Rush, Rae Carson’s latest trilogy is full of bold action and well-defined characters.
    • 5/5
      From the very start, I had a feeling that Walk on Earth a Stranger would be just the book for me. I have a huge weakness for fantasy western settings and themes exploring wild frontiers, so a story set in Gold Rush-era America about a young woman trying to make her way to California sounded exactly like something I would enjoy.Ahem. Then came several of my Goodreads friends’ reviews comparing it to The Oregon Trail.Okay, hold up a second. The Oregon Trail? THE OREGON TRAIL?!! I loved that game growing up. I’m not ashamed to admit that I still dig it up to play every few years, just to relive the nostalgia. If this book lives up to even just a fraction of those descriptions, it was going to be awesome.But the best has yet to come. Not long after I started this book, I was delighted to discover that In Walk on Earth a Stranger, the protagonist is a girl named Leah Westfall who has to take on the guise of a boy, becoming Lee McCauley in order to strike it out on her own cross-country.Why, yes, the girl-disguised-as-boy trope happens to be one of my favorites, actually.Perhaps my love for this book was a forgone conclusion, perhaps not. Regardless, I don’t hand out full marks lightly, especially when it comes to Young Adult fiction. Folks know I’m super picky about my YA. As I was reading, I was looking for other things to fall into place, because nothing frustrates me more than a great idea undermined by shoddy execution. This being my first book by Rae Carson, her writing and storytelling was also a big question mark to me so I had no idea what to expect.As you can see though, I ended up enjoying every moment! I was also very impressed with Carson’s writing, so much so that I want to rush to add her other books to my TBR, post-haste.Still, I’m not sure that I would enjoy anything as much as I did Walk on Earth a Stranger. True, this book features several themes I like, but it also deviates from a lot of YA conventions, which is probably another reason why I took to it so completely.First of all, if you like a lot of magic in your fantasy, you’re not going to find much of it here. The only fantasy element in this book is Lee’s special power, her ability to sense gold around her. A most handy talent for someone with plans to head out west during the Gold Rush hoping to make their fortune, but it doesn’t come into play throughout much of the story, which mostly involves a lot of traveling. And traveling. And more traveling.Which brings me to my second caveat. If you’re seeking action and excitement, a fast-paced plot to get your blood pumping in your veins, Walk on Earth a Stranger is not really that kind of story. It is a tale of survival, with as much focus on the emotional journey as the physical one. Let’s go back to The Oregon Trail comparison. You remember all the horrible things that could befall your company, right? You had everything from buffalo stampedes to little Mary has the measles. The point is, not every danger or threat is immediate; some, in truth, are pretty boring and routine. Doesn’t mean they still can’t kill you though, if you don’t have help. Thus, while brute force and personal determination might help get you to California, so too does the power of cooperation and forging lasting friendships. No, this book isn’t exactly a page-turner, but what you do get is your character development and meaningful relationships in spades. The people you meet in this book will become your family. Whenever good things happened to the characters, I couldn’t help but feel giddy with joy. And when they experienced tragedy, my heart ached along with theirs.Third caveat: If you need a love story, you can forget it. While the slightest hint of lovey-dovey feelings are ever present between Lee and her best friend Jefferson, the romance is so slow-burning that it is virtually non-existent. Wait, you mean, there’s no unnecessary romantic drama to get in the way of the story? Perfect! Lee does end up feeling jealous towards another girl in their wagon train, but eventually the two of them actually become friends. I can’t tell you how refreshing that is, especially these days when it feels like every four out of five YA novels I read that has a female character who’s not the main protagonist, they inevitably become bitter enemies. It’s nice to see a potential rival end up an ally for a change.Another nice thing about this book is that it can be read as a self-contained story. Of course, Rae Carson leaves plenty of breadcrumbs along this journey to pick up for the later books, but she’s not leaving us with any burning questions or an infuriating cliffhanger. Honestly, I don’t need any of those to want to read the sequel; a chance to spend more time with the wonderful characters I met in this book is already incentive enough for me. This is YA fiction done right, in my opinion, with a charming approach to history and just a light brush of fantasy. I loved it, and I want more like this.
    • 5/5
      In 1849, Leah Westfall practically does the work of a man on her family's farm to keep everything running while her father is sick. But Leah also hides a secret: she can sense the pull of gold from anywhere - in the ground, in jewelry or household items. No one other than her parents know her ability, but when her parents are murdered and someone does find out, she has to get away and take the dangerous trip to California along with all the other gold-seekers.Leah's tale is a little genrebending but mostly read to me like historical fiction, especially on a trip that had all the elements of Oregon Trail (sorry, but that game my frame of reference when it came to most of the landmarks and a few of the events on their trip). Leah especially was a really fleshed-out character, and I loved her for being complex and herself in a story where it would be easy to fall into tropes. The secondary characters were fun too, and despite the fact that there was a whole list of them at the beginning it really wasn't hard to follow along and keep them all straight. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.
    • 4/5
      Walk on Earth a Stranger depicts a strong female character in an era when that was frowned upon. Lee, forced to disguise herself as a man, runs away from her new guardian and joins up with many others on the quest for gold in California. She meets many great characters along the way, each with unique and lively personalities.

      I felt Carson did a great job portraying the issues of the 1840s. The way women were treated as inferior and incompetent; slavery and the split between Northern and Southern states; the treatment and views on Indians; all were handle with finesse and rang true of the times.

      I was unsure how the mix between Western, historical fiction, and fantasy would play out, but in the end I loved it.


    • 4/5
      Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!I’ve been hearing a lot about this book. Westerns are making a come back this year with books like Vengeance Road, Under a Painted Sky, and Walk on Earth a Stranger. I never used to read them before, but I’m so glad they’re back – I’ve been very into them lately.At first, I thought this was a high fantasy book. I don’t know why, maybe it was the vibe the fancy cover gave off or Rae Carson’s other book – The Girl of Fire and Thorns. Imagine my surprise when I read the synopsis a few minutes before getting into the book and realizing it was Western.This book got me out of a terrible reading slump, you know, that one after Queen of Shadows? Yeah. Anyway, let’s just get into this review.Leah Westfall has a secret – she’s a gold witch. She can sense and dig up gold deep beneath the earth around her. But one day, her parents are murdered and she is forced to go west, to the land of plenty gold, where no one will think twice about her gold-finding skills. She disguises herself as a boy – Lee – and takes to the trail, fighting hardships and finding friends as she goes.However, to top it all off, Lee is being chased by her parents’ murderer so that he could control her and make a fortune off her. Damn.This book gets a solid 4 stars from me because I think that it is a very great start to the trilogy. I didn’t know this was going to be a trilogy until I finished the book, so I’m really pumped to see where things go! There are so many things I’d like to see happen and I’m sure we’ll be seeing them as the series progresses.The main character was so strong! Sure, she let herself cry but she wasn’t weak. Our main character is fierce, smart, strong, and loyal. This is only the second Western book I’ve read but I’ve noticed these traits as a pattern in the genre – which really appeals to me. Strong characteristics in MCs are very essential to me and this book definitely did not disappoint.Another thing I loved about this book was the slow-burn romance, I’m a sucker for these. They’re painful but it all ends up totally worth it in the end when the characters get together. That makes me even more excited for book two!There’s just one teeny tiny issue I had with this book. The secondary characters weren’t developed enough. I felt like they had potential to become something more, something more complex. However, they were just kind of… basic. I’m hoping we get more intricacy in the remaining books.Other than that, this was a very enjoyable read and a great kick-starter to the trilogy! Solid, action-filled plot, slow-burn romance, and a fierce heroine. Everything you’d need in a book!
    • 5/5
      When Leah Westfall finds herself alone in the world and subject to the devious machinations of a greedy uncle, she does what thousands of others are doing: she goes west. Gold has been discovered in California, and the gold fever has struck the general public hard. Disguising herself as a boy, "Lee" makes her way up the Mississippi to Independence and finds a wagon train to join. There will be plenty of hardships over the next months, and not all of Lee's companions will make it to their destination. For Lee the stakes are high, because she's hiding not one, but two secrets: not only is she a girl dressed as a boy, but she also has the magical ability to sense gold hidden in the ground. And the only person who knows is her uncle -- the man who will stop at nothing to bring Lee back under his control.This is a highly enjoyable story, rich in historical detail and character development. Carson doesn't pull her punches: readers will get quite attached to some characters who won't make it to the end of the book. Despite (or because of?) that, this is a great read, especially for those who have an interest in historical fiction set in this period. People I'd recommend it to: fans of this author, people who enjoyed Patricia C. Wrede's Frontier Magic trilogy, and everyone with a nostalgic fondness for Oregon Trail.
    • 4/5
      Carson's latest book, Walk on Earth a Stranger, title taken from a hymn, set in the Gold Rush era in the United States, has a promising beginning with more books yet to come from the Gold Seer trilogy. Without previewing this book, I simply delved headfirst into reading, and all I can say is that I was hooked! Carson has a way words. I was immediately drawn into Lee's pioneer story. Lee Westfall, a teenager who can "sense" gold, joins other goldwishers heading toward California. Her mystique camouflages her real purpose for heading west, to escape her uncle's devious plans for her. Feeling alone in the world, Lee is anything but that, as she learns that family has many meanings. Death and anguish follow these pioneer trekkers across the plains and Rockies. Death has no preferences, and Lee and the others learn this firsthand. As the book concludes, Lee's story feels mostly complete; yet, anyone attached to Lee can rest assured that her story will continue in 2 more books. Audience: grades 7-12, historical fiction readers, Gold Rush and American pioneer enthusiasts
    • 5/5
      I got a copy of this book through NetGalley to review. This is the first book in the Gold Seer trilogy by Carson. Previous to this book I had read Carson’s Fire and Thorns series which I really loved. This was an excellent start to a new series and I thoroughly enjoyed it.Leah (aka Lee) Westfall can sense gold. It’s a secret that only her and her family know. Her best friend Jefferson lives with a very violent father and, when it is announced that gold has been found in California, Jefferson decides he will journey to California to find his fortune out there. He asks Lee to join him, but she refuses because she loves her family and wants to stay and help them out. Then Lee’s family is brutally murdered by a man who wants Lee’s powers for his own. So Lee disguises herself as a boy and starts the long journey to Independence, Missouri in hopes of meeting Jefferson there before he continues on to California.This book was an excellent western type of adventure story with a twist. At times it reads like a novel version of the Oregon Trail game I used to play on the computer in elementary school. Life is hard on the journey west as Lee and the folks she travels with battle nature, disease, each other and the natives. There are a couple things that really make this story grab the reader. Lee having this power to sense gold during the Gold Rush is amazing and intriguing; it makes her a hot commodity and is an ability that controls her as much as she controls it. The story also takes place in a time where women don’t have a lot of rights; so masquerading as a boy gives Lee a lot of freedom. However Lee is torn between having to lie about being a boy and the freedom it gives her.I also really loved reading about the friendships Lee makes and the hardships she encounters on her journey west. They are things we’ve all heard about but Carson writes about them in a way that makes them feel very real and urgent. I absolutely loved their journey across what we would call Yellowstone today; having recently visited Yellowstone I often wondered what early travelers would think about it and Carson does an excellent job portraying this. I loved the hope throughout this story; every one of these characters is absolutely convinced that California holds their salvation and future life.Additionally I really enjoyed the friendship between Lee and Jefferson; they have both faced ridicule by society but they have always had each other. They are loyal and steadfast friends and wonderful to read about. As you might imagine in a young adult book, they are both at the age right now where that friendship has potential to turn into something more. The story was beautifully written with a lot of adventure and some humor. It wa incredibly engaging and hard to put down. I constantly found myself staying up late to read this and having trouble stopping; it was just such an engrossing story.Overall I absolutely loved this book. It was engaging, full of wonderful adventure and entertaining and heartfelt characters. This story is a wonderful blend of western adventure with some magic. I would definitely recommend to those who are interested in reading a YA book with a western feel to it and lots of adventure and survival. The story reminds me a bit of Patricia Wrede’s Frontier Magic series, although I enjoyed this book more than that series. However if you are interested in reading another American Western themed YA novel with magic that is a good series too.