nessylou's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
kbranfield's review against another edition
3.0
Strongheart: The Lost Journals of May Dodd and Molly McGill by Jim Fergus is a bit of a mystical novel that is the third installment in the One Thousand White Women trilogy. This newest release can be read as a standalone but I recommend the previous novels for important backstory.
In this outing, Chicago magazine publisher JW Dodd returns to visit Molly Standing Bear on the reservation. They easily pick up where they left off and enjoy one another’s company. Molly is quite mysterious and she is very likable. She again gives the JW diaries written May Dodd and Molly McGill. These diary entries pick up where the second book in the trilogy, The Vengeance of Mothers, leaves off.
May Dodd, Molly McGill and the other white women were traded to Cheyenne in an effort to for lasting peace between Native Americans and the rest of the US. The diaries provide an in-depth look into their lives on the plains. These women are not only brave but they are a force to be reckoned with as they prove to be more than up to the task of adapting to their new lives.
This third addition to the series is interesting but a little repetitive. Although they endure many hardships and unimaginable loss, May, Molly and the others have close friendships and they are fiercely loyal. The plains are beautifully described and spring vibrantly to life. The storyline is interesting but some of the diary passages are sometimes a little too long. Molly Standing Bear brings attention to the many Native women who disappear each year and the local authorities’ shameful disinterest in solving their cases.
Strongheart: The Lost Journals of May Dodd and Molly McGill is an intriguing novel that wraps up the One Thousand White Women Trilogy. Old and new fans will enjoy this final look into the fates of these strong women who were traded to the Cheyenne in exchange for horses.
In this outing, Chicago magazine publisher JW Dodd returns to visit Molly Standing Bear on the reservation. They easily pick up where they left off and enjoy one another’s company. Molly is quite mysterious and she is very likable. She again gives the JW diaries written May Dodd and Molly McGill. These diary entries pick up where the second book in the trilogy, The Vengeance of Mothers, leaves off.
May Dodd, Molly McGill and the other white women were traded to Cheyenne in an effort to for lasting peace between Native Americans and the rest of the US. The diaries provide an in-depth look into their lives on the plains. These women are not only brave but they are a force to be reckoned with as they prove to be more than up to the task of adapting to their new lives.
This third addition to the series is interesting but a little repetitive. Although they endure many hardships and unimaginable loss, May, Molly and the others have close friendships and they are fiercely loyal. The plains are beautifully described and spring vibrantly to life. The storyline is interesting but some of the diary passages are sometimes a little too long. Molly Standing Bear brings attention to the many Native women who disappear each year and the local authorities’ shameful disinterest in solving their cases.
Strongheart: The Lost Journals of May Dodd and Molly McGill is an intriguing novel that wraps up the One Thousand White Women Trilogy. Old and new fans will enjoy this final look into the fates of these strong women who were traded to the Cheyenne in exchange for horses.
arthur_pendrgn's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't realize that this was a continuation of A Thousand White Women when I originally picked it up. I was thrilled once I realized that, having liked the other two books a great deal. I didn't like this one as much. The largest problem is that all of the voices in the journals sound the same. There is nothing to distinguish them in terms of vocabulary, syntax, sentence structure, phrasing. Considering differences in education levels and eras, there should have been. The return of favored characters diminishes the emotional connection with the previous books if I choose to reread them. Drawing attention to the modern day kidnappings of indigenous women is important, but odd in terms of the novel. It completely changed the direction of the novel as does the insertion of the modern tale of JW. Could the sections of JW and Molly be together at the end of the narratives from the journal to a greater effect?
jessica1411's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i_hype_romance's review against another edition
5.0
A huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.
I have been a devoted campaigner for this series since I read One Thousand White Women ten years ago. I loved the second book in the series, The Vengeance of Mothers. I was very, very excited to hear the rest of the story.
The final book in this series follows the Cheyenne brides who survived the Battle of Little Big Horn. It is an insightful, incisive read that addresses the effects of cultural destruction and assimilation. The descendants of the women who escaped the battlefield have struggled to preserve their traditions and history. One of the 21st century descendants has incorporated that history into her fight against the abuse and disappearance of indigenous women and children.
The questions I had about the fate of the main character from One Thousand White Women were finally answered in this installment. It is an indictment upon the treachery and cruelty of the U.S. government's treatment of indigenous peoples. It is a reminder that their is deep ancestral pain that has shaped the lives and dreams of tribal members for over 400 years. It is a a call to action to acknowledge the roles that manifest destiny and organized religion played in the subjugation and oppression of an entire civilization.
I highly recommend this book . However, it is not a standalone and should be read in chronological order as part of the series.
I have been a devoted campaigner for this series since I read One Thousand White Women ten years ago. I loved the second book in the series, The Vengeance of Mothers. I was very, very excited to hear the rest of the story.
The final book in this series follows the Cheyenne brides who survived the Battle of Little Big Horn. It is an insightful, incisive read that addresses the effects of cultural destruction and assimilation. The descendants of the women who escaped the battlefield have struggled to preserve their traditions and history. One of the 21st century descendants has incorporated that history into her fight against the abuse and disappearance of indigenous women and children.
The questions I had about the fate of the main character from One Thousand White Women were finally answered in this installment. It is an indictment upon the treachery and cruelty of the U.S. government's treatment of indigenous peoples. It is a reminder that their is deep ancestral pain that has shaped the lives and dreams of tribal members for over 400 years. It is a a call to action to acknowledge the roles that manifest destiny and organized religion played in the subjugation and oppression of an entire civilization.
I highly recommend this book . However, it is not a standalone and should be read in chronological order as part of the series.
autismreading_mom's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this book and am so grateful to NetGalley for providing me an uncorrected digital galley .This is the third in a trilogy that started with One Thousand White Women. Each book can technically be read as a stand alone, though the story will make a lot more sense if you've read the first two. Strong heart is a story about women who were married to Indians during the annihilation of the Indians by the U.S. government during the 19th century. It showcases their struggles, relationships, and hardships. Loved it!
katejeminhizer's review against another edition
4.0
This final installment of the One Thousand White Women series is enjoyable for the nostalgia it brings to the reader. The majority of the book seems to be dedicated to rehashing all of the events and characters that were in the first two books in the series. Fergus also decided to take the reader on two new fantastical journeys, one with May Dodd and the other with Molly McGill and her Stronghearts. Through each journey the reader explores the strength of women amidst the prejudices against them. Gender and racial discrimination are major themes in this novel. As with the other books in the series, Fergus offers a glimpse into the decline of the prowess of the Native American inhabitants of the plains and how they continue to be abused and largely unseen in the eyes of the American government. This book enticed the reader to put more faith in the mysticism surrounding Native Americans. It lacked the intensity of the other books in the series but it was still very enjoyable.
I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.
I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.
lrcartee's review against another edition
2.0
I had read One Thousand White Women 20 years ago and loved it. I loved the alternative history angle it took. The idea that a proposal was actually floated to trade white women for horses so the natives could better assimilate was fascinating to me. Of course, such an outlandish proposal was never acted upon by the government of the United States. However, in Jim Fergus’s book, the government took the Cheyenne up on their proposal sending them women from prisons and insane asylums to fulfil their part of the bargain. When I discovered earlier this year that it was to become a trilogy, I was intrigued. I immediately order the second book, written 20 years after the first volume, and I requested the third from Netgalley*, as it had yet to be published.
I decided to re-read One Thousand White Women since it had been so long since I had read it. What I found upon the re-reading was not the sympathetic book that recalled the terrible deeds done to the Native Americans although that was surely the intent of the book. I found instead a book littered with blatantly racist descriptions of the Cheyenne and other native tribes, their culture and practices. Repeated descriptions that included words like savage, pagan, demonic and more left me astounded that I could have ever recommended this book to others being an enrolled member of a Native American tribe myself. I decided to read the other two since One Thousand White Women was written in the 1990’s, Vengeance of Mothers was written in 2017 and Strongheart in 2019. I was anxious to see if Fergus’s writing had evolved with society’s awareness of the use of these racist terms.
This brings us to my review of Strongheart: The Last Journals of May Dodd and Molly McGill. This is the third book in the trilogy and splits its time between more journals of May Dodd and Molly McGill and the current day story of two of their descendants. It will be difficult to give a synopsis of this story without spoilers. What I will say Is that it was often repetitive due to the overlapping events in May and Molly’s journals although not as much as The Vengeance of Mothers. I also felt there were several timeline errors that I hope they will catch before it is published since I was reading an ARC provided by Netgalley.
There has been “talk” in literary circles about whether white authors should delve into and write about the experiences of people of color. How can they write about a culture of which they are not a part of? Can they write about the situations and plights of people of color empathetically? I have no answers to these questions but I do have some observations about this author and this trilogy. First of all, I could not find any reference or acknowledgement by Fergus’s that he talked to any enrolled member of the Cheyenne Nation for his references. There were no acknowledgments in my copy of One Thousand White Women. There was a bibliography or a “for further reading” section in The Vengeance of Mother’sbut that is not the same as a face to face conversation with someone from the tribe. Since my copy of Strongheart was an ARC, acknowledgments were not included. I have no idea if the ceremonies and traditions he writes about in all three are authentic or not. I do believe it is important that if you, as a white author, choose to write about people of color, you should take grave care to be exact in depicting traditions, teachings and the history of the peoples you write about, especially in matters of the mystical or religious beliefs. I have no way of knowing if the things Fergus writes about are authentic or even well-researched which I found very problematic.
Secondly, while racist descriptions and stereotypes were less in this book than the first, they were still apparent. Descriptors of savage and pagan were still used as well as using words like “Mongolian features”, high cheekbones, red skin and prominent noses to describe the physical features of the natives. The offensive term “squaw” was used so frequently it was impossible for me to keep track.
One positive that Mr. Fergus did include was mention of the disproportionate numbers murdered and missing indigenous women when compared to white women and other women of color. This is an important and overlooked issue and I applaud its inclusion in this book.
In conclusion, I believe that Mr. Fergus did not use the utmost care in writing, as a white man, about the Native Americans. Racist language and lack of sources given greatly hindered my ability to enjoy this book. This ARC was provided by Netgalley in return for an honest review.
I decided to re-read One Thousand White Women since it had been so long since I had read it. What I found upon the re-reading was not the sympathetic book that recalled the terrible deeds done to the Native Americans although that was surely the intent of the book. I found instead a book littered with blatantly racist descriptions of the Cheyenne and other native tribes, their culture and practices. Repeated descriptions that included words like savage, pagan, demonic and more left me astounded that I could have ever recommended this book to others being an enrolled member of a Native American tribe myself. I decided to read the other two since One Thousand White Women was written in the 1990’s, Vengeance of Mothers was written in 2017 and Strongheart in 2019. I was anxious to see if Fergus’s writing had evolved with society’s awareness of the use of these racist terms.
This brings us to my review of Strongheart: The Last Journals of May Dodd and Molly McGill. This is the third book in the trilogy and splits its time between more journals of May Dodd and Molly McGill and the current day story of two of their descendants. It will be difficult to give a synopsis of this story without spoilers. What I will say Is that it was often repetitive due to the overlapping events in May and Molly’s journals although not as much as The Vengeance of Mothers. I also felt there were several timeline errors that I hope they will catch before it is published since I was reading an ARC provided by Netgalley.
There has been “talk” in literary circles about whether white authors should delve into and write about the experiences of people of color. How can they write about a culture of which they are not a part of? Can they write about the situations and plights of people of color empathetically? I have no answers to these questions but I do have some observations about this author and this trilogy. First of all, I could not find any reference or acknowledgement by Fergus’s that he talked to any enrolled member of the Cheyenne Nation for his references. There were no acknowledgments in my copy of One Thousand White Women. There was a bibliography or a “for further reading” section in The Vengeance of Mother’sbut that is not the same as a face to face conversation with someone from the tribe. Since my copy of Strongheart was an ARC, acknowledgments were not included. I have no idea if the ceremonies and traditions he writes about in all three are authentic or not. I do believe it is important that if you, as a white author, choose to write about people of color, you should take grave care to be exact in depicting traditions, teachings and the history of the peoples you write about, especially in matters of the mystical or religious beliefs. I have no way of knowing if the things Fergus writes about are authentic or even well-researched which I found very problematic.
Secondly, while racist descriptions and stereotypes were less in this book than the first, they were still apparent. Descriptors of savage and pagan were still used as well as using words like “Mongolian features”, high cheekbones, red skin and prominent noses to describe the physical features of the natives. The offensive term “squaw” was used so frequently it was impossible for me to keep track.
One positive that Mr. Fergus did include was mention of the disproportionate numbers murdered and missing indigenous women when compared to white women and other women of color. This is an important and overlooked issue and I applaud its inclusion in this book.
In conclusion, I believe that Mr. Fergus did not use the utmost care in writing, as a white man, about the Native Americans. Racist language and lack of sources given greatly hindered my ability to enjoy this book. This ARC was provided by Netgalley in return for an honest review.
ashleygrossreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0