Follow the River by JAMES ALEXANDER Thom
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Book Reviews of Follow the River
Book Review: Determination, focus, and survival against all odds!
Summary: 5 Stars
The first time I read this wonderfully gripping novel was about 15 years ago, and when I started reading it, I could not put it down. Now, 15 years later, I have had the same experience. It kept me up at night and I found myself in the same state of awe as the first reading.Mary Draper Ingles was a 23 year old pregnant mother and wife, when the settlement she lived in was invaded by Shawnee Indians. They killed her mother and took Mary, her 2 sons, and her sister-in-law captive, leading them deep into unsettled territory. While on the trek to the Shawnee camp, she gave birth to a daughter.
After being in captivity for months, Mary escaped in the company of an old Dutch woman. Together the two survived a walk of one thousand miles through untamed territory in the beginning of winter w/no food, no warm clothing, no weapons, nothing - except the Ohio River as her guide to "home". Eventually, literally starving to death, the old Dutch companion started seeing Mary as a "meal", and it was Mary's determination and wits that kept her from being Gretel's next meal.
The Shawnee Chieftain, Wildcat, kept Mary's 2 young sons - the youngest died shortly after being seperated from his mother, and the oldest stayed w/the Shawnees for around 13 years, before Mary's husband, Will, finally managed to locate him and get him back. She made the very hard and unimaginable decision to leave her baby daughter w/Otter Girl, for she knew there was no way her baby would survive the trek home. When she finally did get back to civilization, she was unrecognizable, starved, and frozen. This is a remarkable story of determination, focus, drive and strength of character of one 23 year old woman! It is well written and as I read it, I find it very easy to "experience" all she experiences. I am in total awe of this great woman and story of her survival. I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone - for I cannot imagine it not touching the heart of any who read it!
Book Review: A ten star if I could
Summary: 5 Stars
Every time I think that I can't find any good reading material, along comes a reader review on Amazon that turns me onto something truly special. Such is the case with "Follow the River". What an incredible story of survival and historic testament to the power of the human spirit.
Mary Draper Ingles lived with her husband and 2 small boys in Drapers Meadow in what is now Radford, Virginia in 1755. She and her family were pioneers who helped to settle this part of the country. Mary and her 2 small sons were abducted from their home in the Drapers Meadow settlement one day and this book recounts both factually and fictionally her abduction.
This story recounts Mary's abduction based on the author's research of the historical records of the time. Mary escapes her captors and returns from the Ohio and Indiana border back down into the Radford, Virginia area. This is such a remarkable story since Mary was the first white woman to have ventured that far west and then she returned back to Virginia on her own.
I am not sure how I did not hear about her growing up since I grew up in West Virginia and Mary Ingles returned back down through present day Charleston, West Virginia and the Kanawha River Valley where I grew up. She also came through the New River area which even today is remarkably beautiful but rugged and inhospitable area. She did it when it was truly not settled and she had no maps and very little on which to survive.
I am so glad to have read this book. Mary's descendants were still living on the land that Mary and her husband settled in 1755 when the author wrote this book in the 1980's. The author was able to read some of the accounts of Mary's abduction and survival from family documents.
For those who enjoy historical fiction based on fact and who love to read about the indomitable human spirit, this book should be high on your reading list. A definite ten stars!
Book Review: How much can the human body withstand?
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the fictionalized account of the capture and escape of the real Mary Ingles. Mary is 23-years-old when Shawnee Indians attack her home on the western edge of the frontier in Virginia in 1755 and kidnap her. She is taken to an Indian village hundreds of miles west but remarkably, Mary has the presence of mind to count the days and commit landmarks to memory. After several months of captivity, she escapes. Driven by the desire to see her husband and others of her own folk again Mary overcomes numerous obstacles as she travels for 6 weeks in late autumn using the river as her guide home. The first 150 pages are about the attack, the journey west and captivity. The author uses these events to paint a portrait of Mary that enables the reader to believe Mary had the courage and will (that few possess) necessary to survive the incredible, disgusting, despairing, and ultimately awe-inspiring 600-mile trek home. I couldn't put the book down. Even when the starving Mary resorts to eating bugs and the leavings of buzzards I was compelled to read in spite of my revulsion. A stick, a knife, a blanket and food are no longer everyday items to be taken for granted; they are the tools of survival. A warning to the squeamish - Even though the author has plainly depicted events without over describing, there are some gross passages (childbirth, beatings, being burned alive, hunger which leads them to eat anything and causes vomiting and diarrhea).
I had a little trouble believing that the human body could withstand such abuse. It didn't seem possible that the body could continue to exert so much energy at that level of starvation. But the author brings the realities of Mary's incredible journey to life and it is based on a true story. Red Heart is another Thom novel I recently read. Also recommended, but I like this one better.
Book Review: I USUALLY DON'T LIKE HISTORY BOOKS, BUT....
Summary: 5 Stars
I usually don't like history books, they bore me to death. My sister suggested this book to me, and at first I didn't think anything of it. She's a book worm, and I'm not, so I thought I wouldn't be interested. Once I read the first page, I couldn't put it down! Thom caught my attention and held it throughout the whole book! He has very vivid details that make me feel like I am with the character, suffering with them, fearing with them, and crying with them. After I read this book, I read all of Thom's books. And every time I would hear about one of the characters in History class, it amazed me at how much I thought I knew the character personally! Thom also caught my attention because he writes about Native Americans in a respectful way, and I LOVE Native Americans!!!! They are sooo interesting to me!! I want to learn how to speak one of the languages sometime. I loved how Thom made them sound like humans because I hate it when books talk about all the bad things that Native Americans did, and not all of the amazing things they did! He also uses a lot of their words, and made you learn the language along with the character. Thom is amazing to me. He can make you feel the pain that the characters are going through! Even though it would be discusting to read and imagine, Thom wants you to know how serious it was in real life, and how real this is! It's reality! --not just a fairy tale. Thom tells about REAL thoughts that people have. Usually books tell the characters thoughts, but they don't go into detail, they don't tell everything that people REALLY think. I would LOVE to talk to ANYONE about this book, whether or not you liked it. PLEASE E-MAIL ME and chat!!! (about ANY of Thom's books!!) :o)Book Review: THE MOST ADVENTUROUS, "I'M REALLY THERE" BOOKEVER!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Never have I read a book that truly made me feel the freezing winter winds, the hollow pain of an empty stomach, or the bruises and scratches that a character felt as much as I did while reading Follow The River. Thom is so intimate in his vivid writing, that you can more than just picture the image, but actually live it...even if it's not the most pleasant depiction ever! The story goes as 23yr old Mary Ingles lives a happy life in the Virginia Mountains. Comfortably she lived with her loving, dear husband, and her two little boys. She is pregnant with her third baby when they come. One July day, Mary and her children are captured by Indians, leaving behind her heart-broken husband, and a terrible, bloody and gorey massacre. For several weeks they travel, all the way up the New River/Ohio (O-Y-O)River. That's about 800miles! Poor Mary suffers terrible things in Shawnee-Town, and is traded to a Frenchman, who takes her another 2-300 miles up the river, away from home. Then, with another captive named Ghetel, she escapes one day. The rest of the book depicts the terrible, awful, merciless hardships she suffers on her 1,000 mile journey home.
The way Thom wrote this book, you can feel her terrors, her cuts, the starvation, and you can even taste some pretty disgusting things she had to eat. If you can't stand the most intimate details you've ever heard of, then don't read this book, for at times it may disgust you. But, overall, I couldn't have spent a better couple of days than I did while reading this, and would highly reccommend it!