Rating: 
Summary: get real, Jim
Review: I was very, very disappointed in this book. I found it trite, contrived, and in general demeaning to all women, all nationalities, and to the members of the clergy who were mentioned. The characters were so stereotyped that they were not believable. May Dodd herself was just not believable; the handsome captain fell in love with her, lo and behold, the CHIEF also picked her, what a coincidence! No woman of that era and of her upbringing would have been so open about sexual matters regardless of her "renegade" nature. Here are examples of the contrived nature of the text: a "black" Indian for the "black" woman, twins for the twins, a big dumb Indian for poor "ugly" Gretchen (not an attractive representation of Swiss or Germans), and let's not forget the "Nancy boys" how could you have a novel without mentioning homosexuality as well? Don't waste your time.
Rating: 
Summary: The best book I've read in 2 years!
Review: I am a woman with 3 children, I rarely get to finish a book in one weekend, but................I had read a review of this book, and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. While visiting a friend I saw this book laying in a pile with many others. With much excitement I asked my friend if she had read it. "No. Take it home with you" YES!!!!! It just so happened that , that night I came down with an awful bout of the flu, stayed in bed all weekend. I was never so thankful to get the flu in my life. To read this book from beginning to end, with every waking moment was an incredible experience! So rich, and fascinating. May Dodd is a character I doubt I will ever forget. I have reccomened this book to anyone that even mentions a need for "...a good book..." You will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful and imaginative
Review: I wanted to be there. I wanted to be a part of the story. Well written and deserving of a place among the classics. As a child my imagination would run with tales of fairies, elves, princes and witches...and I never thought I could experience such youthful delight again. Thank you, Jim Fergus, for the wonderful hours I have spent lost in this tale. You have stolen my heart.
Rating:
Summary: An emotional roller coaster til the end
Review: I truly enjoyed every word of this book. It was so well written and creative, and the author kept me wondering until the bitter end what was going to happen to the main character, May Dodd. Under President Grant's administration, the government recruited white women to become brides, and eventually mothers, for the Cheyenne indian tribe. The Cheyenne's requested this from Grant as a way to assimilate their tribes with the whites. Realizing no 'normal' women would volunteer for this opporunity, the government recruited women from lunatic asylums and prisons. Trapped in a lunatic asylum, May Dodd saw participating in the brides for indians program as her only way to freedom. The book takes you through the friendships she makes with the other white women and her relationship with her new Indian husband. The dialog among the women is often humorous--remember many of them were from lunatic asylums. The book gives a detailed and perhaps realistic view of life as an Indian in the late 1800s. One can really appreciate the research the author did on Indian tribes and their customs. At times, I felt like I was in the Tipi with the Indians. A great book.
Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating glimpse into the past
Review: This is one of the best "what if" books I've ever read. It's fascinating glimpse into the Indian lifestyle as well as women's minds and emotions as they enter a program designed to create peace between the Indians and the U.S. nation. Little Wolf, the chief of the Cheyenne nation brokers a little-known deal with President Grant about having 1,000 white brides for the Indians to marry and they would raise the children between the races. And Grant accepted the agreement ~~ and this is where May Dodd comes in. She keeps an one-person journal of her and her friends' adventures while in the tribe. And while sometimes the book drags in certain parts, it is a very interesting view point of the Indian culture and the American West before it was settled. You will find yourself relating to all the women ~~ women should read this book ~~ because if you're interested in reading about strong women, this book is it. It's just purely fascinating and interesting!! It is a book you'll want to read again. So grab it and put it in your personal library. I don't think you'll regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: Looks gourmet but deep down it's fast food
Review: From the look of the book (nicely designed trade paperback) and the rave reviews from other readers, I thought this was going to be meaty reading I could savor. I was wrong. Sure, it was a page-turner, but so are the harlequin romances this had more in common with than serious fiction. I admit I too couldn't stop turning the pages, because there was always some other tragedy around the next bend that would soon befall May Dodd and her band of Injun wives. But a long list of events does not make a great book. I kept gobbling and finished it fast, and like fast food, I was less than satisfied.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible Story
Review: I read this book months ago, and I still find myself thinking about the characters. The writing style, the story, and the characters are all wonderfully colorful. I have recommended this book to many friends, and all of them have fallen in love with the story as I did! Read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Wow! I couldn't put it down!
Review: This is a story of survival. It helped me put into perspective problems that we face in today's modern world....they just don't compare to what these women faced in the book. This book is well written with descriptions of the surroundings that truly take you into the wild. This is a must read book.
Rating: 
Summary: Too 1 dimensional
Review: I was looking foward to reading this, but was sorely dissapointed. My main gripe is simply that the characters are flat, inconsistent and unrealistic. The ending was a dissapointment. I felt no real emotion, and no liking for the main character. I flipped through this book in 2 days, skipping many pages because the story was slow. Detail about emotions, relationships, etc. would have been great, but this was, after, written by a man. Pick up something like Follow the River instead.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Heart Wrenching Story!
Review: This book is so well written you will believe it is true. I have never read anything quite like it. The premise is based on an honest request made at a peace conference by a Cheyenne Indian Chief in the year 1854 to trade white women for horses. The women would become brides and the children of these unions would make assimilation into the white mans society easier for the Indians who astutely saw the future at hand, and were looking for a peaceful solution. The author assures us that in real life this never took place, but in this book it does, and the story that follows is nothing but magnificent. May Dodd has been locked away in an insane asylum for her so called indecent behavior, a bright and cultured woman who has taken up with a common factory worker her parents will not accept, followed by two children born out of wed lock. It is May, who through an act of desperation, manipulates her way into the "Brides for Horses" campaign. The journals that she keeps throughout her adventure are the making of this story. Articulate and interesting in her views of life on the plains among the so-called savages, she starts to realize just how warm and accepting a people they are. There is so much more to this book but I will let the author tell the story. I am re-reading it for a second time and I know it won't be the last. This is an incredible work of fiction, to be enjoyed for many years to come. Kelsana 4/18/01
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