83. The Red Heart

By:  James Alexander Thom
Rated 5+ Stars

I have been chipping away at this book all month dragging it out as far as possible.  It's descriptions of the daily life of the Indians is wonderful.  It was however a little heavy handed as far as depicting all white people with the exception of those of the Quaker religion as bad and all Indians as noble.  It would have more believable to me had he been more even handed in his portrayal of both races.  Still, it was a great read and I recommend it highly.

Product Description
The Slocum family of Northeastern Pennsylvania are the best of the white settlers, peace-loving Quakers who believe that the Indians hold the Light of God inside. It is from this good-hearted family that Frances is abducted during the Revolutionary war.

As the child's terror subsides, she is slowly drawn into the sacred work and beliefs of her adoptive mother and of all the women of these Eastern tribes. Frances becomes Maconakwa, the Little Bear Woman of the Miami Indians. Then, long after the Indians are beaten and their last hope, Tecumseh, is killed, the Slocums hear word of their long-lost daughter and head out to Indiana to meet their beloved Frances. But for Maconakwa, it is a moment of truth, the test of whether her heart is truly a red one. 

84. The Long Shadow

By: Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Rated 2.5
From:  amazon

I have been happily reading my way through these wonderful books and now all of
a sudden I came to The Long Shadow and I really, really hated the main character.   I am such a character driven reader that when that happens it's very hard for me to keep reading. It's a sign of how much I am enjoying this series over all that I stuck with it instead of wall banging it.

This book and the one before it was set in the years of the Stuart's whom I lost all respect for last year(February 2008) when  I watched The First Churchill's (netflix) a 1977 Masterpiece Presentation. It was fabulously done and started me on a quest to read about the Stuart Monarch's because I just couldn't believe they were really as dim witted as they were portrayed. Sadly, the more I read about them the more obvious it became that they were. In fairness I will have to except Charles II from this sweeping generalization because although he was not very intelligent he was at least shrewd and had a strong instinct for self preservation. I guess watching your Father being beheaded will drive that lesson home.

Annunciata the main character in this book is the illegitimate daughter of Prince Rupert, cousin to Charles II and James II.  CHE seems to have endowed her with a full set of Stuart characteristics. Vanity, obstinacy, the morals of an alley cat,  and especially - The Stupid! I hope she dies early in the next book so I can be done with her.