Follow the River by JAMES ALEXANDER Thom
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Book Reviews of Follow the River
Book Review: An historical novel not to be forgotten
Summary: 5 Stars
Just a few days ago I finished reading Follow the River, written by James Alexander Thom. It is a novel set in the mid 1700's, chronicling the true and horrific ordeal of Mary Ingles, which begins as she and her two young sons are kidnapped by Indians. The bulk of Thom's writing is devoted to her escape and return to her family in Virginia - a story of immense courage and strength.
Honestly, the book kept me gasping. From the 4th page or so, I knew it would evolve in to a book I'd never forget. Thom's writing seemed stronger with each turning of the page. How in the world the author ever managed to to create such an event-dense novel without getting muddy, I'll never know. There were only a couple of very short drifts into somewhat trite dialog somewhere in the first 1/3 of the book, but otherwise it was sterling. A magnificent book and a magnificent main character. Absolutely unforgettable.
Ummmm, I'm guessing that some folks reading this will think that I simply have no sense (even that I may be a little mad) when I tell you what I've done. But I just cannot get Mary Ingles out of my mind. I live in the same state as did Mary and in approximately the same sort of climate and having a similar sort of landscape. Keep in mind that what she accomplished, she accomplished at this time of year - late fall.
Actually, in the late fall and winter there is no place in Virginia that can be considered in the least to be comfortable. It is either cold or frigid. Most of Mary's hardships transpired when she had no shoes and was wearing no more than a neckline hem from which strips of ragged, filthy cloth blew in the wind. I doubt if she had even that at the end. She was thus clothed (or unclothed) day and freezing night - night after night, week after week, trudging and crawling through the harshest of terrain along the Ohio River and the raging New River. While the author depicted Mary's ordeal the best a person possibly could, in all honesty, when one thinks seriously about where she was, the distance she traveled and the time of year involved, it probably would not have been possible to have exaggerated - no matter what he might have written.
It was with this in mind that I decided to test myself - although I can hardly call it a test when I consider Mary's extraordinary accomplishment. Last night we got 4" of snow. Today the temperature is just below freezing, and there is a biting light wind. In just my cotton short-sleeved nightgown and no shoes, I took my three doggies out to potty this morning, and if my numbed mind properly took note of the time, I remained outside walking in the frozen air and snow 6 minutes.
In just 6 minutes I can truthfully say that if I had been alone in the wilderness with not a shelter in site and no hope of one, it is very possible (no, probable) that I would have found a nook, curled up and simply died.
I cannot express adequately how my feet throbbed with pain. Best to say, the pain was excruciating, yet at the same time my feet were numb. As I hobbled back to the house, I had no physicial sensation of our deck being directly beneath my feet. The agony was immense, so great that I had no awareness of the stinging, bone-chilling, nearly paralyzing cold the rest of my body felt when I'd been outside ....... when the minutes passed as slowly as if they had been hours. Upon entering the house, and when I was finally able to make myself look at my feet, they were bright red and puffy. I mention my mere 6-minute trial only to contrast mine to Mary's.
Do I regret my decision? No. I'll leave it the reader to decide the why.
I am humbled. I will absolutely never forget that woman. She will always be the standard of courage to which I compare myself. Because of her, I can see myself pushing to accomplish more than I thought myself capable - though I can never hope to reach anywhere near Mary's level of valor and courage.
Book Review: Ten times ten times ten...Stars
Summary: 5 Stars
My children are blood-related to the husband and oldest son, Thomas, of Mary Draper Ingles so when wanting to find out more of their story, I chose this book above the other books on the market as I'd heard the author was superb. I was not disappointed.
James Alexander Thom has done a marvelous job in the meticulous research and abundant detail of this book, seeing through the eyes of others, providing the likely dialog that occurred, and translating the feelings of the time. He truly makes the story come alive with beautiful writing skill.
And what a story it is to tell! For the strength of will and perseverance of Mary Draper Ingles, alone, it would almost seem to be a fictional tale. Instead it is a well-documented account of a true pioneering woman's ordeal that begins in 1755 when their settlement in Virginia is raided by Shawnee Indians in vengeance. She, her two young sons and her sister-in-law were captured after witnessing the scalping and death of her mother, the brutal murder of a baby nephew and others. Mary's unborn child (a girl, born two days later on the 1,000 mile trail) was almost ripped from her womb but for the intervention of a Shawnee chieftain who favored her for her dignity, stalwartness and intelligence. So impressed was this chief with Mary's "good blood" that he asked her to marry. From the beginning of capture, however, Mary had plans of going back to her husband, no matter how far away. In her mind, "If there be a way to go somewhere, there must likewise be a way to return."
Leaving her infant daughter in the care of an Indian woman and knowing her sons were adopted by the Indian chieftain, Wildcat, who wanted her hand in marriage, an emotionally-torn Mary made her escape back toward her homeland, along with another who had been held in captivity, an older Dutch woman who was both a help and a hindrance to her.
The story of their survival during the early winter months through the rough and uncharted wilderness territory is unimaginable. The Dutch woman had no one to return to and much of her survival feat can be attributed to Mary and her wits. Mary's will to survive the long walk home had as much to do with her other Will (husband, William Ingles). Or as she would have summed it up after weeks of starvation, frustration and immense bodily and emotional pains: "Ghetel, I come away `cause I got a pinin' for a faraway place and my husband who needs me. That, dear, is why I'm not t' be stopped, by starvin', nor sickness, nor any kind of hurt. Nor'll I be stopped by a woman who grudges me my purpose."
One less person to ransom back which had already been in progress upon Mary's return to the settlement, in her near death skeletal shape and premature white hair, Mary later explains to her reflective brother about prospects of his own wife's return, "A body's delicate only if she's let t'be."
Thomas, her oldest son was returned at age 17 after 13 years in captivity. He had forgotten his native tongue and was every bit like the chieftain who raised him. The other son died of sickness while away. Mary, having had more children with William, lived to be 83 years old, and at her death was lucid and in good health to the end.
Again, I enjoyed this book so much that I plan to read more titles by this author. With more time, I could have easily have read "Follow The River" in one sitting instead of the two days it took, so compelling it was.
Book Review: You Go Girl!
Summary: 5 Stars
James Alexander Thom started research for this book by following the trail of Mary Ingalls. He wrote this book to tell the true story of a young woman whom Indians kidnapped. She eventually escaped and had to travel over the Appalachian Mountains to find her people again. This story comes together through the strength of this one woman and brings out a plot that makes you cry, laugh, and cheer for the impossible.One of the most impressive things about the novel Follow the River is how it was written. Thom was very careful about the information of Mary Ingalls he collected. Thom mainly interviewed relatives such as her great-great-great granddaughter. Thom also walked along the trail itself and lived outside for several months. He interviewed people that lived along the Ohio River; the river that Mary Ingalls followed to get home. According to Thom, even though he slept where they slept he could not even come near the struggle that this woman went through to try and reach safety again.
What exactly is this story about? It is about a 23-year-old woman who is nine months pregnant. She is kidnapped, along with her sister-in-law and two sons, and is forced to walk over the Appalachian Mountains to the Indian camp. Her children and sister-in-law are sold and separated from her. Along the trail, she gave birth to a baby girl in a way that would put one into awe. However, in order to escape she must give up her baby. It is not possible to escape with a baby in arm. If the child should cry, they would be killed. Then there is the weather and living on barely any food. The baby would die. When she escapes, she gets a German woman to come with her. Ghetel and Mary become friends and lean on each other to get back to the other side of the mountains.
Many dangers await these two women, particularly Mary. Ghetel eventually becomes a danger, herself. Traveling under these conditions can make a person insane and so it does in Ghetel's case. She turns to Mary as a source of food.
It is a beautifully written story that proves itself repeatedly. Can a woman who has never been out in the wilderness make it through unchartered territory? Will she escape the Indians and Ghetel? Will she ever see her family again, the ones at home and the ones she left behind? Naked and starved, Mary Ingalls undertakes a journey that no white person had ever done before. You find yourself rooting for this unbelievable woman and stepping into her path. Not her shoes because she looses them along the way. You beg for mercy for her and cry for her. You laugh for her and cheer for her. This story is truly moving beyond words.
The author of this book also wrote a novel called Long Knife. Follow the River was published by Ballantine Books in New York in 1981. There are 406 pages. I recommend this book for anyone that is looking for a real life adventure.
Book Review: An epic you will never forget
Summary: 5 Stars
I first read this book when I was a teenager, and it has stayed with me all these years into adulthood. Occasionally I will pick it up and reread it. This is the story of Mary Draper Ingalls who is living in Virginia in the 1700s in a small community. She has a good life with her husband and her two sons, and is expecting a new baby any day. When her village is attacked by Indians, and many of her friends and family are killed, she along with her children, her sister-in-law, and another man are taken captive by the attackers. They are taken on a long trek into the wilderness farther and farther away from anything and everything they have ever known. After being separated from her children, her sister-in-law and everything she was clinging to, Mary decides to risk everything and escape. She does so with an older captive she meets along the way and they begin the long trek back through the wilderness toward home... following the river.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. From the very beginning it grips you as you cringe through the terrible attack in the village (let me warn you, it is not easy to read. Even a small baby is killed). Then you suffer with the captives as they suffer on the trail, as Mary gives birth in the midst of awful circumstances, as the loved ones are separated, and finally as Mary makes her way back through the wilderness trying to get home. You feel every emotion and experience the characters are experiencing.
The most amazing thing about this gripping story is that it is a TRUE story. All of these things really did happen. As you read, you think that no one could possibly endure, much less survive, these events. But someone did... Mary Draper Ingalls did. She was probably the most amazing woman I have ever read or heard about. Her courage, determination and will to survive inspire me. Growing up in the Virginias myself, I have always heard about this woman, driven over bridges named after her, even been to visit some of the places in the story, and it only causes me to be reminded again of what the human spirit is capable of when pushed to the limit.
If you want to feel inspired, to believe again in the tenacity of the human spirit, and believe in what love can do when it is driving a person to survive.... get this book right now and read it. You will never forget it.
Book Review: No Place Like Home
Summary: 5 Stars
People plan for years and train for years for the 1000 some odd miles trek of the Appalachian trail. Mary Ingles, a Scots-Irish American born young woman was a survivor of an Indian raid in the hills of what is now southwest Virginia and walked by foot, with minimal provisions, the 1000 some odd miles to get back to her people. The sacrifices she had to make were heart-wrenching, the survivors of these raids scarred for life. It's an amazing story of survival written by a former Marine.
My ancestors came from this region of America and later followed the Tennessee river to settle in Alabama, Mississippi, and lastly Memphis, TN. I've read stories of these raids which occurred during the French and Indian war of 1750-1755 in the library of my hometown where my great grandmother would do her geneaological research.
My mother gave me this book to read and I couldn't put it down. So much for my rock climbing lessons, Mary Ingles had to learn her foot and hand holds on her own. The terrain she had to go through in the Ohio river valley was probably not so easy to traverse. I thought of those beautiful pictures I've seen of the river gorges of West Virginia and would imagine this woman barefoot and bedraggled scrambling over these cliffs while I read this book.
The author literally tried to trace her paths and based this story from written accounts of Mary Ingles' ordeals.
George Washington might have met her since he was in the militias at the time and in the same area. The Colonel Patton of this tale might have been an ancestor of the WWII American general, whose grandfather fought for the Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War of 1860-1865.
The French and Indian War is somewhat of a misnomer, since the French didn't fight all the Indians, and all the Indians did not side with the French, but rather the French incited the Indians, particularly the Shawnee in this story, to attack the English colonists in North America. The Shawnee had been driven out by the Cherokee and Choctaw of the Carolinas and Virginias.
It's a well told tale full of suspense and surprises.