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Blood Moon: A Captive's Tale
Gold Medal Winner, Fiction, Western, 2018 Readers’ Favorite Awards
Named to Kirkus Reviews’ 22 Great Indie Books Worth Discovering
Grand Prize Winner, 2018 Laramie Book Awards for Western Fiction
Southern Minnesota, August 1862. Smoke fills the horizon and blood soaks the prairie as the Sioux fight to drive white settlers from their ancestral homeland. Sarah Wakefield and her young son and baby daughter are fleeing for their lives when two warriors capture them. One is Hapa, who intends to murder them. The other is Chaska, an old acquaintance who promises to protect the family. Chaska shelters them in his mother’s tepee, but with emotions running so high among both Indians and whites, the danger only intensifies. As she struggles to protect herself and those she loves, Sarah is forced to choose between doing what others expect of her and following her own deep beliefs.
Named to Kirkus Reviews’ 22 Great Indie Books Worth Discovering
Grand Prize Winner, 2018 Laramie Book Awards for Western Fiction
Southern Minnesota, August 1862. Smoke fills the horizon and blood soaks the prairie as the Sioux fight to drive white settlers from their ancestral homeland. Sarah Wakefield and her young son and baby daughter are fleeing for their lives when two warriors capture them. One is Hapa, who intends to murder them. The other is Chaska, an old acquaintance who promises to protect the family. Chaska shelters them in his mother’s tepee, but with emotions running so high among both Indians and whites, the danger only intensifies. As she struggles to protect herself and those she loves, Sarah is forced to choose between doing what others expect of her and following her own deep beliefs.
425 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 14, 2017
145 people are currently reading
638 people want to read
About the author
Ruth Hull Chatlien
6 books113 followersRuth Hull Chatlien has been a writer and editor of educational materials for twenty-five years. Her specialty is U.S. and world history. She is the author of
Modern American Indian Leaders
for middle-grade readers. Her award-winning first novel The Ambitious Madame Bonaparte (Amika Press) tells the story of the tumultuous life of Elizabeth "Betsy" Patterson Bonaparte. Her second novel, Blood Moon: A Captive's Tale (Amika Press), retells Sarah Wakefield's ordeal as a captive during the Dakota War of 1862. Her most recent novel, Katie, Bar the Door (Amika Press), explores a young woman's emotional journey from loss and abuse toward healing.
She lives in northeastern Illinois with her husband, Michael. When she's not writing, she can usually be found gardening, knitting, or spoiling her dog Coco.
Visit her sites here & here.
AWARDS
2014 Reader's Favorite International Book Award Gold Medalist
2014 Chaucer Historical Fiction Contest: First Place in the category Turn of the Nineteenth Century
2018 Reader's Favorite International Book Award Gold Medalist.
2018 Winner of the Laramie Book Awards Grand Prize for Western fiction
She lives in northeastern Illinois with her husband, Michael. When she's not writing, she can usually be found gardening, knitting, or spoiling her dog Coco.
Visit her sites here & here.
AWARDS
2014 Reader's Favorite International Book Award Gold Medalist
2014 Chaucer Historical Fiction Contest: First Place in the category Turn of the Nineteenth Century
2018 Reader's Favorite International Book Award Gold Medalist.
2018 Winner of the Laramie Book Awards Grand Prize for Western fiction
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
August 3, 2017
"Blood Moon" is the story of Sarah, a woman who had a very tough early life and was thrown out of the house for not sins of her own but the sins of her stepfather. When she marries a doctor after being abandoned by her family, she finally thinks that the rough part of her life is over. On the frontier of Minnesota, there is still danger all around as Sarah and her children are taken by warring Native American tribes. Sarah will once again have to use her mental toughness to survive and to help her children survive.
The characters in this book are all well drawn and fascinating. Our main character, Sarah is especially interesting. While other white captives seem to fight the Native Americans every step of the way, Sarah strongly believes that showing kindness and respect to her captors is the way to ensure her life and the lives of her children are not taken. This will not make her many friends among the other white captives who begin to see Sarah as a traitor who actually cares for the Sioux that have taken them. I found the juxtaposition between how Sarah treats her captors (and how they treat her back) and how the other captives act (and how the Sioux treat them) absolutely fascinating. Yes, this book is about the Sioux wars of the mid-1800s but it also has a more universal message, which I really enjoyed.
I will admit that I didn't know much about this time period and the events in the book. I really liked how much historical detail the author packed into the book. I loved reading about the home life of the settlers as well as the Native Americans. The author does a great job of bringing both the characters that fill this book as well as the vast settings to life. This is a good book that brought me to a new time and place!
The characters in this book are all well drawn and fascinating. Our main character, Sarah is especially interesting. While other white captives seem to fight the Native Americans every step of the way, Sarah strongly believes that showing kindness and respect to her captors is the way to ensure her life and the lives of her children are not taken. This will not make her many friends among the other white captives who begin to see Sarah as a traitor who actually cares for the Sioux that have taken them. I found the juxtaposition between how Sarah treats her captors (and how they treat her back) and how the other captives act (and how the Sioux treat them) absolutely fascinating. Yes, this book is about the Sioux wars of the mid-1800s but it also has a more universal message, which I really enjoyed.
I will admit that I didn't know much about this time period and the events in the book. I really liked how much historical detail the author packed into the book. I loved reading about the home life of the settlers as well as the Native Americans. The author does a great job of bringing both the characters that fill this book as well as the vast settings to life. This is a good book that brought me to a new time and place!
July 1, 2017
I am a big fan of historical fiction, and stories about the American frontier especially peak my interest. Ruth Hull Chatlien’s new release satisfied my interests and then some in her true story of Sarah Wakefield. After being taken into captivity by Sioux warriors in 1862 Minnesota, Sarah faced crisis after crisis in an almost unbelievable story of survival, which was possible only because of the woman’s determination and bravery, as well as that of her two young children. Yet the real heart of the story, in my opinion, was the development of the characters. Seen through Sarah’s eyes, she did not assume that every person was her adversary, but allowed each to reveal himself or herself through their actions, including both native and white characters. Not all acted as one would predict, including her own husband, which enhanced the stark reality of her situation. Read this book. You won’t be sorry!
August 27, 2017
Blood Moon: A Captive’s Tale is quite a captivating tale to read based on actual events. Because of the historical details, it is not an easy read at times. I thought Ruth Hull Chatlien was able to capture the historical events perfectly. She definitely did her research on Sarah Wakefield and her children being kidnapped by the Native Americans. I really enjoyed it and liked that the author added notes at the end to tell what really happened after the book ended. I was fascinated at times and even heartbroken at others.
I found Blood Moon: A Captive’s Tale to be a must read and would give it five plus stars. Highly recommended.
I received this book from the author. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
I found Blood Moon: A Captive’s Tale to be a must read and would give it five plus stars. Highly recommended.
I received this book from the author. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
September 1, 2017
I tend to read more Europe based historical fiction than US based but I am trying to change that. I find tales of the Western expansion of particular interest probably because of living in Montana. It was a difficult time for both the settlers and the Native Americans and I think the stories need to be told.
This book is based on true events; Sarah Wakefield lived with her husband and two children in Minnesota. Relations with the Sioux are breaking down in the years just ahead of the Civil War as the payments to them from the government are late and the Sioux are starving because they are no longer allowed to hunt on their ancestral lands. The soldiers at the Agency won’t release the trade goods without money despite it being a government facility.
As conditions deteriorate Sarah’s husband decides to send her to a more settled area but as she is traveling she and her escort are attacked. Her escort is killed and one of the two Indians wants to kill Sarah as well but the other remembers that she and her husband (a doctor) cared for the Sioux and did try and help them. This man, Chaksa takes Sarah and her two children under his care. So starts Sarah’s odyssey as a guest/hostage of the Sioux.
Ms. Hull Chatlien mentions in her author’s note that she kept pretty close to Sarah’s narrative in writing her fictional retelling. The narrative was incredibly fascinating and I can’t begin to imagine what it must have been like for Sarah to be in this situation with an infant and small child. The only thing keeping her from death was Chaksa and his mother. Many Indians wanted her dead just because she was white.
I found myself very involved in the story, almost as much as I was there. Ms. Hull Chatlien really brought the period to life for me. Sarah was, at times, not a very likable character. Nor was her husband. At times I felt very sorry for Sarah and what she had to endure and at other times I wanted to slap her for some of the things that she did. I guess that makes her a very well rounded character. Whether that is Ms. Hull Chatlien’s doing or the real Sarah was like that I don’t know. I’m very interested in reading the original diary now to see how it compares.
I’m keeping this book in hopes of finding the time to reread it. It is certainly a thrilling story with much going on. I do find fiction based on fact far more interesting than a fully made up tale. It is a difficult story to read for any number of reasons – the hate on both sides is very hard to experience. It is not very different from today but at least today there isn’t wholesale slaughter.
4.5
This book is based on true events; Sarah Wakefield lived with her husband and two children in Minnesota. Relations with the Sioux are breaking down in the years just ahead of the Civil War as the payments to them from the government are late and the Sioux are starving because they are no longer allowed to hunt on their ancestral lands. The soldiers at the Agency won’t release the trade goods without money despite it being a government facility.
As conditions deteriorate Sarah’s husband decides to send her to a more settled area but as she is traveling she and her escort are attacked. Her escort is killed and one of the two Indians wants to kill Sarah as well but the other remembers that she and her husband (a doctor) cared for the Sioux and did try and help them. This man, Chaksa takes Sarah and her two children under his care. So starts Sarah’s odyssey as a guest/hostage of the Sioux.
Ms. Hull Chatlien mentions in her author’s note that she kept pretty close to Sarah’s narrative in writing her fictional retelling. The narrative was incredibly fascinating and I can’t begin to imagine what it must have been like for Sarah to be in this situation with an infant and small child. The only thing keeping her from death was Chaksa and his mother. Many Indians wanted her dead just because she was white.
I found myself very involved in the story, almost as much as I was there. Ms. Hull Chatlien really brought the period to life for me. Sarah was, at times, not a very likable character. Nor was her husband. At times I felt very sorry for Sarah and what she had to endure and at other times I wanted to slap her for some of the things that she did. I guess that makes her a very well rounded character. Whether that is Ms. Hull Chatlien’s doing or the real Sarah was like that I don’t know. I’m very interested in reading the original diary now to see how it compares.
I’m keeping this book in hopes of finding the time to reread it. It is certainly a thrilling story with much going on. I do find fiction based on fact far more interesting than a fully made up tale. It is a difficult story to read for any number of reasons – the hate on both sides is very hard to experience. It is not very different from today but at least today there isn’t wholesale slaughter.
4.5
December 20, 2017
I enjoyed reading it for the sake of the history, the information, the events. However, what I look for in fiction versus memoir is the artistic license to dig deeper into the character relationships and emotions. While those elements were certainly present, I was disappointed in the lack of complexity and subtlety around the portrayal of those relationships.
Perhaps because of that, I enjoyed the ending more than the middle - when Sarah returns and all the players come together - Sarah, Chaska, Ina, John, the children, the bitterness of the soldiers, the scorn of the town and church - suddenly the richness and depth of the story really picks up. I would have liked the whole book to be like this.
Perhaps because of that, I enjoyed the ending more than the middle - when Sarah returns and all the players come together - Sarah, Chaska, Ina, John, the children, the bitterness of the soldiers, the scorn of the town and church - suddenly the richness and depth of the story really picks up. I would have liked the whole book to be like this.
December 26, 2017
Based on the true story of Sarah Wakefield who was captured by the Sioux in 1862, this book tells her story of survival. Ruth Chatlien does a remarkable job of developing all of the characters as complex people with positive and negative traits. Many times while reading this, I would stop and ask myself what I would do in Sarah’s situation. I definitely struggled with her decision to stay in an abusive marriage. Chatlien was able to clearly show the lack of choices open to women in the 1800s. Sarah had several things going against her as a woman in that time period, actually. I highly recommend this book for lovers of historical fiction and empowerment of women. The choices Sarah made may or may not be what you or I would make, but Chatlien’s development of the character,Sarah Wakefield reminds us that we all face decisions affected by our past experiences, and as women, even today.
September 24, 2017
I was captivated by this story. How sad the American Indian has been treated in the United States. This story is about courage and standing up for what is right even when its an unpopular decision.
August 1, 2017
I have to say, I love this book! The writing was riveting and Sarah's experiences after being captured by the Sioux were expertly portrayed. The character development and setting descriptions were amazing. I felt like I was with Sarah as she hid out one night in the rain to save hers and her children's lives. Highly recommended!
December 11, 2017
I read this book quickly, as I was eager to find out what happened to poor Sarah Wakefield. Her story was compelling, as I'm sure many of us have wondered what it would have been like to endure captivity at the hands of another race. Rather than experience the suffering and abuse that one might expect, Sarah was protected by a Sioux family, although she had some very narrow escapes.
Because the author was pretty much faithful to Sarah's own memoirs, the story lacked the dramatic narrative arc of a work of fiction. Blood Moon reads more like a historical journal than a plot-driven novel. However, read in the spirit of factual accuracy rather than fiction, it was extremely well-done. Sarah and the other characters were complex, especially the natives themselves, who revealed both positive and negative traits. Sarah's struggles with her own conscience, her fear for her children, her sense of duty, her mixed feelings toward her husband, her appreciation for the Sioux way of life, even her attraction to the native man Chaska -- all these were skilfully described.
Because the author was pretty much faithful to Sarah's own memoirs, the story lacked the dramatic narrative arc of a work of fiction. Blood Moon reads more like a historical journal than a plot-driven novel. However, read in the spirit of factual accuracy rather than fiction, it was extremely well-done. Sarah and the other characters were complex, especially the natives themselves, who revealed both positive and negative traits. Sarah's struggles with her own conscience, her fear for her children, her sense of duty, her mixed feelings toward her husband, her appreciation for the Sioux way of life, even her attraction to the native man Chaska -- all these were skilfully described.
June 19, 2017
Well drawn characters in a sad and layered story
I really enjoyed this book. Sarah was a believable and sympathetic character, and I found myself feeling with and for her throughout her captivity and especially afterwards when no one would accept her truth. All the main characters were dimensional and nuanced which made it easy to enter into their stories and understand the complexity of their situations and decisions.
I really enjoyed this book. Sarah was a believable and sympathetic character, and I found myself feeling with and for her throughout her captivity and especially afterwards when no one would accept her truth. All the main characters were dimensional and nuanced which made it easy to enter into their stories and understand the complexity of their situations and decisions.
October 21, 2018
There are many Indian captive tales told over the course of America's history but this obscure story of one woman's struggle during the latter days of the American westward expansion is told to brilliant effect in the hands of this skilled author. I was not expecting the level of historical detail and powerful message in this account based on the journals of Sarah Wakefield, the wife of an Indian agent during the final days of the Indian Wars against the Sioux in South Dakota, circa 1870's. When a government SNAFU leaves her and her husband between a rock and hard place trying to provide promised supplies to the Reservation, they are left to blame for the tribe's deprivations. When conditions come to an impasse, Sarah's home is overtaken by a band of enraged Sioux. She and her small children are captured while her husband is away. From there she endures months of life threatening encounters and hardships that would break even the hardiest of spirits. Yet Sarah endures and is willing to remain alive and preserve her family at all cost, even if that means adopting a whole new way of life with captors who have become her friends and protectors. Told with honest, compassion and a balance of good and evil pervading all human cultures, Chatlien's novel never comes off "preachy" or overbearing. Rather, the reader is presented with one woman's view of life in adversity when there are truly no winners or losers. In the end, Sarah is faced with an even more difficult choice when tables are turned and she must defend the one man who kept her safe from the army who did little to rescue her. A must read for historical fiction fans or anyone who loves a good story about strong characters in interesting times.
June 13, 2019
What a fascinating text which is based on the memoirs of Sarah Wakefield during the Dakota Wars Sarah and her children were placed in the protective care (as captives) of an Indian warrior, Chaska (We-Chank-Wash-ta-don-pee) for six weeks. She experienced continual threats to her safety either from other hostile tribes or members of Chaska’s. Life and death decisions were made constantly as she was uprooted and placed in the care of many other people. The timeline could get confusing, but even the author, Ruth Hull Chatlien confessed that the story was disjointed as Sarah’s own memories were not entirely certain.
What was certain was the prejudice against Native Americans and those who were sympathetic to them and Sarah’s own attempts to save Chaska despite rejection from her own society. This reviewer did more research about Chaska and his trial and it was of interest to learn that despite his sentence being commuted (by President Lincoln assumingly after the direct letter of intervention by Sarah), the distrust and vengeance was so great that the tribunal did not carefully check that the correct prisoners were being punished. What a tragedy.
What was certain was the prejudice against Native Americans and those who were sympathetic to them and Sarah’s own attempts to save Chaska despite rejection from her own society. This reviewer did more research about Chaska and his trial and it was of interest to learn that despite his sentence being commuted (by President Lincoln assumingly after the direct letter of intervention by Sarah), the distrust and vengeance was so great that the tribunal did not carefully check that the correct prisoners were being punished. What a tragedy.
December 23, 2017
A fantastic account of white woman's experience being an Indian captive!
Blood Moon whisked me away to Minnesota in the mid 1800s where I followed Sarah's difficult path living among the Sioux. It was wonderful to read a fictionalized but true account in such a well-researched novel. I vividly saw the daily experiences of a captured woman with her children living and hiding, fearful for her life and the lives of her little ones as she fought to survive as a captive of the Sioux Indians. What made this novel so poignant were the many details that brought the fiction alive because it was based on factual events. I was able to envision an evolved story every step of the way from an abused girl, daughter, wife and neighbor--each stage of her development. Ruth Hull Chatlien seduced me with her prose and delivered a strong woman character that will stay with me forever. I heartily recommend this book for any reader interested in American and
Blood Moon whisked me away to Minnesota in the mid 1800s where I followed Sarah's difficult path living among the Sioux. It was wonderful to read a fictionalized but true account in such a well-researched novel. I vividly saw the daily experiences of a captured woman with her children living and hiding, fearful for her life and the lives of her little ones as she fought to survive as a captive of the Sioux Indians. What made this novel so poignant were the many details that brought the fiction alive because it was based on factual events. I was able to envision an evolved story every step of the way from an abused girl, daughter, wife and neighbor--each stage of her development. Ruth Hull Chatlien seduced me with her prose and delivered a strong woman character that will stay with me forever. I heartily recommend this book for any reader interested in American and
May 15, 2018
The Sioux(Dakota) Indians were a murderous lot. Were they? Were the Americans the only victims of that time? Racism, gossip and fear are the enemies of peace for all people.
I love this book! There were victims on both sides. This author does an excellent job of helping the reader sympathize with both.
I found the main character, Sarah, to be completely believable. A good, Christian wife and mother, she tries to be faithful to her calling despite the internal turmoil she feels over past and present circumstances beyond her control. She is driven above all to be faithful to God and her husband (no matter his flaws), and to protect her children. These convictions are difficult commitments in the most peaceful times, but to remain steadfast while in fear for your life is near to impossible.
NOTE: this book is R rated. There is a description of a brutal murder and there is a bedroom scene between husband and wife which, while not tawdry, is not appropriate for some readers.
I love this book! There were victims on both sides. This author does an excellent job of helping the reader sympathize with both.
I found the main character, Sarah, to be completely believable. A good, Christian wife and mother, she tries to be faithful to her calling despite the internal turmoil she feels over past and present circumstances beyond her control. She is driven above all to be faithful to God and her husband (no matter his flaws), and to protect her children. These convictions are difficult commitments in the most peaceful times, but to remain steadfast while in fear for your life is near to impossible.
NOTE: this book is R rated. There is a description of a brutal murder and there is a bedroom scene between husband and wife which, while not tawdry, is not appropriate for some readers.
March 19, 2018
A Great History Lesson and True Story
While reading this story I could see that prejudice against another race has not really changed in all these years. It saddens me to think that there may never be an end to this evil. I really was pleased that this account showed the compassion of many of the Natives. Too often, they were deemed evil, heathens or worse. Just as we find good in every race, there is also bad in every race. I enjoyed this book and think it's a good book for our youth as well.
While reading this story I could see that prejudice against another race has not really changed in all these years. It saddens me to think that there may never be an end to this evil. I really was pleased that this account showed the compassion of many of the Natives. Too often, they were deemed evil, heathens or worse. Just as we find good in every race, there is also bad in every race. I enjoyed this book and think it's a good book for our youth as well.
February 28, 2018
This story is so awesome about a true heroine.
I would recommend this book to all who love American history, American Indians and retold true stories. Here is a white woman who was standing up for civil rights 100 years before her time and the abuse she received because of it. This is a story that will stick with me for years to come; just like the story of Mary Ingalls in Follow The River.
I would recommend this book to all who love American history, American Indians and retold true stories. Here is a white woman who was standing up for civil rights 100 years before her time and the abuse she received because of it. This is a story that will stick with me for years to come; just like the story of Mary Ingalls in Follow The River.
May 4, 2018
A very gripping book that is based on the true story of Sarah Wakefield. Excellent characterisation and storytelling.
It is a story filled with compassion, courage, kindness, loyalty and internal conflicts.
The only thing I didn't like was the cover - It seems more suitable for fantasy fiction than historical fiction.
It is a story filled with compassion, courage, kindness, loyalty and internal conflicts.
The only thing I didn't like was the cover - It seems more suitable for fantasy fiction than historical fiction.
November 16, 2017
A true Survivor
This book tells a harrowing story of a white woman trying to survive the kidnapping of herself and her young children. Everything she does to protect them will come back to haunt her. Great read.
This book tells a harrowing story of a white woman trying to survive the kidnapping of herself and her young children. Everything she does to protect them will come back to haunt her. Great read.
September 25, 2017
Really good book. Based on a true story. Very interesting but not a happy feel good type of book.
March 30, 2019
Engrossing read.
May 28, 2019
Fascinating true story of a doctor’s wife who lives on the edge of the frontier and her captivity amongst the Sioux Indians. After witnessing the murder of a man who her husband hired to drive her away from the coming Indian war, she is taken under the protection of the murder’s brother in law, Chaska, who takes her in, provides for her and who later has to face a trial for “kidnapping” her. Later she is reunited with her husband who cannot accept her back because he is so sure that she had been living in sin with Chaska.
March 13, 2018
Well written characters. Based on a true story you never learned about in school.
December 18, 2017
Even though it is a specific story at a specific time, this true story illustrates well the horrors that rumors - even when proven to be false - give to people's lives. Great research and rich details make for a fascinating read into a very sad chapter of life in the U.S.
July 16, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. It's an interesting story of a woman held captive by Sioux indians in the early 1860s. I especially enjoyed the last section of the book that describes what happens when our heroine Sarah Wakefield returns to her husband and the white community. The captivity narrative is interesting but not too graphic in it's portrayal of what happened to people who were captured. By the end of the book Sarah Wakefield was very real to me. One of the things I like about good historical fiction is that the story often doesn't turn out the way it would in wholly created fiction. I like what the author does with her subject, the way she let's Sarah's story lead her. Very compelling reading.
June 12, 2017
Ray Simmons, Readers’ Favorite: “Blood Moon: A Captive’s Tale by Ruth Hull Chatlien is a powerful tale. Part of the strength of this novel is the fact that it is based on a true story and Ruth Hull Chatlien tries her best to be true to that story. And I must say that her best is very good indeed. I have been a fan of Westerns since I was a small boy. My dad loved them too and some of my first and best memories of being together as father and son are of sitting in front of the TV together, watching Gunsmoke. But to be honest, I consider Blood Moon more of a historical novel than a Western. A good part of it, maybe the best part, is the depiction of Native American family life. The contrast between her own domestic situation and the situation she finds herself in as a captive is something I haven’t come across in many other novels.
“The plot is authentic and compelling. This is partially due to being based on real events, but also due to the craftsmanship and sheer writing ability of Ruth Hull Chatlien. I like seeing Native Americans as people and not just the bad guys for the cavalry to kill or chase away. I like seeing them as strong, real characters instead of one dimensional stereotypes. Blood Moon is good. It goes beyond genre fiction into a more elevated style of writing. And yet those who love Westerns for whatever reason can still enjoy it too. Rich in detail, beautifully written, Blood Moon is a book any reader can enjoy and appreciate.”
“The plot is authentic and compelling. This is partially due to being based on real events, but also due to the craftsmanship and sheer writing ability of Ruth Hull Chatlien. I like seeing Native Americans as people and not just the bad guys for the cavalry to kill or chase away. I like seeing them as strong, real characters instead of one dimensional stereotypes. Blood Moon is good. It goes beyond genre fiction into a more elevated style of writing. And yet those who love Westerns for whatever reason can still enjoy it too. Rich in detail, beautifully written, Blood Moon is a book any reader can enjoy and appreciate.”
December 22, 2017
Excellent book! The Red Heart by James Alexander Thom and this one, are like the perfect bookends for understanding the complex issues regarding Native vs White attitudes and conditions during the 1800-1900's mid-west frontier. So happy that I read both of them this year. I was unaware of Sarah Wakefield just as I was unaware of Frances Slocum, two lens into wars and politics racial and sexual of those periods. While it has an authentic voice for primary characters which in both cases are white women, it's focus was to provide illumination of the conditions, hardships, choices, and attitudes, of Native people who are facing relentless pressure from a foreign culture that is struggling with moral issues while acting most often out of greed, fear, racist beliefs, and arrogance in a manner that destroyed much of native american's tribal roots and society. I think Sarah Wakefield is a powerful role model of standing up for the truth, doing what is right regardless of the cost, doing it because you have no choice but to act upon you belief in right and wrong even when your society says otherwise.
May 16, 2017
Libbie Hawker, author, Tidewater: “An engrossing tale of struggle and justice—of friendship, mercy, and a rare, moving love. Ruth Hull Chatlien writes with great sensitivity and vivid yet subtle prose. Blood Moon is a must-read for fans of western novels, as well as women’s historical fiction.”
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May 20, 2017Stephanie Thornton, author, The Conqueror’s Wife: “Richly detailed, Blood Moon is an intrepid tale of bravery and adventure in America’s western frontiers. Perfect for fans of immersive historical fiction!”
December 23, 2020
I've been looking forward to reading this for a long time. At first, it lived up to my high expectations. The opening pages immediately drew me in and made me root for Sarah Wakefield, whose life is difficult long before a man is murdered in front of her and she is carried into captivity along with her two young children. Her husband, while a refreshingly three-dimensional character here, abuses her both verbally and physically. Chatlien’s depiction of Dakota life is also very well done.
After a while, however, the narrative became repetitive. "We're in danger. We must flee and/or hide," over and over. I expect this is what Sarah's captivity was really like, but it makes for a wearisome storyline. In her Author's Note, Chatlien says she conflates events from Sarah's actual published captivity narrative Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees. I wish Chatlien had done MORE of that and pushed a little deeper into character. I think this is why I enjoy historical fiction with invented characters more than biographical hist fic. I think Chatlien is constrained by the truth too much.
The ending is both satisfying and frustrating with its open-endedness. I wonder why Chatlien chose to end her tale before Sarah's publication of her narrative or even her decision to publish it. It feels like a final note is missing in this symphony.
Finally, let me close with a great, ironic quote that sums up one of the novel's themes: "A man's word is more credible than a woman's. Even if he's only five years old."
After a while, however, the narrative became repetitive. "We're in danger. We must flee and/or hide," over and over. I expect this is what Sarah's captivity was really like, but it makes for a wearisome storyline. In her Author's Note, Chatlien says she conflates events from Sarah's actual published captivity narrative Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees. I wish Chatlien had done MORE of that and pushed a little deeper into character. I think this is why I enjoy historical fiction with invented characters more than biographical hist fic. I think Chatlien is constrained by the truth too much.
The ending is both satisfying and frustrating with its open-endedness. I wonder why Chatlien chose to end her tale before Sarah's publication of her narrative or even her decision to publish it. It feels like a final note is missing in this symphony.
Finally, let me close with a great, ironic quote that sums up one of the novel's themes: "A man's word is more credible than a woman's. Even if he's only five years old."
August 7, 2024
This is the second book I read on the same subject. I enjoyed them both but found them heartbreaking. Both tell the tragic story of the 1862 Dakota uprising against the white men who are stealing from them and starving them. It is based on the true story of Sarah Wakefield who is captured on the first day of the war and whose life is saved by a Native American man named Chaske. He and his mother keep her safe throughout the war. She was in an abusive marriage and he was a grieving widower. Eventually they fall in love. Whether that love was consummated or not is up for debate. One book says yes and the other no. What is not in dispute is that they were willing to sacrifice almost anything for each other including their own lives. I thought the relationship between the two was very sensitively handled especially the part where she visits him in prison after he has been sentenced to hang. At first he is angry at her because he believes she betrayed him. When she explains that she didn’t and did everything she could to save him, his attitude changes. Seeing how distraught she is, he tries to console her. He tells her to forget about him and live her life. Then she sees he is wearing the moccasins she had made for him and realizes how much he loves her. Her relationship with him makes her a better person. She now has the courage to take on all of society in her defense of his honor and that of his tribe when she writes to President Lincoln and publishes her book. She asks a question of her readers: what would you do if people were eating your food and your children were starving? Although Sarah was unable to clear his name during her lifetime, the rise of the American Indian rights movement in the 1970s and the republication of her book in the 1990’s, this sad and forgotten piece of history was revisited. On the commemoration of the 160th anniversary of the uprising, the governor of Minnesota issued an apology letter to the tribe. Although the American government never officially pardoned the men who were unjustly executed, history has cleared their names. Sarah won!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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