I have finished reading a book that, in all frankness, is one I should have stopped reading but it was so mesmerizing in it's lameness that I couldn't. I relegated it to the loo. (Rabbit trail: Have you ever read the short piece "The Body Rituals of the Nacirema" by Horace Miner? Very funny description of, well, I can't tell you. You have to read the story yourself to figure it out. Check here, third paragraph for a helpful hint.)
Anyway, imagine my surprise! When I googled this book, I discovered it is also going to made into a MOVIE. This is one time I hope the movie is WAY better than the book. Perhaps they think this will be the next Dances with Wolves. I seriously doubt it but it's worth giving it the old college try! And for those of you who might not know how the book-into-movie-thing works, a production company buys the rights or option to make a movie of a book. That purchase usually has a time limit, say 5 years. If no movie gets made, the rights/option can be re-sold to another production company. I learned this from Sheri Reynolds, who was my Creative Writing prof at ODU. We will have to wait and see if time runs out on the movie of One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd.
Part of the problem I have with this book is the stereotypes. Girl from rich family falls in love with a common man and gives it all up (kind of like Sybil in Downton Abbey). Rich father disowns said girl and has her imprisoned in the lunatic asylum (unlike Sybil). Southern belle is a drunk with a little white lapdog. Preacher woman looks like death warmed over. Irish twins are thieves. Escaped slave is beautiful, sings so sweetly, and has one friend, the disowned rich girl. The mute girl speaks only when it's not English. A British woman who studies birds is named Flight. The disenfranchised try to find a new home and acceptance with other disenfranchised. Social experiment fails miserably. Granted, this is "semi-historical" fiction but still . . . these are trite and over-used.
This author, Jim Fergus, is not as capable as George RR Martin to successfully switch voices to go with characters. We begin the novel with an introduction that is wooden and confusing. Then the story proceeds in journal-entry form, except that the journal entries contain actual dialogue - no "he said" and then reporting of what was said; journals are mostly summary. The "journal" had scenes more appropriate to a real novel, not one with a subtitle of "The Journals of . . . . " So right there, as a reader I am pushed out of the text. The third section is written from a Abbot's point of view, which I felt was largely caricature. The final section ends with an epilogue from the same character's point of view who wrote the introduction - still wooden and confusing.
Another problem with this novel is the accents. Anything said in an Irish brogue, Southern drawl or Cheyenne is in italics. Whoever picked the font for that should be forced to read an entire novel in it; I found it difficult to actually see and decode.
There were some descriptions of the plains and nature, in general, which were nicely done. Mr. Fergus did provide an excellent bibliography should one wish to read his primary sources. The story's genesis is an historical fact and quite a wonderful idea: "In 1854, at a peace conference at Fort Laramie, a prominent Cheyenne chief requested of the U.S. Army the gift of 100 white women as brides, but the army refused." I just wish it could have had a better treatment.
This book is also Mr. Fergus's first, which means I should probably be nicer but I can't help it. If I am going to spend money and time on something I'd like for it to be halfway decent; maybe I expect too much from the 20% off rack at Target.
This book would make a great summer or beach read if you want something light and fluffy with a little romance and a predictable ending. But I can't help wonder if, perhaps, there are better choices.
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