This Widowed Land

by Kathleen O'Neal Gear

Lovely Andiora is a Huron Indian in seventeenth-century North America. A seeress with a bond to the spirit world, she has beheld a frightening vision-of a blond man in a black robe, whose coming will bring death and despair to her people.

Father Marc Dupre is a French missionary who has come to Quebec to preach Christianity. He is not prepared for his own growing love for Andiora, an attraction she shares with all her heart.

But more than a forbidden union threatens them both. A mysterious epidemic is devastating the Hurons, and vengeful shamans blame the "Black Robes" from Europe, crying out for the priests' deaths.

Menaced by war and disease, torn between their desires and their sacred callings, Marc and Andiora struggle to find peace and fulfillment.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical Romance, Native American

436 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1993

About the author

My professional life began in the dark basement of the Museum of Cultural History in Los Angeles, where I was cataloguing three-hundred-year-old Guatemalan saint carvings. I quit this fascinating job and moved to Wyoming to work for the U.S. Department of the Interior as a historian and archaeologist. When I finally understood the error of my ways I moved to Wyoming and started writing books. Since then, I've authored or co-authored 54 novels and around 200 non-fiction publications.

I love writing. And buffalo. And hiking the wilds of Wyoming's backcountry.

I'm married (until he comes to his senses) to W. Michael Gear, the novelist and my co-author, and we live at the edge of the Wind River Indian Reservation in the Owl Creek mountains of Wyoming. We're contented watching buffalo and writing books.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/kathle...

Reviews

[Stina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tad slow in the beginning but it was very cool to learn more about the beliefs of the Native Americans in Eastern Canada/Quebec and learn about the missionaries in the early days of Canada because all I’ve really learnt is about the residential schools which was after this time period. I think the book & author did an excellent job of capturing the relationships between the European traders and missionaries and the native Americans (the good and the bad).

[C.C. Yager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Father Marc Dupre comes from a background of strife and war. Huron Andiora is living through strife and war. She has had a dream vision of a blonde Black Robe who would bring a terrible disease to her people and kill many. Father Dupre travels from France to New France and Huron country, meeting Andiora and some of her family outside of Quebec. The Hurons have agreed to guide the Catholic priests (Father Dupre travels with Father Luc Penchant and Brother Phillippe Raimont) back to their village and the mission there led by Father Jean de Brebeuf. On the way, autumn weather turns to winter, and when Andiora falls through some ice on a river, Marc dives in to save her. Their relationship begins but is fraught with suspicion, cultural clashes and misunderstandings. Will they overcome it all to be together? Will the Black Robes survive the winter and Iroquois attacks? Oh, by the way, Father Dupre is blonde.

This novel is an historical romance that strives to reveal the Huron way of life contrasted with Catholic devotion. It is also quite violent at times, but I believe the violence is justified. The Native Americans fought viciously when they fought, and their warriors had some extremely cruel and violent customs. The writing is adequate to the task, with some lovely turns of phrase at times and images that stick with the reader.

I guess I'm not really a romance reader, although I've enjoyed some other romances in the past. I found the characters to be 2-dimensional, struggling over and over with the same issues without finding creative solutions, and reacting rather than acting. Pierre Mongrave was especially irritating to me. I had a hard time believing that this French sea captain would say "Darlin'" as an endearment because to my ear it sounds like Southern American English rather than French. So that is a tricky thing in writing dialogue -- the European characters are French, but their English doesn't support that. There are ways to suggest a foreign accent or language when writing dialogue in English. I also felt like the story rambled and had no real forward momentum. The ensemble cast was also too large, diffusing the power of their characterizations and keeping them more 2-dimensional.

I liked the historical aspects of this novel, and enjoyed some of the writing. I'd recommend it to romance readers interested in historical romance, or readers interested in 17th century North America.

[Joel Adamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathleen O'Neal Gear is one of my "comfort reads," an author I know I'm going to enjoy reading just about every time I pick up one of her books. This book has the same forceful honesty and high adventure as her others. 5 stars because I can't find any reason not to.

Based on true events and historical figures, this is the story of a Jesuit mission to Quebec ("New France") in the early 1600s. A troubled priest meets Andiora, a Huron woman, and faith-testing hijinx ensue.

The cover might have you thinking this is a romance novel, but (a) it's a much broader story than any romance novel I've seen, i.e. it's about more than a man and a woman falling in love (although it is about that); and (b) it has all of the Gears' usual honesty about human behavior. If you've read any of their books, you know they do not mince words in depicting the brutality of life in Native American culture. There are people getting hacked to pieces and eaten alive (by people and animals) in this story. Sometimes, but not always, in that order. If you want a nice little story about people making out, this is NOT it.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Gears and I love their books. This one took quite a long time to actually "get going" but once it did I couldn't put it down. I think it took me almost a week to get through the first 150 pages and only 2 days to get through the remaining approximately 300 pages. Lots of historical info which I love and a great story--once I finally got through the set up.

[Lime184 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these books! There written with such clear insight into the native American culture you almost feel apart of these worlds. There is a great balance between the spiritual and physical worlds. I liked that this one showed what happened when the Europeans came. These books are so well researched and it shows.

[Marty Greenwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by an archeologist and it shows. Bought this wanting to read about Native American culture. Got it. Huron based as well as Jesuit priests from Europe settling into "New France". Liked the description of the way both sides described their religions and their Gods. The romance between Marc Dupree, the priest and Andiora, the Huron was good.

[Jocelyn Montalvo Cullum]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14245975

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of The Mourning War /This widowed land by Kathleen O'neal Gear
I was surprised when I cracked the cover of this book and how it still reads. The book was written in 1993, but it still proves today that people have not changed. In the news just before I started the books a religious group had just passed the deadline of the end of the world, with the leaders claiming that they read the signs wrong, that their predictions were off. As I began the book I was surprised that the contact between North America and Europe in the 16th century was also seen as the end of the world. The Jesuit belief that finding the native american tribes in the north east were the final finding of the lost tribes of Israel. I am amazed to find out that writings of Geromino De Mendieta wrote in 1554 " who knows whether we are not so close to the end of the world that the conversion of the Indians is fulfilling the prophecies for which we pray that the Jews may be converted in our time? because if the Indians descend from the Jews, then prophecy is fulfilled."
Besides the historical characters shown in the book the personal struggles of the fictional characters give this book a characteristic that would bring us back to this story over and over. I love the use of Historical characters to base the interpersonal relations between traders, and the "black robes" and the Indian populations. The story of love found and lost by living life and the choices made mark the path of your future.
It struck a keynote in the story about the inter relation between the two belief systems between christianity and native americans, and the echoes of similarity between the two, and that they both do not truly cancel each other out, especially if you step back and remove the symbolic nature of religion but put the aspect of what is the meaning of religion, that is the same.
A great story.

[Kitty Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gears are the best at what they do, which is writing about pre-history based on archeology, creating a plausible fictional story to help us to understand the facts and thus preserve our own Native American history. Kathleen and Michael have been my lamplight in becoming a Native American historical fiction writer. They alone are responsible for peeking my interest in our dim past and have provided a window to that time and place of which they write. If you desire to see the past of our unknown history of the Native tribes of North America, I advise you to make all of the Gear's books your first choice. You can do no better. Kitty Sutton

[Trina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't get through the book. After reading other early Canadian themed books that were so very good...this one just bored me. The characters weren't very interesting to me. I have read other books by this author and they were very good. This one just didn't do it for me.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read