Follow the River (Mass Market Paperback)

by JAMES ALEXANDER Thom (Author) "SHE SHIVERED, DESPITE THE HEAT OF THE HEARTH, AND glanced again toward the sunny rectangle of the cabin door..." (more)
Key Phrases: hickory lance, hickory spear, gunpowder spring, New River, Draper's Meadows, Snake Stick (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Mary Ingles was twenty-three, married, and pregnant, when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement, killed the men and women, then took her captive. For months, she lived with them, unbroken, until she escaped, and followed a thousand mile trail to freedom--an extraordinary story of a pioneer woman who risked her life to return to her people.



From the Inside Flap
Mary Ingles was twenty-three, married, and pregnant, when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement, killed the men and women, then took her captive. For months, she lived with them, unbroken, until she escaped, and followed a thousand mile trail to freedom--an extraordinary story of a pioneer woman who risked her life to return to her people.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (November 12, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345338545
• ISBN-13: 978-0345338549
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (129 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,689 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #71 in	Books > Teens > History & Historical Fiction > Historical Fiction
  #79 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Family Saga

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, February 26, 2002

By	J. Daily (Fort Worth, Tx United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A great docu/drama. Thom did an incredible job "filling in" the details if you will, of Ingles incredible story. Something that few, if none of us can relate to these days. This one had actually slipped under the radar until my wife pointed it out to me, as it was not required reading where I went to school. But I feel that I appreciate it even more now than I would have then.

A warning though, much of it is quite gruesome, and it does not portray Indians in a soft, "lets make white people feel ashamed for what they did " modern manner. It sheds light into certain savagery committed by Indians that is not heard much in the days of political correctness and bending over backwards to appease. Parts of this book are very disturbing and very,very brutal.

But I think this "punch in the face" style of not holding anything back is the beauty of the book. It presents the story as it happened, stripped bare for all to see. You will appreciate the hardship.

57 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping, May 23, 2001

By	Thelma C. Johnson "[e-mail]" (Cookeville, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Thom has fictionalized a true story with such powerful description that one forgets the fact that most of the details are imagined. They are, however, totally believable, and even though the reader knows the ending (she finally makes it home), the book is difficult to put down. Every footstep of the journey is vivid. The author also manages to portray the Indians as human beings in spite of the gory details of the massacre. Mary Ingles was a fourth great-grandmother of a friend of mine, and this makes the book more immediate for me. My own great-great grandfather was survivor of a Shawnee massacre in the same area 20 years later. I am astounded at the courage and endurance of these brave people who were our forebears. As a writer, I was amazed at how many different ways Thom describes weather, terrain, pain, and terror. Mary's decision to give up her baby to the Indian girl was a selfless, practical act, and her mental and emotional strength kept her from descending into a morass of romantic, sentimental, blubbering guilt. This book should be required in American history courses as adjunct reading material. It tells us what a history book cannot--the human side of the early development of this country.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Follow the River is the best survival book I've read., December 1, 1997

By	Joseph M Conlon (High School English teacher Warsaw, IN) - See all my reviews

I've read this book three times and teach it to my twelfth grade English classes. Mary Ingles is an inspiration of the possibilities of endurance of the human spirit. Victim of a brutal Shawnee attack in the summer of 1755 she is force marched from Virginia to Shawnee, Ohio while nine months pregnant giving birth on the trail. She is sold into slavery and taked to the area near Big Bone Lick State Park in Kentucky. Together with an old Dutch woman she escapes and begins a 1,000 mile trek home through unknown and hostile wilderness. In 43 harrowing days she goes from 125 pounds to under 80 pounds as she faces the elements, starvation, wild animals, hostile Indians, implacable nature, and a companion that turns cannibal. The reader shares the agony of the journey with Mary as she must go the final miles on her hands and knees. The most amazing thing about the story is it is true. Like his other historical novels Thom has done his research and he makes the history come alive for his reader.