From Publishers Weekly
Medawar's expansive first novel of life among the Crow Indians has large ambitions but succeeds merely in giving a Native American patina to a generic example of the historical, multigenerational saga. Born to a pioneering family on the Montana frontier in 1854, Egbert Higgins is adopted after his parents' deaths by Renee DeGeer, a French-Canadian who married a Crow woman and chose to stay with her people. Renamed Nicolas, Egbert is raised with Renee's son Jacques, both following the ways of the Crow. The narrative traces the family's adventures through the Indian Wars; in keeping with genre conventions, numerous historical figures--including Generals Sherman, Crook and Custer and Chiefs Santana and Crazy Horse--parade across the pages. The author manages to weave in some Crow oral history, detailing changes in the tribe's life as the buffalo are driven from the plains by increasing numbers of white people, but neither her clumsy writing nor the two-dimensional characters spark much interest as the story drags toward its close at the end of the 19th century.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Description
Through the remarkable DeGeer family, this extraordinary novel introduces us to an almost forgotten people wrested from their tribal ways and forced into a new life on a rapidly changing frontier. The intricacies of Crow Indian culture are as fascinating as the harrowing scenes of warfare and tragedy that befall this collection of memorable characters. Renee DeGeer, a lusty French Canadian who now calls the Crow his brothers, raises two strong sons: Jacques, Renee's natural born; and Nicolas, who is adopted by the DeGeer's. The young boys soon outgrow the mischief of their childhood and develop into strong warriors. But when Jacques takes a brave white woman as his wife, passions erupt, and one will terrible secret threatens not only to tear the fabric of this close-knit family but the Crow Nation as well.
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