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American Woman
R. Garcia y Robertson applies his considerable talents in historical research and writerly depiction to an epic of American history, the legendary Battle of the Little Big Horn and Custer's last stand--and turns the legends upside down. First, he tells the tale entirely from the Indian side, and secondly, he tells it through the eyes of a blonde white woman from Pennsylvania married to an Indian American Woman. With extraordinary wit and imagination, this book is a literary grenade of the quality of Thomas Berger's Little Big Man . American Woman is a fine, uproarious, and moving novel.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
R. Garcia y Robertson
83 books29 followersRodrigo Garcia y Robertson (born 1949) is an American writer of historical and fantasy fiction. He holds a Ph.D in history and taught at UCLA and Villanova University before becoming a full-time writer. In addition to his eight novels, he has had numerous short stories published in fantasy and science fiction anthologies. He lives in Mount Vernon, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 25, 2020
Off to a strong start, in this great historical Western fantasy of a white American girl who marries a wild Sheyenna. It's quite a start to their relationship, out on the plains of to-be Montana in 1872: "I met a smart, no-nonsense savage who knew far more about my world than I knew about his." She realizes she's being courted, and has mixed feelings about that. She let the gift mare take her to Yellow Legs, her suitor. "A big mistake. ... by sunup I was lying naked under a buffalo robe, watching Yellow Legs make us breakfast. The "visit" stretched into a long week of lovemaking, followed by a fairy-tale honeymoon along the Yellowstone, where Sitting Bull threw us a wedding feast." [note 1]
Political pillow-talk with Yellow Legs, 1873: She: "Texas is part of America, you know." He: "Someone should tell the Texans!" When they crossed over to Wyoming Territory, she had the (theoretical) right to vote (since 1870). But not to marry a Negro or a Chinaman! And the Democrats tried to take back the vote from the women, when they found out how many whores (who were most of the white women there & then) voted Republican! Perfectly legal for her (or a man) to marry an Indian, though of course the Indians couldn't vote, not being citizens.... which didn't happen until 1924! [note 2]
Oh, and Yellowstone became the world's first National Park in 1872. References to tourists in Yellowstone threw me at first, until I looked up the date. Author has a Ph.D. In history, and clearly did his homework!
This is a remarkable novel. At 3/4 through , I'd be very surprised if it doesn't earn a full 5 stars from me. You wouldn't think a book so thrillingly strange could come out of the Gen. Custer - 7th Cavalry - Little Bighorn debacle, but here it is. Ranging all the way from Montana to the Staked Plains of Texas, the novel enters the supernatural when the granite gates of the Wichita Mountains open and the Southern Herd pours in. I don't think I'm going to say more about what happens then, except to say that (as before) the author has done his homework, and the Spirit World is firmly grounded in scientific knowledge of the late Pleistocene. It's quite a ride. High marks, and remarkably under-appreciated. This was his fourth novel, and easily his best so far. Commercially, it was a flop, despite a truly gorgeous cover, by Nicholas Jainschigg:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/031...
Why, oh why hasn't this marvelous book found its readers? Maybe this review will help, 22 years on?
Slated for reread in a few years, although I may have to buy a second copy, since I have readers already in line for mine!
Political pillow-talk with Yellow Legs, 1873: She: "Texas is part of America, you know." He: "Someone should tell the Texans!" When they crossed over to Wyoming Territory, she had the (theoretical) right to vote (since 1870). But not to marry a Negro or a Chinaman! And the Democrats tried to take back the vote from the women, when they found out how many whores (who were most of the white women there & then) voted Republican! Perfectly legal for her (or a man) to marry an Indian, though of course the Indians couldn't vote, not being citizens.... which didn't happen until 1924! [note 2]
Oh, and Yellowstone became the world's first National Park in 1872. References to tourists in Yellowstone threw me at first, until I looked up the date. Author has a Ph.D. In history, and clearly did his homework!
This is a remarkable novel. At 3/4 through , I'd be very surprised if it doesn't earn a full 5 stars from me. You wouldn't think a book so thrillingly strange could come out of the Gen. Custer - 7th Cavalry - Little Bighorn debacle, but here it is. Ranging all the way from Montana to the Staked Plains of Texas, the novel enters the supernatural when the granite gates of the Wichita Mountains open and the Southern Herd pours in. I don't think I'm going to say more about what happens then, except to say that (as before) the author has done his homework, and the Spirit World is firmly grounded in scientific knowledge of the late Pleistocene. It's quite a ride. High marks, and remarkably under-appreciated. This was his fourth novel, and easily his best so far. Commercially, it was a flop, despite a truly gorgeous cover, by Nicholas Jainschigg:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/031...
Why, oh why hasn't this marvelous book found its readers? Maybe this review will help, 22 years on?
Slated for reread in a few years, although I may have to buy a second copy, since I have readers already in line for mine!
December 22, 2012
Re-reading this book was like a revelation. A teacher once told me you never get bored re-reading a really good book as you always find something new to mull over.
Sarah Kilory comes west to teach the Bad Face Indians and ends up married to Lakota brave, Yellow Legs
becoming a wasichu (white) Indian. Surprised to find Raven, her husband's first wife waiting for him as they ride into his home camp, she has to come to terms with a sister wife, the Lakota way and those among them who think she has brought a curse with her. She also finds she has a talent for medicine visions.
In this book, we see the wild west through Native American eyes. We read the disparity in their way of life so at odds with the white man. We see their sacred Paha Sapa invaded for gold by the whites.
The Northern Pacific Railroad wants to come in but America is broke. General Custer is ordered to put down the Indian trouble.We meet Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, He Dog, General George Armstrong Custer, his white wife, his Indian wife and child and his brothers. This book takes us from the Black Hills down to the south, into Wyoming and and straight back to the Little Bighorn where we leave Custer lying sightless in the buffalo grass.
History woven in with spirit dreams, Native American Medicine, white man's folly and a white woman's journey to becoming a Native American makes this a book never to be forgotten.
Sarah Kilory comes west to teach the Bad Face Indians and ends up married to Lakota brave, Yellow Legs
becoming a wasichu (white) Indian. Surprised to find Raven, her husband's first wife waiting for him as they ride into his home camp, she has to come to terms with a sister wife, the Lakota way and those among them who think she has brought a curse with her. She also finds she has a talent for medicine visions.
In this book, we see the wild west through Native American eyes. We read the disparity in their way of life so at odds with the white man. We see their sacred Paha Sapa invaded for gold by the whites.
The Northern Pacific Railroad wants to come in but America is broke. General Custer is ordered to put down the Indian trouble.We meet Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, He Dog, General George Armstrong Custer, his white wife, his Indian wife and child and his brothers. This book takes us from the Black Hills down to the south, into Wyoming and and straight back to the Little Bighorn where we leave Custer lying sightless in the buffalo grass.
History woven in with spirit dreams, Native American Medicine, white man's folly and a white woman's journey to becoming a Native American makes this a book never to be forgotten.
September 16, 2015
Very good but rather threw me when they travelled into the Spirit World.
July 4, 2021
This one dragged so badly in the middle that I finally gave up. I passed it along to a Little Free Library. Life is too short for boring books.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews