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The Wild Girl
As a young man, Ned was part of an expedition to find and free a boy who was captured by the Apaches-using an Apache girl as ransom. Ned has photographed the girl, and her narrative combines with extracts from Ned diaries to tell a story that resonates years later, and that lays bare some of the harsh truths about the American presence in the West.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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3532 people want to read
About the author
Jim Fergus
36 books1,139 followersJim Fergus was born in Chicago on March 23, 1950. He attended high school in Massachusetts and graduated as an English major from Colorado College in 1971. He has traveled extensively and lived over the years in Colorado, Florida, the French West Indies, Idaho, France, and Arizona. For ten years he worked as a teaching tennis professional in Colorado and Florida, and in 1980 moved to the tiny town of Rand, Colorado (pop. 13), to begin his career as a full-time freelance writer. He was a contributing editor of Rocky Mountain Magazine, as well as a correspondent of Outside magazine. His articles, essays, interviews and profiles have appeared in a wide variety of national magazines and newspapers, including Newsweek, Newsday, The Denver Post, the Dallas-Times Herald, Harrowsmith Country Life, The Paris Review, MD Magazine, Savvy, Texas Monthly, Esquire, Fly Fisherman, Outdoor Life, Sports Afield, and Field & Stream. His first book, a travel/sporting memoir titled, A Hunter's Road, was published by Henry Holt in 1992. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Jonathan Kirsch called A Hunter's Road, "An absorbing, provocative, and even enchanting book."
Fergus' first novel, One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd was published by St. Martin's Press in 1998. The novel won the 1999 Fiction of the Year Award from the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association, and has become a favorite selection of reading groups across the country. It has since sold over 250,000 copies in the United States. An international bestseller, One Thousand White Women (Milles Femmes Blanches) was also on the French bestseller list for fifty-seven weeks and has sold well over 400,000 copies in that country.
In 1999, Jim Fergus published a collection of outdoor articles and essays, titled The Sporting Road. And in the spring of 2005, his second novel, The Wild Girl: The Notebooks of Ned Giles was published by Hyperion Press. An historical fiction set in the 1930's in Chicago, Arizona, and the Sierra Madre of Mexico, The Wild Girl has also been embraced by reading groups all across the United States. Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump called it, "an exhilarating and suspenseful tale that makes the heart soar."
In 2011, Fergus published a family historical fiction in France entitled, MARIE-BLANCHE. The novel spans the entire 20th century, and tells the devastating tale of the complicated and ultimately fatal relationship between the author’s French mother and grandmother. The American edition of MARIE-BLANCHE will be published in the United States in 2014.
In the spring of 2013, Fergus published another novel in France, CHRYSIS: Portrait d’Amour, a love story set in 1920′s Paris and based on the life of a actual woman painter, Chrysis Jungbluth. Reviewing CHRYSIS in French ELLE magazine, Olivia de Lamberterie,wrote: “This novel is an arrow through the heart.”
Chrysis has just been published in America with the title THE MEMORY OF LOVE.
Jim Fergus divides his time between southern Arizona, northern Colorado, and France.
http://jimfergus.com/bio/
Fergus' first novel, One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd was published by St. Martin's Press in 1998. The novel won the 1999 Fiction of the Year Award from the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association, and has become a favorite selection of reading groups across the country. It has since sold over 250,000 copies in the United States. An international bestseller, One Thousand White Women (Milles Femmes Blanches) was also on the French bestseller list for fifty-seven weeks and has sold well over 400,000 copies in that country.
In 1999, Jim Fergus published a collection of outdoor articles and essays, titled The Sporting Road. And in the spring of 2005, his second novel, The Wild Girl: The Notebooks of Ned Giles was published by Hyperion Press. An historical fiction set in the 1930's in Chicago, Arizona, and the Sierra Madre of Mexico, The Wild Girl has also been embraced by reading groups all across the United States. Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump called it, "an exhilarating and suspenseful tale that makes the heart soar."
In 2011, Fergus published a family historical fiction in France entitled, MARIE-BLANCHE. The novel spans the entire 20th century, and tells the devastating tale of the complicated and ultimately fatal relationship between the author’s French mother and grandmother. The American edition of MARIE-BLANCHE will be published in the United States in 2014.
In the spring of 2013, Fergus published another novel in France, CHRYSIS: Portrait d’Amour, a love story set in 1920′s Paris and based on the life of a actual woman painter, Chrysis Jungbluth. Reviewing CHRYSIS in French ELLE magazine, Olivia de Lamberterie,wrote: “This novel is an arrow through the heart.”
Chrysis has just been published in America with the title THE MEMORY OF LOVE.
Jim Fergus divides his time between southern Arizona, northern Colorado, and France.
http://jimfergus.com/bio/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 502 reviews
February 15, 2010
This was a local reading group selection. Our group all enjoyed "One Thousand White Women" which is why we decided to splurge on the author's trade sized follow-up. We're usually to cheap and after reading this we all decided never to do it again.
The beginning of the story immediately throws you into the past where a young Apache girl (the "Wild" Girl named in the title) has just lost everything familiar to her in the most brutal of ways imaginable. The story then shifts gears and dishes up some more brutality as we meet a young man who has recently lost both of his parents. Heartbroken and seeking adventure, he leaves everything behind to join a band of rich men on a mission to locate a boy rumored to have been kidnapped by the Apache a few years earlier.
I didn't enjoy this story nearly as much as I did One Thousand White Women. It was interesting enough but marred by too many stereotypes and what seemed to me very modern thinking characters for a historical novel. The flamboyant Tolley, for starters, was way too over-the-top for the time period. There were several phrases spattered throughout the book that seemed very modern as well. Of course, I was lazy and didn't take notes and can't remember them now but they took me right out of the book and made me pause while reading.
The storyline was interesting and very, very brutal and though bits of humor were woven within it was mostly a very gloomy book. I was left feeling depressed and sad for everyone involved. I sure won't be reading this one again anytime soon.
The beginning of the story immediately throws you into the past where a young Apache girl (the "Wild" Girl named in the title) has just lost everything familiar to her in the most brutal of ways imaginable. The story then shifts gears and dishes up some more brutality as we meet a young man who has recently lost both of his parents. Heartbroken and seeking adventure, he leaves everything behind to join a band of rich men on a mission to locate a boy rumored to have been kidnapped by the Apache a few years earlier.
I didn't enjoy this story nearly as much as I did One Thousand White Women. It was interesting enough but marred by too many stereotypes and what seemed to me very modern thinking characters for a historical novel. The flamboyant Tolley, for starters, was way too over-the-top for the time period. There were several phrases spattered throughout the book that seemed very modern as well. Of course, I was lazy and didn't take notes and can't remember them now but they took me right out of the book and made me pause while reading.
The storyline was interesting and very, very brutal and though bits of humor were woven within it was mostly a very gloomy book. I was left feeling depressed and sad for everyone involved. I sure won't be reading this one again anytime soon.
May 11, 2010
I was blown away by how much I loved this book. While I found the prologue of the "author" (Ned Giles) a little unnecessary, I immediately lost myself in the world that Jim Fergus creates. Ned Giles is an immediately sympathetic character- a good guy, a nice guy, adrift in a difficult world. In spite of the book's title, this is really Ned's story, and it's a rich, complex, and extremely compelling one. I suppose, at its heart, it is a story of good vs. evil, depending on which side you sympathise with, but there no "tale of morality". You don't get the sense that Jim Fergus is preaching to the reader. If anything, the facts are presented in a fairly black and white manner. Equal disgust and sympathy can be felt towards the white man, the Mexican, and the Apache, which can become a little confusing at times. Or perhaps that's just me. :)
I would highly recommend this book. In fact, I recommend this book so highly that I would buy copies just to give away if I could afford to do so. I'm looking forward to reading 1000 White Women and seeing if it's comparable to The Wild Girl.
I would highly recommend this book. In fact, I recommend this book so highly that I would buy copies just to give away if I could afford to do so. I'm looking forward to reading 1000 White Women and seeing if it's comparable to The Wild Girl.
July 15, 2020
Apache/Yaqui - "Natives" of NW Mexico have a favorable position in my tribes of the world pantheon.
***
14July2020 - starting reread - quotes from opening pages ...
"Until I was about ten years old, I did not know that people died except by violence." - James Kaywaykla, Warm Springs Apache.
Prologue
page 1 - "In the autumn of 1999 ... Depression-era photographs of a little-known photographer from New Mexico ... Gallery in Manhattan ... much of his early work was shot on Native American reservations in the Southwestern U S ..."
page 2 - "By 1999, Ned Giles was in his early eighties, twice-divorced, retired, in poor health and living on Social Security in Albuquerque ...
" ... European front during Second World War as an Associated Press photographer ... nominated for a Pulitzer ... lost the Pulitzer that year to Robert Capa ...
page 3 - "... he had no interest in fame ... among the photographs ... was a series of images of the bronco Apache Indians taken in the early 1930s in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico ... not even previously known to have existed ... One of them was a photograph of a young Apache girl taken in the town jail in the tiny village of Bavispe, Sonora. Titled 'La Nina Bronca,' 1932, it was a startling image, full of horror and devastating irony: The girl lay curled in a fetal position, imprisoned forever in the dark womb of a Mexican jail cell, the shadows of iron bars falling like a convict's striped uniform across her naked body."
" ... He remembered how the place smelled, the sickening stench of human filth mingled with the gas fumes from the generator ...
page 5 - "'Who's the girl?' ... 'She was one of the last of the bronco Apaches in Mexico ... 'A mountain-lion hunter named Billy Flowers treed her with his hounds up in the Sierra Madre. It was the spring of the year 1932. She was practically naked and half starved. Flowers didn't know what to do with her, so he brought her into the the nearest town ...'
"'I happened to be in Mexico at the time myself, and I took the shot. I was just a kid. It was a long time ago. A very long time. Another lifetime ...'"
page 6 - "' ... And what became of the girl?' ... 'She curled up in a fetal position ... It took five days for her to starve herself to death. They buried her in an unmarked grave ... Because, of course, she was not a Christian. ...
... "Of course, that hadn't really been the end of the story of 'la nina bronca.' For a mere $30,000 the wealthy ... didn't get to know the whole story. That was the only thing Ned Giles had to hold on to now. It was his story, the girl's story. It was all he had left in his heart to protect."
***
***
14July2020 - starting reread - quotes from opening pages ...
"Until I was about ten years old, I did not know that people died except by violence." - James Kaywaykla, Warm Springs Apache.
Prologue
page 1 - "In the autumn of 1999 ... Depression-era photographs of a little-known photographer from New Mexico ... Gallery in Manhattan ... much of his early work was shot on Native American reservations in the Southwestern U S ..."
page 2 - "By 1999, Ned Giles was in his early eighties, twice-divorced, retired, in poor health and living on Social Security in Albuquerque ...
" ... European front during Second World War as an Associated Press photographer ... nominated for a Pulitzer ... lost the Pulitzer that year to Robert Capa ...
page 3 - "... he had no interest in fame ... among the photographs ... was a series of images of the bronco Apache Indians taken in the early 1930s in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico ... not even previously known to have existed ... One of them was a photograph of a young Apache girl taken in the town jail in the tiny village of Bavispe, Sonora. Titled 'La Nina Bronca,' 1932, it was a startling image, full of horror and devastating irony: The girl lay curled in a fetal position, imprisoned forever in the dark womb of a Mexican jail cell, the shadows of iron bars falling like a convict's striped uniform across her naked body."
" ... He remembered how the place smelled, the sickening stench of human filth mingled with the gas fumes from the generator ...
page 5 - "'Who's the girl?' ... 'She was one of the last of the bronco Apaches in Mexico ... 'A mountain-lion hunter named Billy Flowers treed her with his hounds up in the Sierra Madre. It was the spring of the year 1932. She was practically naked and half starved. Flowers didn't know what to do with her, so he brought her into the the nearest town ...'
"'I happened to be in Mexico at the time myself, and I took the shot. I was just a kid. It was a long time ago. A very long time. Another lifetime ...'"
page 6 - "' ... And what became of the girl?' ... 'She curled up in a fetal position ... It took five days for her to starve herself to death. They buried her in an unmarked grave ... Because, of course, she was not a Christian. ...
... "Of course, that hadn't really been the end of the story of 'la nina bronca.' For a mere $30,000 the wealthy ... didn't get to know the whole story. That was the only thing Ned Giles had to hold on to now. It was his story, the girl's story. It was all he had left in his heart to protect."
***
August 3, 2019
This is the second book by this author that I've read. I don't read a lot of westerns but this one dealt less with cowboys and more with the southern Indians who also spent time in Mexico . I liked that part. I read his One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd. I gave that one 3 stars. I liked The Wild Girl more than the first one. The characters were wonderfully drawn. I liked Ned and Tolley. Most of the others were endearing in some way and well, the not so likable ones, I could certainly picture.
This takes place in the 1930's and the author captured that time frame nicely. Not just in setting but also in mentality. So 4 stars.
This takes place in the 1930's and the author captured that time frame nicely. Not just in setting but also in mentality. So 4 stars.
January 11, 2025
It was okay....I wish I liked it more though
January 11, 2013
While American history isn't usually my favorite subject to read about I read this book because it was picked in my book club. It was set in the 1930's and was about this big American expedition of rich men who were wanna be hunters that thought they could track down a little Mexican boy who had been kidnapped by an Apache Indian tribe.
I really got into the book about halfway through and successfully finished it during car rides to and from Milwaukee, WI & Sycamore, IL over the holidays. When I finished it I was glad I had and liked how it ended.
I really got into the book about halfway through and successfully finished it during car rides to and from Milwaukee, WI & Sycamore, IL over the holidays. When I finished it I was glad I had and liked how it ended.
January 14, 2014
The story unfolds through journal entries, with Ned Giles heading out as a photojournalist on the Great Apache Expedition of 1932. He is seventeen years old, recently orphaned and trying to make a life for himself during the Depression. Giles tells the story of the expedition--the goal is to reclaim the kidnapped child of a Mexican rancher from the Apache tribe that took him. This is also the story of the last Apaches living outside a reservation, of their desperation, their violence and their refusal to "surrender". Before the expedition leaves, Ned encounters a wild Apache girl in a Mexican jail cell, victim of a Mexican massacre of her tribe that has left her orphaned and unwilling to eat or speak. They decide to use the girl to negotiate the release of the kidnapped child. As he and the expedition make their way through the rugged Sierra Madre mountains, Ned's growing feelings for the troubled girl soon force him to choose allegiances and make a decision that will haunt him forever.
After reading One Thousand White Women years ago and really enjoying it, this book caught my attention while browsing in the library. While not as good as OTWW, it was still an interesting and entertaining read. The characters were diverse and unique and I loved learning more about them. Ned, the wise orphaned 17-year old who lands himself a position as the expedition photographer; Big Wade, his mentor; Jesus, a young Mexican who attaches himself to Ned to carry his camera equipment; Tolley the son of a very wealthy American, but he's openly gay, thus doesn't quite fit in with the other men; Joseph and his grandson Albert--both Apache guides for the expedition; Margaret the 20-something anthropologist looking for the an opportunity to prove herself in the field; and the Apache girl. They stick together and come to care for one another in this touching story. We also see the interactions between the Apaches, Mexicans, and White Eyes and learn that all three groups are capable of savage acts. 3.5 stars
After reading One Thousand White Women years ago and really enjoying it, this book caught my attention while browsing in the library. While not as good as OTWW, it was still an interesting and entertaining read. The characters were diverse and unique and I loved learning more about them. Ned, the wise orphaned 17-year old who lands himself a position as the expedition photographer; Big Wade, his mentor; Jesus, a young Mexican who attaches himself to Ned to carry his camera equipment; Tolley the son of a very wealthy American, but he's openly gay, thus doesn't quite fit in with the other men; Joseph and his grandson Albert--both Apache guides for the expedition; Margaret the 20-something anthropologist looking for the an opportunity to prove herself in the field; and the Apache girl. They stick together and come to care for one another in this touching story. We also see the interactions between the Apaches, Mexicans, and White Eyes and learn that all three groups are capable of savage acts. 3.5 stars
March 2, 2021
La Nina Bronca, the wild Apache girl and namesake of this story, is an interesting character, but this book is primarily the story of young Ned Giles. Ned is a wannabe photojournalist who bluffs his way onto The Great Apache Expedition of 1932. As the expedition heads into Mexico to rescue a boy kidnapped by the Apaches, adventure abounds.
Think All the Pretty Horses meets Lonesome Dove.
In The Wild Girl, Jim Fergus (author of One Thousand White Women) has created an entertaining cast of characters, including kind-hearted and idealistic Ned, riotous Tolley, and Big Wade who was perhaps one of the saltiest characters I’ve come to know as of late. The reader quickly becomes part of the adventure; the setting such a beautiful, brutal landscape. Of course, there is violence typical of the time period and the cultures involved, but it fits the story and is not applied with a heavy hand.
I listened to the Audible version of this book and found the narration to be excellent, the story thoroughly enjoyable.
Favorite quote: Yet only the atrocities of the conquered are referred to as criminal acts; those of the conqueror are justified as necessary, heroic, and even worse, as the fulfillment of God’s will.
(See my other book reviews at www.gracegritsgarden.com)
Think All the Pretty Horses meets Lonesome Dove.
In The Wild Girl, Jim Fergus (author of One Thousand White Women) has created an entertaining cast of characters, including kind-hearted and idealistic Ned, riotous Tolley, and Big Wade who was perhaps one of the saltiest characters I’ve come to know as of late. The reader quickly becomes part of the adventure; the setting such a beautiful, brutal landscape. Of course, there is violence typical of the time period and the cultures involved, but it fits the story and is not applied with a heavy hand.
I listened to the Audible version of this book and found the narration to be excellent, the story thoroughly enjoyable.
Favorite quote: Yet only the atrocities of the conquered are referred to as criminal acts; those of the conqueror are justified as necessary, heroic, and even worse, as the fulfillment of God’s will.
(See my other book reviews at www.gracegritsgarden.com)
February 9, 2016
I was delighted to have this book suggested to me by a friend because A Thousand White Women remains one of my all time favorite books. Jim Fergus is a gifted story teller and his depictions of the West in the early 20th Century are masterful. No story in American history is more tragic and unjust than what was done to Native Americans. Fergus in both White Women and this poignant tale of one of the very last Apaches evokes a culture that respected nature, appreciated beauty, and valued tradition. What was perpetrated against these native peoples is comparable to the horrors of slavery and Fergus makes this all too real for modern readers. This is only his second novel, although he has two non fiction works as well. He is sensitive, skillful, and I can only hope he continues to write about this dreadful period in American history that too many of us would rather forget.
August 2, 2021
What a treat to find this book in my mailbox sent to me by a dear friend. She said she thought I would enjoy the story and the setting since it takes place in the Southwest. It is a novel in the form of notebooks that were kept by a young man in 1932 who was orphaned in Chicago and decided to head west to join the Great Apache Expedition which was founded by a wealthy landowner to try to find his young son kidnapped by Apaches. He meets many characters along the way but no one has more of an impact than the scared lost young Indian girl he befriends. I kept thinking this would make a good movie and I found out Hallmark thought so also but it got mixed reviews. I'm planning to check it out and see if I agree.
July 8, 2015
I loved Fergus' other book and for that reason alone I decided to read this one even though I didn't expect to enjoy it much based on the description. I was very pleasantly surprised and thoroughly engaged the whole time. First, I fell in love with Ned Giles, the plucky orphan hero. Then, I learned a lot about the Apache people and the strained relationships between them and Americans and the Mexican soldiers. This book was based on an actual event though changes were made in the telling. Fascinating story and effortless storytelling. My only complaint, and the reason for me giving it 4 starts instead of 5, is unnecessary profanity.
September 29, 2018
I thoroughly enjoyed the colorful cast of characters in this novel.
Fergus recounts the horror of violence between the “white eyes”, Mexicans and bronco Apaches in the early 20th century while never taking sides or sounding preachy. While the beginning of the book is a bit slow, it soon takes off when a mishmash of characters meet and mount an ill fated expedition to rescue a Mexican boy who years before was stolen by the last band of Apaches in Mexico. Hilarious comic relief is provided by Tolley, a wealthy, gay, Ivy League college boy. I never expected to find him in a book about the old West and the unexpected is what makes this story special.
Fergus recounts the horror of violence between the “white eyes”, Mexicans and bronco Apaches in the early 20th century while never taking sides or sounding preachy. While the beginning of the book is a bit slow, it soon takes off when a mishmash of characters meet and mount an ill fated expedition to rescue a Mexican boy who years before was stolen by the last band of Apaches in Mexico. Hilarious comic relief is provided by Tolley, a wealthy, gay, Ivy League college boy. I never expected to find him in a book about the old West and the unexpected is what makes this story special.
August 17, 2017
This is the second book I've read by this author and I liked it . The story takes place in late 1920's . A teenage boy loses his parents and is resourceful to find an adventure covering the Apaches . He is very mature for his age and has a kind heart . He wants to be a photographer for the newspaper and becomes involved in the rescue of a stolen child and the return of the "wild Girl " . Very well done .
June 21, 2019
A really well crafted & engaging story about cultural clashes in the old Wild West. I did not given it 5 stars because of what seems to be a common flaw these days, presenting characters in the past with current politically correct thoughts and attitudes, rather than how things truly were in that time. A fascinating flaw from my perspective for a book that was so spot on about how cultures. Still, a great read. The audio version was very well performed/read.
June 21, 2010
After reading One Thousand White Women which I loved, I was hoping that I would not be disappointed in this follow-up book. I wasn't! Jim Fergus is a great storyteller. The characters are so well developed, I felt myself really caring for them. Although there is historical information in the book, it is not tedious. The adventures kept me engaged thru the very last page.
May 8, 2012
Loved. I knew from the first chapter that I was really going to like this book and knew I loved it when I was up until 2am finishing it. A great work of historical fiction that shed some light into the "old west" and the trials that have been put on Native Americans since the beginning of the country. The characters are great and the story is captivating! Definitely recommend!
August 18, 2020
A really good adventure story of Apaches and an organized Mexican military group and gentlemen sportsmen in pursuit of them and the hostage they hold. told through the journal entry of the groups official photographer.
August 16, 2012
This is the first book in a long time that kept me up late reading. I just couldn't put it down at night. It was well-written, interesting and fast-paced.
June 19, 2023
This book is our book of the month in our book club. I really enjoyed reading it
December 8, 2020
A rolicking adventure tale in the very south of the USA and over the border into Mexico. Out in the wilds of the plains and the mountains where the Apache live. And given the title and the fact that this is about the Mexicans, the Americans and the Apaches all running about butchering one another, I thought it was about the old wild west and set in the 1800s, which just shows what I know as this is set in the 1930s, and the Great Depression. Which makes it more harrowing somehow when you read about the killings, especially of the children. They are brutal and unforgiving. The book actual starts off with the slaughter of an Apache camp, with la nina bronca/the last apache girl managing to hide but having to watch her mother and sister amoungst the other Apache women being raped, murdered and beheaded. Because they're Apaches. And people from all ethnicities die in this book, and all ages. Life is incredibly cruel in this tale.
So, the depression's on, and at sixteen Ned Giles, a Chicago city boy who loves photography finds himself orphaned. Social services are coming for him, but he sees an advert for rich gentlemen to go to the south to join an expedition to rescue a little Mexican boy who was kidnapped by the Apaches three years ago. So he heads off hoping to be hired, and ends up as the expedition's photographer and journalist. The whole idea of a load of uber-rich priviledged American men heading off into the wilds on an expedition like it's s jolly holiday, and to go and fight the supposed savages, is a rather nauseating thought. Apparently, according to the author's notes, such an expedition was set up, but never got off the ground in reality and the Mexican father set off with a little posse, only for his son to have the same fate as the boy in our story. I didn't realise that when attacks were made, the Apache did take some away with them, generally children and women, as slaves and to be assimilated into the tribe. Technically there were white Americas and Mexicans also in these tribes, but as they had been brought up Apache, you have that whole nature v nurtue question. Is it your DNA or your way of life that dictates who you are?
In this fictional story, the expedition does set off, and after some time having fishing trips and a grand old time camping, they stop near a Mexican village where an Apache girl, caught by an old grizzled hunter, has been locked in a cell. They don't know what else to do with her. Ned goes to photograph her, but takes pity on her, seeing a human being rather than something to be afraid of. So a plan is made that they will take her back to her people, and do a trade for the Mexican boy. As all best laid plans, it doesn't work out like that, but they certainly get an adventure out of it.
It is a good adventure story to read, and certainly is a little introduction to the area and the history. But only an introduction. I never really got a real sense of place or the enormity of the landscape or the Apache's lives.
So, the depression's on, and at sixteen Ned Giles, a Chicago city boy who loves photography finds himself orphaned. Social services are coming for him, but he sees an advert for rich gentlemen to go to the south to join an expedition to rescue a little Mexican boy who was kidnapped by the Apaches three years ago. So he heads off hoping to be hired, and ends up as the expedition's photographer and journalist. The whole idea of a load of uber-rich priviledged American men heading off into the wilds on an expedition like it's s jolly holiday, and to go and fight the supposed savages, is a rather nauseating thought. Apparently, according to the author's notes, such an expedition was set up, but never got off the ground in reality and the Mexican father set off with a little posse, only for his son to have the same fate as the boy in our story. I didn't realise that when attacks were made, the Apache did take some away with them, generally children and women, as slaves and to be assimilated into the tribe. Technically there were white Americas and Mexicans also in these tribes, but as they had been brought up Apache, you have that whole nature v nurtue question. Is it your DNA or your way of life that dictates who you are?
In this fictional story, the expedition does set off, and after some time having fishing trips and a grand old time camping, they stop near a Mexican village where an Apache girl, caught by an old grizzled hunter, has been locked in a cell. They don't know what else to do with her. Ned goes to photograph her, but takes pity on her, seeing a human being rather than something to be afraid of. So a plan is made that they will take her back to her people, and do a trade for the Mexican boy. As all best laid plans, it doesn't work out like that, but they certainly get an adventure out of it.
It is a good adventure story to read, and certainly is a little introduction to the area and the history. But only an introduction. I never really got a real sense of place or the enormity of the landscape or the Apache's lives.
September 27, 2023
Through sheer coincidence, in the span of a month I have managed to read three Western style books with a 21st century re-examinination of the fraught relationship (to put it mildly) between settlers and Native Americans: Where the Lost Wander, News of the World, and now The Wild Girl.
The Wild Girl is certainly the darkest and most brutal of the three. Set in the Depression-era 1930s, the Wild Wild West of popular imagination has passed, but violent reprisals between settlers and Apaches have continued in the American Southwest and Mexico. When a young Mexican boy from a wealthy family is kidnapped and his mother slaughtered, a group is pulled together to "rescue" him from his Apache captors. The vigilante group is advertised as an entertaining lark, and it inspires mostly rich, bored men and boys to sign up for a little Western adventure. Our hero is a recent orphan named Ned, an aspiring photographer who doesn't have the connections or resources to buy his way into the group, but manages to find his way in through his own wit. The posse quickly comes across a captured and jailed Apache girl (the eponymous "wild girl") and Ned and his new friends bring her back to her tribe.
There are moments of comic relief and lightness, but there are some truly dark passages. No side comes out looking good - everyone has committed atrocities. It turns out that sometimes I just don't feel like reading about women being brutally gang raped or descriptions of the torture and slaughter of children. Even less bloody parts made me want to put down the book. Ned's love interest is the "wild girl" who is 14 and who just entered puberty, which we know because her family was massacred after the celebration of her beginning to menstruate. While Ned is 17, so it's not a wild age difference, reading about the sexualization of a 14-year-old gives me uncomfortable Daenerys Targaryen flashbacks. There is absolutely no reason that Fergus could not have made Ned's love interest his same age.
I finished it because there were some great parts and some compelling characters. This is certainly the right book for some readers. But it was too dark for me to truly enjoy it.
The Wild Girl is certainly the darkest and most brutal of the three. Set in the Depression-era 1930s, the Wild Wild West of popular imagination has passed, but violent reprisals between settlers and Apaches have continued in the American Southwest and Mexico. When a young Mexican boy from a wealthy family is kidnapped and his mother slaughtered, a group is pulled together to "rescue" him from his Apache captors. The vigilante group is advertised as an entertaining lark, and it inspires mostly rich, bored men and boys to sign up for a little Western adventure. Our hero is a recent orphan named Ned, an aspiring photographer who doesn't have the connections or resources to buy his way into the group, but manages to find his way in through his own wit. The posse quickly comes across a captured and jailed Apache girl (the eponymous "wild girl") and Ned and his new friends bring her back to her tribe.
There are moments of comic relief and lightness, but there are some truly dark passages. No side comes out looking good - everyone has committed atrocities. It turns out that sometimes I just don't feel like reading about women being brutally gang raped or descriptions of the torture and slaughter of children. Even less bloody parts made me want to put down the book. Ned's love interest is the "wild girl" who is 14 and who just entered puberty, which we know because her family was massacred after the celebration of her beginning to menstruate. While Ned is 17, so it's not a wild age difference, reading about the sexualization of a 14-year-old gives me uncomfortable Daenerys Targaryen flashbacks. There is absolutely no reason that Fergus could not have made Ned's love interest his same age.
I finished it because there were some great parts and some compelling characters. This is certainly the right book for some readers. But it was too dark for me to truly enjoy it.
February 8, 2022
If you like Western novels
If you like Western novels, this one should definitely be on your list. Personally, they’re not a genre I gravitate towards, despite living in the Southwest, very close to where this novel is located. I only read it because it’s on our Book Club list. Every time I picked it up to read—took me three days to read it, having avoided it for a few weeks before that—I was reluctant. Perhaps because there were so many anti-Western movies in my 20s (Soldier Blue, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee) that I prefer to avoid the subject.
Read it I did though. It’s a good book, the characters, although somewhat stereotypical for our modern sensibilities (the brave female anthropologist, the funny and self-deprecating gay guy who surprises himself with his bravery, the noble white guy, the ethereal native girl, the bad guy white cop, etc., etc….) still drew me in and made me smile, if a bit wryly. The author has tried to be “historical” while admitting it’s mostly a work of fiction. And he has also tried to be neutral in his depiction of both the whites and the Apache. I liked his Q & A at the back of the book, helped me see what he had tried to do. I think he mainly achieved it.
Our Book Club meeting is in an hour, am curious to see what they will make of it.
If you like Western novels, this one should definitely be on your list. Personally, they’re not a genre I gravitate towards, despite living in the Southwest, very close to where this novel is located. I only read it because it’s on our Book Club list. Every time I picked it up to read—took me three days to read it, having avoided it for a few weeks before that—I was reluctant. Perhaps because there were so many anti-Western movies in my 20s (Soldier Blue, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee) that I prefer to avoid the subject.
Read it I did though. It’s a good book, the characters, although somewhat stereotypical for our modern sensibilities (the brave female anthropologist, the funny and self-deprecating gay guy who surprises himself with his bravery, the noble white guy, the ethereal native girl, the bad guy white cop, etc., etc….) still drew me in and made me smile, if a bit wryly. The author has tried to be “historical” while admitting it’s mostly a work of fiction. And he has also tried to be neutral in his depiction of both the whites and the Apache. I liked his Q & A at the back of the book, helped me see what he had tried to do. I think he mainly achieved it.
Our Book Club meeting is in an hour, am curious to see what they will make of it.
July 26, 2022
Un très joli livre, l'auteur nous transporte dans les paysages magnifiques de la Sierra Madre au Mexique, à travers de belles descriptions hautes en couleurs.
L'histoire est bien déroulée avec une construction intéressante et une écriture fluide et structurée, agréable à lire.
J'ai beaucoup aimé l'intrigue, qui mélange fiction et réalité avec brio. La romance n'est pas clichée et mielleuse mais bien représentée, poétique.
Cependant (et je pense que c'est dû à la traduction), il y a quelques fautes syntaxiques, d'orthographes et une sur-utilisation des surnoms, qui a quasiment lieu à chaque intervention des personnages. Ces derniers, bien que clichés, restent attachants.
Ce qui m'a le plus plu c'est bien sûr de découvrir une culture et un mode de vie apache, joliment retracés et mis en valeur sous la plume de Jim Fergus, restant tout deux isolés de notre civilisation à tout point de vue, c'est extraordinaire.
L'histoire est bien déroulée avec une construction intéressante et une écriture fluide et structurée, agréable à lire.
J'ai beaucoup aimé l'intrigue, qui mélange fiction et réalité avec brio. La romance n'est pas clichée et mielleuse mais bien représentée, poétique.
Cependant (et je pense que c'est dû à la traduction), il y a quelques fautes syntaxiques, d'orthographes et une sur-utilisation des surnoms, qui a quasiment lieu à chaque intervention des personnages. Ces derniers, bien que clichés, restent attachants.
Ce qui m'a le plus plu c'est bien sûr de découvrir une culture et un mode de vie apache, joliment retracés et mis en valeur sous la plume de Jim Fergus, restant tout deux isolés de notre civilisation à tout point de vue, c'est extraordinaire.
December 26, 2020
Likable characters who were unapologetic in the tough decisions they made and actions they took.
November 18, 2011
I should have reviewed this right when I finished it, but I wanted to wait until others were done with it. Now though I'm forgetting what I liked and disliked about the book! I enjoyed Ned's character and the overall story line. Most historical fictions interest me a great deal and this didn't fail. The relationship between Ned and La Nina Branca was sweet and sad and fragile and of course it would have been interesting to see them try to stay together, but as history shows the only ways to make that work would have been disasterous for them. I do have to agree with others that the characters of Margaret and the other guy (shoot I forget his name) were a bit obnoxious. My heart went out to the sweet Mr. Browning though. Why couldn't it have been someone else?
Stories like this are always a good reminder to me that just because things seem ok where you are, it doesn't mean there isn't more going on under the surface or that in other parts of the world there is injustice and horrible, unimaginable things taking place all the time. Who would have thought that young, innocent Ned had been through all he had at such a young age. We never know what's really going on inside the mind's of others or what has made them who they are.
Stories like this are always a good reminder to me that just because things seem ok where you are, it doesn't mean there isn't more going on under the surface or that in other parts of the world there is injustice and horrible, unimaginable things taking place all the time. Who would have thought that young, innocent Ned had been through all he had at such a young age. We never know what's really going on inside the mind's of others or what has made them who they are.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2011
A very interesting story - I enjoyed the unique setting and plot. Fergus is an excellent writer and the book had a nice easy flow. He has a wonderful way of describing the scenes, and this is one of the few books where I could very vividly inmagine the sights and sounds of the scenes and really have a sense of being there.
I really liked Ned, the main character, but some of the other characters and their dialouge drove me insane! Their somewhat "witty" banter, particularly after having been captured and threatened with imminent death, seemed so ridiculous. The superfluous use of "sweetheart", "darling", or "old sport" was almost physical painful - I cringed each time I saw those words!
I would definately read another book by the author, because I really did enjoy his story-telling...
I really liked Ned, the main character, but some of the other characters and their dialouge drove me insane! Their somewhat "witty" banter, particularly after having been captured and threatened with imminent death, seemed so ridiculous. The superfluous use of "sweetheart", "darling", or "old sport" was almost physical painful - I cringed each time I saw those words!
I would definately read another book by the author, because I really did enjoy his story-telling...
November 7, 2009
This book really lacked any foundation of realism that would have made the story way more compelling. What could have been interesting take on the clash of two cultures turned in this wacky adventure with a cast of oddball characters. For the most part, I was unmoved.
Heres a passage of note:
"And maybe this is how it begins, this is how new races are born, a couple of kids together, touching each other, putting their hands and their mouths on each other, learning to love all over again, with no memory of the carnage of yesterday. and no thoughts of tomorrow"
If you think thats fantastic, then this book for you. If you roll your eyes as I did, then perhaps not.
Heres a passage of note:
"And maybe this is how it begins, this is how new races are born, a couple of kids together, touching each other, putting their hands and their mouths on each other, learning to love all over again, with no memory of the carnage of yesterday. and no thoughts of tomorrow"
If you think thats fantastic, then this book for you. If you roll your eyes as I did, then perhaps not.
May 29, 2016
It's been way too long since I read a really good book, so I'm happy to report that I loved this one!! I don't know if I was feeling sentimental because I loved his other book, "One Thousand White Women" or if I truly loved this book for its own accord. I didn't like it as well as One Thousand White Women, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and didn't want it to end. I loved the writing style and the characters, but some of the content was brutal. I wish I knew a little Spanish, since there were phrases in the book that weren't translated; I was able to get the gist based on the context, but I would have preferred if they had been spelled out for me.
June 8, 2013
The story telling was superb! The chapters run very long because they're loaded with a lot of detail and facts, which is what killed it for me. I mean don't get me wrong, those kinds of things are essential to stories like this but I think even with not so much detail it would've been a spectacular story still. It's good to learn about the Apache Indians though, it makes you realize even more just how messed up their lives really were during that period in history.
August 9, 2013
The first quarter of The Wild Girl was very hard for me to get into. Once I got passed that part, I loved the book. Jim Fergus writes in such a way that I literally feel as if I am a part of his stories. I also learned a lot too, which I always like.
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