Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat sad story. Overall enjoyable.
Review: This is the story of Frances Slocum, as well as a sad tale of the Native American people's loss of homeland and life at the hands of the 'new' Americans. Based on the life of the actual historic Frances Slocum, the novel's Frances is kidnapped in 1776 from her Quaker family at the age of 5. The history has been edited, but this is a novel and doesn't claim to be nonfiction. Frances is taken to replace the dead child of an Indian woman whose own daughter was killed by whites. Frances and her adoptive family, Tuck Horse and Flicker spend many years running from war in search of a peaceful place that the Americans will allow them to call home. The storytelling is simple and well done. The descriptions of Niagara Falls, the Great Lakes and American lands are wonderful. Thom manages to give Frances the voice of a child when she is young and her voice matures as she grows. As she grows, so does the population and expansion of whites into territory once occupied by Indians. More and more information about how the Indians are being killed and pushed out of their homeland is woven into the narrative in later chapters. The history of the politics sometimes overwhelms the story of Frances, but it does explain a lot. There are occasional updates on her Quaker family's constant search for their missing relative. These updates are brief and do not interrupt the flow of Frances' life story. They illustrate how the Slocum's always kept her in their heart and thoughts and prayers. Both Frances and her family are depicted as such kind and good people, which seems too simplistic for realism, but it made for very nice reading. Because of the accounts of Native American life and the heart-touching persistence of her family, I enjoyed this story in spite of the suffering inflicted on the Indians. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhat sad story. Overall enjoyable.
Review: This is the story of Frances Slocum, as well as a sad tale of the Native American people's loss of homeland and life at the hands of the `new' Americans. Based on the life of the actual historic Frances Slocum, the novel's Frances is kidnapped in 1776 from her Quaker family at the age of 5. The history has been edited, but this is a novel and doesn't claim to be nonfiction. Frances is taken to replace the dead child of an Indian woman whose own daughter was killed by whites. Frances and her adoptive family, Tuck Horse and Flicker spend many years running from war in search of a peaceful place that the Americans will allow them to call home. The storytelling is simple and well done. The descriptions of Niagara Falls, the Great Lakes and American lands are wonderful. Thom manages to give Frances the voice of a child when she is young and her voice matures as she grows. As she grows, so does the population and expansion of whites into territory once occupied by Indians. More and more information about how the Indians are being killed and pushed out of their homeland is woven into the narrative in later chapters. The history of the politics sometimes overwhelms the story of Frances, but it does explain a lot. There are occasional updates on her Quaker family's constant search for their missing relative. These updates are brief and do not interrupt the flow of Frances' life story. They illustrate how the Slocum's always kept her in their heart and thoughts and prayers. Both Frances and her family are depicted as such kind and good people, which seems too simplistic for realism, but it made for very nice reading. Because of the accounts of Native American life and the heart-touching persistence of her family, I enjoyed this story in spite of the suffering inflicted on the Indians. Recommended.
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