Abraham's Well: A Novel [Paperback]

Sharon Ewell Foster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2006

I have discovered there's Indian in my family heritage.... The time is 1838. Armentia pointed to a well on the land their Cherokee master owns. "It seems hard to believe now, son, but someday we'll have our own land. Land with a well just like this one…." Inspired by true events, authentic slave narratives, and other historical accounts, Abraham's Well is the profoundly moving story of the Black Cherokee--African Americans, both slave and free--who, along with native people, walked the Trail of Tears. It is the story of their forced removal from the Southeast to Indian Territory---modern day Oklahoma--and of the courage and faith of one woman as she struggles to overcome her desperate circumstances. And it is the story of an author who, in researching and writing, found her own way home.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Foster drops back to 1838 to tell the story of black Cherokees forced along the Trail of Tears. Her young heroine, Armentia, lives an idyllic life in North Carolina, but greedy whites scheme for the land and bring about the loathsome Indian Removal Act. Armentia watches as her brother is dragged into slavery, and then as most of her tribe, the Deer Clan, dies on the trail. Nor does Oklahoma turn out to be paradise, with Cherokees preying on Cherokees and Armentia sold into slavery. This is simply told and moving, Foster's best work since her groundbreaking first novel, Passing by Samaria (2000).

John Mort
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"...readers will feel the heartbreak and trials of this horrific ordeal, but will also experience the joys." -- Melissa Parcel, Romantic Times

"...will introduce you to a character you won't soon forget....by book's end...you will be stronger and wiser for having taken the journey." -- Violet Nesdoly, blogcritics.org

"This historical tale is one of Foster's best efforts, if not her best, and deserves a wide reading audience." -- Cindy Crosby, faithfulreader.com

"This is the rare historical novel that both entertains and educates." -- Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764228870
• ISBN-13: 978-0764228872
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,118,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally black history in america has a face!, November 18, 2006

By 

Lissa Tyler (Durham, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Abraham's Well: A Novel (Paperback)

I read this book in two and 1/2 days. I felt every loss and success this character felt. I laughed, I cried, and I hoped. This novel was so realistic it was like reading a long lost family memoir. This isn't just a plot placed in 1830, it is 1830. If any one was ever been curious about black history in america, the trail of tears, slave life, or just how important family history and honor are...you will enjoy this.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Abraham's Well--An ASiS Book Club Review, March 4, 2007

By 

African American Sisters in Spirit Book Club ... (Maryland, Washington DC & Northern VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Abraham's Well: A Novel (Paperback)

Abraham's Well introduces readers to trials and tribulations endured on the Trail of Tears from a child's point of view. This novel pours out an abundance of information that you will never see in history books. Although, the novel moves at a slow pace, it gives readers a blunt look into fear, slavery and racism without sugar coating the events.

If you want a deeper, educational view of slavery, then this book is for you. From cover to cover, you are sure to be exposed to a piece of history that was not taught in your high school classroom. Kudos to Ms. Foster for educating all of us.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spare, yet stunning, June 12, 2007

By 

Julia McDonough (Charlton, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Abraham's Well: A Novel (Paperback)

Written in a spare, yet stunning style, ABRAHAMS WELL is a story that will stay with you forever. Sharon Ewell Foster, through the voice of the elderly Armentia, recounts the two most sinful chapters in American history. The narrator, part Cherokee, part African, transports the reader with her as a young girl on the tortuous Trail of Tears and as a woman in slavery and beyond. Now I know why Loretta Lynn, one of my personal heroes and herself of Cherokee descent, said in her autobiography that she despised Andrew Jackson.

This book made me shamefully aware of how little I knew - that Cherokee (the Principal People) with African blood were slaves, while some other Cherokee were slave owners and actually sided with the South in The Civil War. Very enlightening was how Christianity, as delivered by newly-converted Native American missionaries, merged with their belief in the Great Spirit, or "Breath Giver." During Armentia's most desperate days, she grasped at signs in nature as messages from Great Spirit, while wishing she was able to read about the new day promised in the Good Book.

Just like in ROOTS, the most painful parts of this book were when the main character's loved ones were torn away one by one, and she clung in her heart to fragile stories and memories for mere survival. The "full circle" conclusion is almost too good to be true; however, the hopeful (thank God) ending does not diminish the agony that Armentia endured throughout her long life of struggle. The photographs of the author's ancestors and her own genealogy research reinforced the book's credibility. I recommend that this historical novel be required reading for all high school students in the United States.