The Hunger

by Alma Katsu
373 pgs

In The Hunger, Alma Katsu takes the story of the Donner Party, and adds an element of the supernatural to it. The result is an eerie, captivating story that will likely alter the way you think about that ill-fated group of pioneers going forward.

The book starts at the end of their story, when the small group of survivors is found, emaciated and near death, and then it jumps back to the start of their journey from Independence, Missouri in the late spring of 1846. It's clear Katsu tried to stay as true to the actual people in the Donner Party, and to the myriad of misfortunes they encountered, as she could, while simultaneously injecting the supernatural elements she devised into the narration. And it's the combination of both the fiction and the non-fiction that had me so entertained.

Everyone knows what the story of the Donner Party is all about, and to say anything specific about what Katsu added to it would only ruin it for others. So, I think it's best to leave it at that. It's definitely worth the read.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆