3 out of 4 stars
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Whispers Among The Prairie by Michelle Roberts is a neatly woven historical fiction set in the prairie lands of the American West in the 1860's. It unfolds a forbidden love between a Southern Cheyenne and a captain of a US cavalry. It is an intriguing tale with a perfect blend of friendship, love, racism, leadership, betrayal, respect, peace, war, and violence.
Black Kettle was a peace-loving leader of a Southern Cheyenne tribe. These Indians were living peacefully in a village in the Sand Creek. Black Kettle feared that his tribe might perish at the hands of war so he befriended and made treaties with the Whites. He also allowed his American friend, George Bent, to teach the English language to his adopted children - Morning Dove and Black Beaver.
Morning Dove received messages from the spirit world through apparition: her tribe would undergo troubled times and she (Morning Dove) would be a bridge between the two worlds - American and Cheyenne. A special bond was formed between Morning Dove and Captain Clinton McKay when destiny had finally set their meeting at Fort Cobb. Where will this bond take them?
I love the very descriptive writing style and world-building, the suspense build-up, the constant thrilling pace, and the unpredictable storyline. The narration was never boring. The plot had enough 'twists and turns' that could keep the reader turning every page. I found myself particularly engaged and emotionally involved in the scenes. Despite the promise of protection, the American soldiers rampaged the Cheyenne village, mutilated and clubbed the dead and wounded, laughed as if in a blood-thirsty trance, and captured the weak - women and children. I empathized with the Indians and resented the rude Whites. I found the ending so delightful, but I won't give any spoiler.
There were several characters involved in the story. At first, the names of the Cheyennes (i.e. Little Raven, Red Eagle, Morning Dove, Black Beaver, Tall Bear, Buffalo Star, and Red Bull) confused me. I thought I was reading a fable. The author introduced realistic characters with flaws, doubts, strengths, and weaknesses. I was chuckling when Tom Custer, Clinton's friend, reminisced the day when both of them were fighting in the Civil War. If Tom had not been spitting out the worst coffee that Clinton had prepared for him, his skull would've been hit by a bullet from the grey army. Even though Clinton didn't know how to prepare a cup of coffee, he is still the character I like best. He was friendly, courageous, and romantic.
My favorite quote in this book is this: "Life without passion is like not actually living.” Tom found it hard to leave the army life because he had no passion other than being a soldier. For one, Clinton wanted to leave the danger of war, but he felt he didn’t fit in anywhere. He wasn’t a farmer, a tradesman, a saloon keeper or a merchant. It's so sad, but truth be told, there are many people who have not decided which passion they should focus on.
Overall, the author did an excellent job of bringing this story to life. However, the contents were not error-free. I had seen missing necessary pronoun, preposition, and article aside from the spacing, punctuation, spelling, and the grammar errors. The fixable errors hinder me from giving this book a perfect rating. I rate Whispers Among The Prairie by Michelle Roberts 3 out of 4 stars. Readers who enjoy the stories of the Wild West will find this book unputdownable. The violence and gore were not elucidated so I recommend this book to the young readers as well.
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Whispers Among The Prairie
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