Far Cry: A Novel

by Sigrid Heath

In 1866 two young women are captured in the Wyoming Territory by a band of Lakota. Sarah, originally from Virginia, and Elizabeth, from rural New York but at home in the west, travel with the Indians for a year. In these extraordinary circumstances, they forge a powerful bond. This is tested when Sarah, the story's narrator, embraces life with the Indians, while Elizabeth holds to her faith that she'll be released from her 'heathen' captors and returned to her husband and young sons. A hostage exchange brokered by Gen. Armstrong Custer turns violent and Sarah is injured while trying to escape her rescuers. The two women have very different experiences of their return to white culture. Far Cry is a story of many kinds of love set against the persistent cruelty of Manifest Destiny in the west and the undiminished viciousness of racial hatred in the south at the end of the Civil War. Sarah must decide how to live honourably in an America that is evolving through violence.

432 pages, Paperback

Published March 4, 2020

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this story. The character's, all of them, were so clearly described. I felt like I knew them all. My 4 star is I think there were chapters that could have been left out and made me want to hurry over those pages to get to more of Sarah and Liz....and Far Cry. I could say more about Far Cry, but it would ruin the story for other readers. It was very enjoyable reading.

[Astrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author is a friend of a friend, a first time novelist so I thought I would give her a try. I listened on audiobooks. Loved every thing about her writing and story telling skills. I learned a lot.

[Eileen Charbonneau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although it's a character's name, I think of this novel as a sound made over centuries opening a portal to lives lived in grace and beauty amidst the single-minded genocide that was Manifest Destiny. Far Cry is one of those rare experiences that make the reader feel she is not in a story, but in a life.

[melanie Chartoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sigrid Heath's first of many books, I only hope, is a gripping read--I literally couldn't let go of my grip on its covers. It's a fictional historical novel, a romance, a thriller. It's an adventure tale of two women kidnapped by Lakota Indians in 1860, one desperate to escape, the other gradually acclimatizing to tribal ways and a tribal leader, the brave named Far Cry who captured her.

Heath's timing in completion of the book, well before the uprisings in response to the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer, was prescient. The book's release, simultaneous with the pandemic lockdown, was fortunate as folks have more time to forage further afield than their usual fare for a great read.

I learned lots about this country's gritty history. Far Cry reminds readers of the habitual slaughter of indigenous people by invaders considering themselves conquerors of "savages" in any new land. As the book progresses and the outcome of the Civil War supposedly frees the slaves, the parallel injustices and indignities suffered by both groups of Americans hits doubly home. I found myself awash in tears of indignation often--and good tears of loss at finishing a great book.

[Teresa Weybrew Zucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a novel that swallowed me. The details were extraordinary. I felt each challenge and joy as though they were my own. The injustice that faced the Native American tribes came to life in a powerful way. I loved everything about this story and hope there will be another one.