my take: this novel is based on the life of a real freed slave who lived in texas during the civil war. texas was a hostile place – the native americans didn’t necessarily like to share and, frankly, made sport of raiding settlements.

there’s the tension between settlers and natives and internal tension of captives – remain in their new culture and family or return to their former life.

and, oh, what a hard scrabble life … after reading it i was so happy to live in an era where i have a house and nobody’s dragging me out of it. yikes.

i thought is was fairly well written and an interesting bit of American history of which i knew nothing. it was a bit brutal in some regards – scalping just ain’t that easy to read about. did i mention how appreciative i am of my house?

my source: found while wandering through daughter anne’s local book store,

my verdict: worth a read, especially if you like historical fiction.