Follow the River
by JAMES ALEXANDER Thom
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Book Summary Information
Author: JAMES ALEXANDER ThomBrand: Ballantine Books
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1986-11-12
ISBN: 0345338545
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780345338549
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Follow the River
Book Review: The indomitable spirit of Mary Ingles, a real woman captured in fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
It's 1755 in the peaceful Virginia settlement where 23-year-old Mary Ingles lives happily with her husband and children on the edge of white civilization. It's July, and Mary is 9 months pregnant with her third child, when Shawnee Indians invade her home, kidnapping her, her children, and a few of her fellow settlers, leaving a bloody massacre behind. The Shawnee take their small party of captives far into the wilderness, beyond the O-y-o (Ohio) River into lands no white person has ever seen. For months, they hold Mary captive, separating her from her family and treating her like a slave. But Mary clings to the vestiges of her former life, the memory of her husband and her home in Virginia...and one morning, when the leaves on the trees are starting to change color, she makes her escape, accompanied by a woman she calls "Ghetel," an old Dutch settler who's been a captive of the Shawnee far longer than Mary. With the noble Ohio River as her guide, and with Ghetel to keep her company, Mary walks a thousand miles through an untamed wilderness no white eyes have ever seen. She risks everything, she risks her very life, to return to her own people.
In FOLLOW THE RIVER, historical fiction writer James Alexander Thom brings the true story of pioneer woman May Ingles to life. His novel is impeccably researched; in his Author's Note, Thom mentions walking the same route through the wilds that Mary took 250 years ago, lending a sense of accuracy to his descriptions of the area and a sense of immediacy and timelessness to his retelling of Mary's story.
Thom tells Mary's story with brutal honesty in gritty prose; he doesn't try to romanticize Mary and Ghetel's journey through the wilderness, which is refreshing. The rotten dead animals, already picked over by the vultures, they ate when no other food could be found, the painful sicknesses that resulted when they ate a root that poisoned them, their loosening teeth and emaciated bodies, the thoughts of cannibalism that crossed their minds when all other food ran out...Thom chronicles it all in brutal detail, stripping the women bare of all modesty and nobility; readers know this must really have been the way it was for Mary and Ghetel in the wilderness, and we further appreciate their hardships and strong spirits by seeing them through Thom's beautiful, naked prose.
Not only is Thom's story one of heroic escape and indomitable courage, it's also a brilliant character study of two incredibly strong, virile pioneer women. The relationship between Mary and Ghetel is really at the center of the novel, and its nuances, layers, and complications are expertly explored. Mary and Ghetel alternate between needing each other for warmth and wanting to eat each other for food, between screaming at each other and laughing at small memories of home. Thom does a brilliant job of bringing these unforgettable women to life on the page.
While I believe FOLLOW THE RIVER is a book that everyone should read, I have to admit that it was often hard for me to continue. The brutality of the Shawnee is explored in that same cutting detail I appreciated so much in the chronicling of Mary's journey; but it makes for some very disturbing, very gruesome scenes. Rather than today's popular "We took all their land, look what we did to them" stance, Thom exposes the Indians as what the settlers in 1755 would have seen them as: brutal savages.
However, although some other reviewers seem to disagree, I do think Thom hints at the humanity of the Shawnee. He mentions they're not killing needlessly, but to warn settlers that they'll fight to protect their land from encroaching civilization. The young Shawnee chieftan's proposal to Mary is written with a certain amount of tenderness, as is Otter Girl's relationship with Mary's baby. This unique dual persepective, the sense that the Shawnee aren't totally evil, just adds to the brilliance of Thom's biographical novel.
I read FOLLOW THE RIVER on the suggestion of my mom, who never reads a book more than once but has read this one many times and believes it's the best book she's ever read. And I have to agree with her: Thom's novel is a truly outstanding tale of what the human spirit can endure when it's seeking home...and the story is even more beautiful because it's true. FOLLOW THE RIVER is one of the best, and one of the most necessary, books I've ever read, too.
Summary of Follow the River
Mary Ingles was twenty-three, married, and pregnant, when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement, killed the men and women, then took her captive. For months, she lived with them, unbroken, until she escaped, and followed a thousand mile trail to freedom--an extraordinary story of a pioneer woman who risked her life to return to her people.Action & Adventure Books
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