Follow the River [Paperback]

James Alexander Thom (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ballantine Books, Westminster, Maryland, U.S.A. (1996)
• ASIN: B001JDUHT6
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (167 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,311,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Alexander Thom is the author of Follow the River, Long Knife, From Sea to Shining Sea, Panther in the Sky (for which he won the prestigious Western Writers of America Spur Award for best historical novel), Sign-Talker, The Children of First Man, and The Red Heart.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 84 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
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Follow the River (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

77 of 80 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)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Follow the River (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

45 of 45 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 

Joe Conlon (High School English teacher Warsaw, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Follow the River (Mass Market Paperback)

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.