The Borderland: A Novel of Texas [Hardcover]

Edwin Shrake (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 2000

In this epic novel, veteran writer Edwin Shrake explores the feuds and alliances among Americans, Mexicans, and Indians, the political treachery, and the tales of fortune-hungry settlers that combine to tell the story of how Texas was born. Set in the blossoming frontier town of Austin, The Borderland focuses on the lives of Romulus and Cullasaja Swift, the half-Cherokee offspring of two forward-thinking parents who have come to Texas from New York; of Henry Longfellow, a rapacious lawyer and of Captain Matthew Caldwell, a Texas Ranger whose eccentric ways are matched only by his fierce bravery.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Everybody knows the story of the Alamo and the Texas victory over the Mexican army at San Jacinto, but the dramatic period that followed--the years when the Republic of Texas was not yet part of the United States--has largely been ignored. Edwin Shrake's novel makes up for that. The Borderland is set in 1839, three years after the Alamo fell. The fledgling Republic is down on its heels, desperate for money, short on organization, lacking structure and infrastructure, and still at war with Mexico. President Lamar, as much a poet as a politician, has a plan, though: by expanding the Republic to the Pacific, he can attract the frenzy--and cash--of land speculators. He begins by going up against his enemy, Sam Houston, and moving the capital of the Republic inland from Houston to a pristine river valley in central Texas--Comanche country--that gives birth to the new city of Austin. The repercussions are enormous. To begin with, it sets off the largest Comanche war party of all time.

Weaving together a marvelous cast of characters, some real, some wholly created, Shrake renders a strong, often eerie portrait of life on the frontier and the horrors of frontier warfare. As Texas Ranger Captain Matthew Caldwell, known as "Old Paint" because of his spotted beard, leads a desperate, ragtag force against the Comanche warriors on the plains south of Austin, Romulus Swift, a half-Cherokee physician descended from Jonathan Swift, falls in love with Caldwell's young German Jewish immigrant bride. Swift is a mystical character--he's on a quest to find a mysterious, otherworldly-wise creature said to live in a cave full of Spanish gold; Caldwell is more a straight-ahead force of nature. When the two men, suspicious of each other from the get-go, must journey together into Comancheria, the palpable tension has as much to do with whether they'll kill each other as it does with whether they'll be able to make a truce with 2,000 Comanche warriors ready to wipe Austin out. Add to the mix Swift's sister, anxious to return to her Native American past after a society life in New York, and Henry Longfellow, a powerful, misogynistic, slave-holding politician who may be Texas's first serial killer, and The Borderland has the makings of a truly tall tale. Massive in scope, captivating in detail, and meticulous in its resurrection of history, Shrake's novel exhumes a forgotten era of Texas's past. --Roland Gregory

From Publishers Weekly

Tall tales combine with authentic historical characters in this rambling novel by the author of The Blessed McGill, describing the dramatic formative years of Texas. In the frontier town of Austin, the adventures of (fictional) half-Cherokee Dr. Romulus Swift and his beautiful sister, Cullasaja, intersect with those of a real Lone Star hero, Texas Ranger Captain Matthew Caldwell, who earned the epithet "The Paul Revere of Texas" during the Texas revolution. Other historical figures appear in abundant cameos, including Sam Houston; Chief Bow; Mirabeau B. Lamar, second president of the republic of Texas; a young Albert Sidney Johnston; and Mary Maverick, wife of the famed San Antonio livestock mogul. Add to the mix a cast of unsavory fictional players and Shrake's narrative becomes melodramatic and generally chaotic. Swift, fashioned after one of Shrake's ancestors, is possibly the most implausible character in the novel. He is on a quest to find the mysterious "apeman" held sacred by the Comanches, from whom he hopes to obtain some mystical wisdom. Meanwhile, Captain Caldwell struts uselessly around the state and anachronistically argues political correctness with Lamar, while awaiting the arrival of his mail-order German bride, Hannah. The main plotline involves the infamous Council House Massacre and Battle of the Neches, two treacherous incidents in which Lamar initiated his ultimately successful program of ousting all Indians from Texas. The book climaxes with the sensational Linnville Raid and Battle of Plum Creek, which set a pattern of warfare between Texans and Comanches for the next 35 years; while the historical events are retold aptly, the narrative thread connecting all the characters is easily lost. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1st edition (April 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786865792
• ISBN-13: 978-0786865796
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,584,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BORDERLAND, March 21, 2000

By 

Michael Rudman (london, england) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Borderland: A Novel of Texas (Hardcover)

this superb book is so big that it entices one to match its size in praising it. There are dozens of literally, fabulous, characters. texas rangers, europeans, actresses, generals, and, of course, native americans. i can't imagine that these warriors, sages, half-breeds, captives, politicians and womenfolk have ever been better drawn.the scenes of their meetings read like shrake was taking minutes as do the pow wows of the white invaders. in short, it is the entire mix that created the republic of texas from president lamar down to the boatman who takes them across their stygian river. this book has a heart as big as the state of texas and as much wisdom as i have ever encoutered on the page. and the story is told with vigour and humour , laced with a fair amount of blood, sweat and lust.it could easily be called "jacobean." and probably will be. certainly its last line will be quoted for a long, long time.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new classic, March 27, 2000

By 

T. Pipkin (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Borderland: A Novel of Texas (Hardcover)

This is one great novel; the very best from the underappreciated author of two other classic works of fiction: "Blessed McGill" (the story of the first Saint of North America) and "Strange Peaches" (the first Kennedy conspiracy theory book). Shrake has reached his peak with the Borderland which gets at the real heart of the founding of the nation of Texas, the period after the Alamo and before admission to the Union during which Sam Houston moved the Capitol west to the middle of a Comanche paradise (oh, how we wish Austin was still a paradise), setting off a 40 year war with the Comanches and ethnic cleansing of the Cherokees. Imagine Austin with a Capitol Building surrounded by a stockade fence and a moat and protected by cannons against attack. It's bigger than life because these people were bigger than life. The climax of the book comes with the biggest Comanche raid in history which ended with the Texas Rangers triumph and slaughter of the Indians at Plum Creek south of Austin. I could give you a dozen other great scenes, but skip to the chase and simply read this book; it's a winner!

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for All Texans, March 24, 2000

By 

Michael R. Levy, publisher, TEXAS MONTHLY (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Borderland: A Novel of Texas (Hardcover)

There is an article on Bud Shrake by senior editor Gary Cartwright that appears in the April 2000 issue of TEXAS MONTHLY. See it on texasmonthly.com.

Bud's new book, Borderland, is a truly great novel about Austin, carefully researched and set during the frontier era of the republic of Texas. If you love Austin, you need to read this book. You'll be surprised at what you'll learn about the town. And you'll probably wind up writing me a thank you note for this suggestion. (signed) Mike Levy, publisher, TEXAS MONTHLY