3 out of 4 stars
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BOOK TITLE: STRONG HEART
GENRE: Other-Fiction
Author: Charlie Sheldon
Scope: Covers adventurous pursuit of Tom, William, Myra and Sarah to
Olympic National Park (in Olympic Peninsula)
After reading this adventurous journey in Olympic Park I am convinced with Myra’s statement that “This is a land of magic, history and legend.” Strong Heart is a fascinating and adventurous book manipulating multidimensional culture and traditional stories of native people and their interesting old ancestral claims. Charlie Sheldon, the author of this book, is an accomplished novelist and a wildlife biologist. He has interpreted very minute details exclusively. It shows his grip on the novel. His novel also reflects his professional career and I feel that the character of Tom is his replica. “Strong Heart” is the first tale in the Strong Heart Series, to be followed by “Adrift” in 2018.
The story of Strong Heart revolves around a family comprised of Tom, his son William and William’s daughter Myra, living in Olympic Peninsula. Tom’s grand daughter Sarah, an orphan child, joins them when Ruth (Sara’s grandmother) delivers her to Tom at a point when Tom’s family was planning to go to Olympic park for camping and visit Bob-Bob’s grave in Elwha. Reluctantly they took her with them. But during journey they realized that Sarah is a strong girl who can wisely face odds. In first trip, the main purpose of camping for Tom in Olympic Park was to return antique spear thrower (atlatl) to Bob-Bob’s grave and to introduce his family with the inheritance of his forefathers. During the trip Sarah draws a “short face bear” and put every one in a deep surprise. Her wisdom and vision compels them to say that “we brought Sarah on this trip, but may be it is she, who is taking us.”
Then a sudden twist comes in a story when Sarah is lost. They spent eight days in her search, finally she is recovered and then she tells her adventurous story, full of imagination. In her adventurous pursuit of eight days as a captive, she proves herself to be “Strong Heart”, as the name was given by Thin Hair. Ruth took Sarah back to her home. But Sarah came back due to abusive behavior of Lynch (Ruth’s husband).In the second trip Tom, his family and Sergei (the son of Tom’s Russian friend) set out on a journey to Olympic National Park to find the lost atlatl (an antique mammoth) on the direction of Sarah. Amazingly they found the lost atlatl as it was a strong proof to stop Buckhorns to claim mining rights in Olympic Park. Tom and his family had their own claims on these mining projects due to their ancestral presence on that place. But the sad moment comes when they lose atlatl again due to Buckhorn’s attack. Sarah narrates her remaining story to her comrades. They came back without atlatl but Sarah’s story, her vision, had opened a new hope in them to find another atlatl from Bear Valley.
Strong Heart is a multidimensional book which contains many stories in a single story, interpreted from different angles. The story is full of adventure, imagination, thrill and cultural heritage which grab the reader’s attention. In Strong Heart author throws a light on the day to day activities of a seaward (sailors) people and their internal politics.
The cordial environment of Tom’s family makes it a memorable trip. They all learn from this trip specially how to tackle a child. After all what I observed is that the author seems very curious to preserve traditional values and family bonds. Tom, William, Myra, Sarah and Sergei all are very supportive characters in this book. Sarah is truly the heroine of this novel who bears many emotional and physical stresses and despite that she shows her resilience. Charlie Sheldon is true in his narrative that “stories are what make us human. The ability to tell a story is a means to remember, to pass culture generation to generation, to learn and hold memory.” In this novel he proved his statement.
One thing I found very interesting and informative in this novel is a detailed map of places mentioned in a novel (North Pacific area).It really enhanced my knowledge. And the other thing which I found little boring is along detail of Sarah’s journey. As a whole I have enjoyed this book. In start story goes with a good pace but in the middle it becomes somehow vague due to excessive details. But a good aspect of the book is this that it retains the interest of a reader from start to end. I found few grammatical errors but it doesn’t detract reader’s attention from the story. So I have decided to rate this book 3 out of 4.
The novel is full of adventure and mystery. Charlie Sheldon has beautifully narrated the hopes, fear and future plans associated with characters. Geographical interpretation is very good. People who are interested in adventurous and thrilling novels would like it much.
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Strong Heart
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