Shadow Catcher

by Charles Fergus

As a government-backed expedition makes its way west--sent to America's Indian reservations to extol the virtues of U.S. citizenship--photographs of the poor conditions on the reservations, the work of someone in the expedition, make their way into D.C. papers

Genres: Fiction, Novels

Paperback

First published September 1, 1991

About the author

I write a mystery series set in the 1830s in a rough-and-tumble county in backwoods Pennsylvania, where an "accidental" sheriff works to solve crimes while battling his own griefs and travails. My most recent Gideon Stoltz mystery, "Nighthawk's Wing" (Arcade Crimewise 2021), received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. It's the sequel to "A Stranger Here Below" (Arcade Crimewise, 2019), which just came out in paperback. I'm currently at work on a third in the series, with the working title "Lay This Body Down." The Gideon Stoltz mysteries take place during the Jacksonian era of American history, when our young nation was flexing its muscles and finding its identity.

Born and raised in central Pennsylvania, I now live on a farm in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. I love to spend time outdoors in all seasons, hiking, snowshoeing, and especially riding horses. I'm married to the writer Nancy Marie Brown. I have written many nature books, and my readers tell me my knowledge of natural history and wildlife helps inform my fiction.

Reviews

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7

Wanamaker Expedition ... I'd never heard of this expensive and carefully planned project. The story begins,

I'll be go to hell. James McLaughlin pressed the paper flat. It was the center two pages of the ...

That first sentence almost made me quit reading. And now, after having finished the book, I still don't like it. It doesn't meet the image of McLaughlin developed in the book.

This isn't a story that reads smoothly, and it isn't meant to. Each of the 31 chapters begins with a photograph (all identified at the beginning of the book) followed by several pages from the point of view of one of the characters. Visual and verbal snippets. At first this was awkward, but in the end, it worked.

My main criticism: Fergus doesn't explain the line between fiction and history. Maybe, if I knew more about the WE, that wouldn't be a problem. I suspect that Fry and Annie Owns the Fire spring from Fegus' imagination. But was there a photographer who took photos that weren't carefully composed, photos that were taken surreptitiously?

I suspect that I'll appreciate this more when I read it again in a couple of years.

[Marjorie Towers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this look at non-posed photography.

[Cecelia Hightower]

This is a novel based on the 1913 "Rodman Wanamaker Expedition To The North American Indians" which was a railroad journey in a private railroad car to meet with members of 90 different tribes on 60 reservations to encourage them to become U.S. citizens. The assistant to one of the main players in the story has an agenda of his own, which is wanting to document people in real life instead of posed pictures. This photography he did done without the knowledge, approval or permission of his superiors.

The book is a novel based on factual events and time lines reflecting on interpersonal relationships that cross different culture, teachings, beliefs, and behavior by different "types" of individuals. The term "shadow catcher" was used by native Americans about photographs because they believed the camera was stealing their souls. For me this was a good read that I will keep the book in my library.

[David Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shadow Catcher by Charles Fergus (Soho 1991) (Fiction). On an early expedition in the 1900's to the Indian Reservations of the West, someone is sending photos to the Eastern newspapers of the squalid conditions on the reservations. Scandal ensues. DNF. My rating: 5/10, finished 2010.