The Courage of Marge O'doone

by James Oliver Curwood

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1916

About the author

Born in Owosso, Michigan he left high school without graduating but was able to pass the entrance exams to the University of Michigan where he studied journalism. In 1900, Curwood sold his first story while working for the Detroit News-Tribune. By 1909 he had saved enough money to travel to the Canadian northwest, a trip that provided the inspiration for his wilderness adventure stories. The success of his novels afforded him the opportunity to return to the Yukon and Alaska for several months each year that allowed him to write more than thirty such books.

By 1922, Curwood's writings had made him a very wealthy man and he fulfilled a childhood fantasy by building Curwood Castle in Owosso. Constructed in the style of an 18th century French chateau, the estate overlooked the Shiawassee River. In one of the home's two large turrets, Curwood set up his writing studio. Curwood also owned a camp in a remote area in Baraga County, Michigan, near the Huron Mountains.

An advocate of environmentalism, Curwood was appointed to the Michigan Conservation Commission in 1926. The following year, while on a Florida fishing trip, Curwood was bitten on the thigh by what was believed to have been a spider and had an immediate allergic reaction. Health problems related to the bite escalated over the next few months and infection set in that led to his death from blood poisoning.

Interred in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Owosso, his Curwood Castle is now a museum. During the first full weekend in June of each year, the city of Owosso holds the Curwood Festival to celebrate the city's heritage . Also in his honor, a mountain in L'Anse Township, Michigan was given the name Mount Curwood, and the L'Anse Township Park was renamed Curwood Park.

Reviews

[Hannah]

Marge O’Doone is a heroine to steal the hearts of all, not only the hero’s. Her pluck, her sweetness, and her beauty, fit her for a place first in the hearts of all. Then also is the Missioner and his quest to prove an old bit of honor. The hero, David, is looking for a new start after utter heartbreak. Can any of them find a happy ending?

Ebook here https://archive.org/details/courageof...

[Julia]

Intriguing story where the main character is sickly, and grieving his divorce, when he interacts briefly on a snow-bound train with a woman looking for her missing husband and daughter. She accidentally leaves behind a photo of a startled young woman, which comes to mean a great deal to our hero. A wilderness missionary listens thoughtfully to his story, and invites him to come to his cabin in the far north to recuperate. Great descriptions of life in that time and place, plus the young man's quest to find the girl in the photo. The last book I read, Nomads of the North (also by Curwood), centered around a puppy and a bear cub who formed a sweet bond. This story includes a side plot of a grizzly bear and a 1/4 wolf dog who become friends as well. Both stories also have a long-haired woman who rides a bear (in the other story, she rode it through town, dressed like Lady Godiva). First published in 1918, I listened to this as a free audio download from LibriVox.org, by excellent readers.

[Corey Hunt]

This book was so good for the first half - a meaningful (if dated) tale of a man finding himself again in the wilderness after a cruel wife destroys his will to live (silly wolf-dog stuff aside) - and then , somehow in the last half, it devolves into caged grizzly bear fights, riding bears like horses, cartoonish level violence, and the very, very creepy fantasies of a writer who was CLEARLY working on a deadline fast approaching. Guess he still had time to compare David's romantic interest to a child 3000 times, and also have David LITERALLY call her "child" and "little comrade" a whoooolle bunch. and didn't he call her "Little Sister" once? what is wrong with these men, I ask you??? The author, and David as well, are very unclear in their morals, pretending to be strongly behind the ideas of heroism and certain vague ideas of masculinity. (guess i shouldnt be surprised at how this turned out, I guess, since the world of hyper-masculine culture and creeps seems to be the same world). And, to be fair, I really shouldn't speak of David and Curwood as separate entities, since I have a sneaking suspicion that David is just a stand-in for Curwood's fantasy of completely owning the body and soul of a virginal woman child. Think that sounds creepy? Well, that's pretty much how Curwood puts it (once again, somewhere in the realm of 100 times). BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
(obligatory two star because the beginning was well written).

[Pawel]

Classic. One of the best.

[Dawn]

Written by Michigan author James Oliver Curwood in 1918, this is the tale of a man driven by his own demons who meets another man on a train riding into the cold north. The adventure, complete with Indians and dog sleds sheds light on the resilience of human nature. I read it because I have recently visited Curwood's writing castle in Owosso MI. Who knew there was a castle in Michigan? It's a beautiful little place, and somewhere I would be inspired to write. The book is a really well written adventure.

[Madeline Stone]

Very enjoyable to read. Old fashioned pulp fiction. Well crafted, thorough, not particularly deep. Wouldn't recommend for young readers. I liked seeing the way the protagonist thinks, and the portrayal of Marge.

[Hope]

A vintage novel with a lot of surprising twists and turns.