One Thousand White Women : The Journals of May Dodd: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Just plain GREAT
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It was a great read. May Dodd would have been an interesting person to know. I had to remind myself over and over that this book was fiction. I enjoyed every word. Jim Fergus, please write more like this one.

Rating:
Summary: A story that you'll carry with you for a long time.
Review: Like another reviewer, I found myself more than once rereading the author's notes, etc. to assure myself this was indeed fiction. The author draws characters with such clarity and depth that it seems they MUST be real. And exactly how does a a male author portray female emotion with such precision? I think I'd enjoy talking to this man! Another aspect of note, is the fairness used in creating the events of the Native American/whiteman confrontations. Neither side was always good, neither always bad. What sad things humans can do to each other. It was "only" fiction, but of course some of these attrocities happened. Closing the book for the last time saddened me as only a good book can. Friends I valued, now gone. Impressive book.

Rating:
Summary: MAY DOD IS UNFORGETABLE!
Review: I,too, kept checking to make sure this was fiction - So real were the characters and so vivid were the images. This would make a wonderful movie and should have been on the best sellers list all year! A story of adventure, romance, and history with a little bit of Shakespeare as well. The copy I read was from the local library, but this is one book that I want to own and reread and pass on to others. It is a memory-maker.

Rating:
Summary: Highly unrealistic yet entertaining novel.
Review: Unlike other readers, I found it quite easy to believe this novel was fiction. I am only thirteen years old, but even I was able to easily figure out that the United States Government would never trade white women to the Indians for horses, especially considering the attidues the U.S. Army and Government had toward the Native Americans in the 1870s, when this novel takes place. And while the heroine's actions would have been deemed punishable in 1870s upper class society, it seems hardly plausible that her family would have gone to the extents that they did. In fact, all plausibility went out the window within the first few pages of this book, leaving room for the author to conjure up a rollicking, if highly unrealistic, adventure with a likeable heroine, however unbelievable her plight. And the auther did manage to throw in some interesting details of 19th century Native American life on the Great Plains. Highly reccomend for those who like adventure stories and don't mind distortion of facts in their historical fiction. Those historical fiction fans out there who are sticklers for reality may want to skip this one, however.

Rating:
Summary: beautifully writen
Review: I lent this book to all my friends. I chose this book because of the title and the first sentence of the jacket, and Fergus did not disappoint. How skilled he is to create this compelling story of a woman using every means possible to reclaim her life. I read this book in June; it is now December and I continue to be moved by his touching and historically accurate novel. I would be surprised if someone in Hollywood has not already bought the rights to produce a film version. Let's hope that if there's a screenplay in the works, Jim Fergus is the one writing it!

Rating:
Summary: A most impressive read, a work of pure genius.
Review: This book should make it to the best sellers list. So impressive that the author has to assure you in the beginning that it is a work of fiction. The way he weaves his plot into the real events of history is masterful. He creates a host of wonderful characters, especially the main character May Dodd herself. He has given me a new respect for the American Indian in their commitment to their families and tribes, yet has shown me why we indeed called them savages. He portrays the United States government in a way that you know he has not white-washed the truth. With the track record our government has had in the years since this was to have taken place, you wonder if events such as this one may have really happened.

Rating:
Summary: An extraordianry insight of life in America in the 1870's
Review: This is a page turner, not in the usual sense. The author's research, imagination and intuitive sense of how women would react in an extraordinary circumstance are almost mind-boggling. He spins a marvelous tale that tracks from beginning to end with a thread that keeps you dangling from page to page. I found it a most fulfilling experience to read this distinctive work.

Rating:
Summary: great novel for women
Review: I love stories about times past and how women handled life..although this is fiction, truth rings out in every page.It makes me really appreciate my life and how easy we do have it today.

Rating:
Summary: A real joy to read--couldn't put it down!
Review: So few books I've read can compare to this rewarding experience. Captivating!

Rating:
Summary: A Classic!
Review: Finally... a Great American Novel that has it all; history, adventure, romance, and tragedy. Fergus's One Thousand White Women is a testament to the fact that serious literature does not have to be boring. It is not only a great social and historical commentary on the American and Native American cultures during the late 1800's, but a stark reminder that with any civilization comes savagery. It offers the reader a fascinating political premise of what could of occurred in our past, based on what continually occurs in our present, contemporary world. This evocative, thought-provoking novel should become a classic.