Rating: 
Summary: Take it with a grain of salt
Review: You know, I liked it. Read it in two days. I liked May Dodd. Granted, she's as 21st century woman as can be, and the characters are typical. But I like typical because it fits the book. The ending is sad. I hate it when a book has the potential to totally work out in the end and then the author makes it end horrifically. Yech.In any event, May was a fun character. But too male-written. It's never good when a straight man tries to write a woman. I bet this book could've been five stars if a chick had written it. Other than that, yeah, it's good.
Rating: 
Summary: A good story
Review: Who are all you negative reviewers? Relax, the author states in the book its not a true story. I am a history buff and have read extensively about the west, western expansion and native Americans. While the books depiction of tribal life and some events seem un plausible it is a great story. Relax, enjoy the characters and the story. Three Stars a worthy buy and relaxing quite.
Rating: 
Summary: enjoyable read
Review: When I read some of the other reviews, I was really surprised that so many people had so many negative things to say about this book. Granted, it has unrealistic incidents, but the reader knows going into this book that it is FICTION.
I really liked May, and enjoyed the author's way of telling the story through her journal entries'.I started the book and found that I couldn't stop thinking of the characters when I was away, so I sat down and finished it in two days. I can't argue that this couldn't have happened, but it is a really good story and a very enjoyable read.
Rating: 
Summary: 1000 White Women
Review: A male writer for sports and outdoor magazines has written a piece of historical fiction from a woman's point of view.... However, the writing is amateur, the point of view 21st century p.c., and the characters [typical]. When heroine & protagonist May Dodd, daughter of a wealthy, socially prominent Chicago family, is forced to go to work in a chicken factory, she claims it was "oddly liberating to be out in the real world."... Definitely a 19th century expression... The characters she meets on the train west include a black well-spoken ex-slave, a manly Englishwoman who has a feeling that they will be "spiffy good friends," a pair of Irish sisters who are, what else, "redheaded, freckle-faced identical twin [girls]," and a "large, boisterous, buxom rosy-cheeked [woman]" who likes to sing folksongs in a robust voice... This pseudo-historic pulp fiction western romance seems to have been written to cash in on the voracious reading appetites of women's book clubs.
Rating:
Summary: Save your money
Review: The writing was banal at best. It is fierce irony that such a mediocre writer would quote Shakespeare. The characters were shallow, ill conceived and predictable. An example of the down side to book clubs. One star because ZERO was not an option.
Rating:
Summary: clueless!
Review: I simply cannot fathom how this book has gotten so much positive press. The writer(male) is woefully ignorant of the landscape of a woman's heart. The idea that the men of the Cheyenne tribe would tolerate some of the behaviors of the women is ridiculous. Like others have mentioned, the idea of the journal was a good one, but the way she wrote it was far beyond the reach of credibility. The characters were undeveloped- cartoonish. I really hate being so negative, but in this case, I can only give the author 1 star for a creative idea.
Rating:
Summary: Really enjoyed it!
Review: This was the first book chosen for our book club this year. Initially a few of us thought - ugh - doesn't even sound appealing, but it was a surprisingly good read. I especially loved the differences in the characters, the accents with which they spoke, and all their quirks. (By the way, the woman was Swiss, that another brought up in their critique.) The book is an open diary written by a woman (ahead of her times) about a group of women (pioneers really) detailing their trials and tribulations during and prior to this journey. The book kept your interest and you felt for the characters. There was a lot of information I never knew about Native Americans, and the book was well researched. There were plenty of emotions, and understandings of the ignorance of the times.
I think sometimes people expect too much from a book. This was another entertaining book written by a man by from a woman's perspective. Maybe they know us a little better than they think!
Rating:
Summary: Extremely disappointing
Review: After reading many reviews and hearing nothing but positive things about this novel, I was extremely disappointed when I finally read it and realized that it was boring, ridiculous, and poorly written.
The proposition is an interesting one, and in the hands of a better writer it might have made an excellent story. Fergus turns the fictional tale of a white woman living with Cheyenne Indians into a series of sexual escapades. All the characters in the book are stereotypes: red-headed, green-eyes Irish twins; the strong and noble ex-slave; the adventerous naturalist, living life to the fullest; the earthy, boisterous German...the list goes on. Not only are these characters dull as all get out, but the reader never sees many of them fully or artfully developed past their initial introduction.
The format of the novel is also a wonderful idea, that of a series of letters and journal entries written by one of the women. Fergus manages to take this aspect of the book and make it as tedious as the rest. As I read the book I realized that no one, not even a "civilized" woman of the 1860s and 1870s, would write in their journal in such a stilted, formal, disconnected manner.
This reader was never able to "get into" the novel or connect with any of the characters. Once again, this novel could have been much better written, perhaps by a different and more talented author.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommend this Book!!
Review: I really loved this book! It is very well written and the premise is very interesting. I am so glad my book club made this a selection or I would probably have never found it. Fergus does an amazing job of writing from a woman's point of view, it really rings true. Try it!
Rating:
Summary: The Brides for Indians Program
Review: A very strange request was made in 1874 by Chief
Little Wolf of the Cheyenne Tribe to the American
Government.In seeking a solution to the Indian
problem, he wanted to ensure safety for his People
and he asked that 1,000 white women be given as
wives to Indians so that the children of the union
could be assimilated through their mothers into
the white culture. His request was denied and the
conference ended. This part of the story is true.
The author used that historical base to write his
story of what it would have been like if the brides
had actually been given to the Indians. We're first introduced to May Dodd on a train bound
for the Nebraska Territory. She had been confined to
a mental institution by her wealthy father and diagnosed
with Hysteria and Promiscuity. Her sin was to leave her
influential family and live with a working class man to
whom she was not married. The fact that she bore that
man two children further enraged her father, and he had
her committed to an asylum. In order to leave the
institution, May had agreed to be part of a government
program that provided white wives for Indians. Thus,
the story begins. The events of life on the prairie are told through May's
journal and various letters that she wrote to her family.
The characters come alive on the pages of the book. The
various brides all have their own reasons for joining the
program. Some, like May were from institutions confined
there for various reasons. Then, there were the ones
looking for a new life and/or adventure. A few others had
been in jail and pardoned if they agreed to join the
"brides" expedition. Through May's writings, I even had a glimpse into the daily
life of the Indians which gave me more of an understanding
of their culture. The brides had to learn to live in an
entirely different world where protocol, morals and even
justice were measured by unknown standards. This is an
amazing story and I had to keep in mind that it was a work
of fiction during the time that I was reading it. The author, Jim Fergus did his job in giving this novel such
an authentic feeling. I highly recommend it to anyone who
wants to read an exciting and well written story.
| 
