Recently widowed Frankie Chasing Bear and her son Harold are on the way to California to join the Indian Relocation program when their truck breaks down in Phoenix, Arizona. They stay in Phoenix to save money. They can either go to California or go to the Lakota Reservation in South Dakota. Frankie decides to make a quilt to give to Harold so he can continue the Lakota tradition. She also enrolls Harold and herself in the local Indian school.

She meets Nick Parker, a half Indian who struggling with alcoholism, his job with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the local Navajo tribal chiefs. He helps Frankie and Harold with their truck food and gives Harold a male influence. A crime involving stealing food complicates Frankie and Harold's chances of improving their lives. Harold is accused of stealing and both are kicked out of the school. Nick introduces her to other Lakota women, one of whom Frankie went to school with and they start a business. Frankie enjoys what she is doing but is worried about Harold. Harold keeps running away to escape the morning for his father. The last time Harold ran away Frankie, Nick and the community banded together to pray and to help each other.

I received this book for free from Fresh Fiction for an honest review. Nick and Frankie's romance was very sweet. Nick is attracted to her while maintaining boundaries. Both have demons from previous relationships. Their friendships first drew them together, then their reluctance but eventually faith in God. ( )

This was not a story that kept my attention all the way through. It was rather slow for me, but what I did like about the story was the characters and their backgrounds. You had Frankie Chasing Bear, a Lakota woman struggling to come to grips with living among the white man (who honestly didn't treat her fairly) and trying to live on her own with her son, after losing her drunk husband to a bar room brawl that killed him.

Then you have Federal Agent Nick Parker, a half-breed, who wants to earn Frankie's trust and help her to see that believing in the white man's God as a Christian is a good thing. And through it all you have the quilt that Frankie is making for her son, while she tries to teach her son the Lakota way. An interesting look at the life of the Indian tribes set in the 1950's. ( )

I think I should have read the synopsis a bit better before I started reading this book. LOL!

It took me about three chapters to really get into it but confusion was a big part of that. I will tell you I was intrigued by the time I read through the second paragraph.

Not having been alive during that time myself, I can’t say with absolute certainty that the writing is accurate but it certainly rings true.

It was a bit of a difficult read for me actually – I am part Cherokee but that was never a problem for me. My problem was being poor.

My mother was determined to live in the best part of town that we could possibly afford and so we went to school with children who were firmly seated in upper middle class or lower upper class at the very most. And you can guess there were plenty of young girls who were happy to torment a big-boned girl who cared nothing for makeup or fashion and would rather bury her nose in a book while sitting high in a tree – than just about anything else.

And that is why I can say that the parts of this book that talk about bullying are very true to life. I sincerely hope that Linda S. Clare does not write from experience but you wouldn’t be able to tell if she didn’t. It’s very realistic.

Disclaimer: I received this book free in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I, too, was raised to believe that anything made by hand is a gift of love. Making a quilt is a long-term project that requires patience, artistry and determination to see it through to completion. Frankie Chasing Bear, a Lakota, who has been widowed, picks up stakes and moves to Arizona with her son. She is running from memories of a bad marriage. She brings with her the quilt she is making for boy. His behavior is not the best and he is accused of stealing at his new school among other petty crimes. Frankie finds the way to reach her son with the help of a new love. This book paints a portrait of the early 1950's in the southwest and the problems facing Native Americans. My thanks to the author and Goodreads for a complimentary copy. ( )

Where I got the book: ARC provided by publisher. This review first appeared on the Historical Novel Society website and in the February 2014 issue of the Historical Novels Review.

I felt that a much bigger novel was struggling to get out of the pages of this inspirational romance from the Quilts of Love series. It’s 1951, and Frankie Chasing Bear is a Lakota widow with a young son, Harold, trying to forge a new life near Phoenix, Arizona. The odds are stacked against them: poverty, prejudice, an Indian School system designed to stamp out tradition, and the heavy hand of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. When chance brings a meeting with Nick Parker, Frankie is wary; he is a half-breed, a BIA agent, and a Christian, all reasons for Frankie and Harold not to trust him.

With all these threads and elements in the novel, there is much to interest the reader beside the romance and the quilting theme, which centers around the Lakota Star quilt Frankie is making for her son. The main subplot wraps up a little too quickly, and the spiritual thread is perhaps insufficiently explored, but overall this is an interesting and unusual variation on the themes of love and spiritual growth. ( )