An entertaining immersion to this historic time, however, the language and writing does not fit the period. ( )

I really enjoyed this one and found myself thinking about the characters even when I was not reading the book. Entertaining and I enjoyed the premise and alternate universe that was presented. Reminds me of some OSC novels where an alternate America is the setting. ( )

Every time I skimmed past this book I thought it would be interesting to read some day. Some day finally arrived and I was sorely disappointed. I had assumed it was based on actual diaries, if not that of the title. It was made clear in the author's note, however, that this was a complete fiction. As such, it is a man's attempt to mimic the stilted writing of a cultured woman in the late 1800's and his grasping at straws for subject matter that would be unique.
After reading the first third, I skimmed a little, jumped ahead to the last couple of chapters, and didn't think I would be missing much by discarding it. Another romance fantasy, stereotyping Native Americans, and making caricatures of a number of female stereotypes. I suppose there was a little bit of character development, but not worth more time invested. ( )

3.5 stars

In 1875, the US Government made a deal with the Cheyenne to provide them with 1000 white women to marry (according to the author’s note, this was a real request, but it was never agreed to… except for purposes of this book). They would have the indigenous men’s children, then raise them in a white world, thereby being a bridge between the two cultures. The women would also help to assimilate/convert the indigenous peoples. The women were to be volunteers.

May Dodd (along with some others), had been living in an asylum. She had children with a man who wasn’t her husband; they lived together and were very happy. But this made her promiscuous, according to her family, and therefore insane so she should live the rest of her life in an asylum. This deal to be a wife to a Cheyenne man provided May a way out of the asylum. Other women also agreed to this, some from asylums, others who might have been incarcerated. Some maybe just wanted the adventure.

This was told mostly in diary form, with a few letters, as well. It started off pretty slow for me, but got better once the women were living with the Cheyenne. I quite liked many of the characters and the friendships that developed between them. I also think the book did a good job of showing the culture shock, and the women trying to fit in to this new culture.

The tension increased with a big event toward the end of the book, and I did like the way it ended with a couple of external voices to the main part of the story. I wasn’t sure at first, but I ended up liking it enough to read the sequel. I almost increased my rating just slightly, but decided to keep it at “good”, as that’s where it sat for the bulk of the book. ( )

I tend not to rest my estimation of the quality of a book on unsavory elements included, understanding that violence is sometimes necessary for realism, plot, theme or character development. However, in this case, Fergus abandoned realism and character integrity early on, stretching his historic setting with unrealistic and misplaced values (which I hesitate to call feminism, for reasons that I'll get to.) Therefore, there is little excuse for the repeated sexual assault scenes, especially given that Fergus seemed to expect the reader to casually forgive the assailants as easily as his protagonists did. (So easily that the narrator, who was expected to be a reliable, sympathetic narrator, refers to the rape of another character as "nonconsensual" in scare quotes.)

Similarly, there is little excuse for Fergus' rampant use of the N-word. It's supposed to be a historic piece? Thanks, I got that without the casual slurs. I don't agree with censoring (or self-censoring) literature, but if you're going to be throwing around loaded words/scenarios, do it for a reason.

Fantastic idea. Execution lacking. ( )