Red Heart [Hardcover]

JAMES ALEXANDER Thom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1997

In his most beloved, bestselling book, Follow the River, James Alexander Thom wrote the captivating story of a woman kidnapped by the Shawnee who struggled to return to her family. Now, in The Red Heart, Thom once again brings to vivid life the true story of a woman and her captivity with the Lenape Indians.

The Slocums of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, are the best of the white settlers, peace-loving Quakers who are unique for their time in believing that the Indians hold the Light of God inside. It is from this peaceful world that Frances is abducted.

Soon she is immersed in the sacred work and beliefs of her adoptive mother and of all the women of these Eastern tribes. It is the women's responsibility to teach the children and speak in Council, to plant and harvest life-giving crops, to heal the sick and midwife new lives, to celebrate with the men in the yearly Thanksgiving ceremonies with dancing and drums. Frances becomes Maconakwa, the Little Bear Woman of the Miami Indians, and a woman who keeps the good of her people at the center of her heart.

Long after the Indians are beaten, and their last hope, Tecumseh, is killed, the Slocums hear word of their long lost daughter. The family's grown rich by destroying the land to mine anthracite coal,and they head out to the Ohio territory to meet their beloved Frances. But for Maconakwa, it is a moment of truth, the test of whether she truly has a red heart. . . .

Rich in historical detail, alive with Indian life and a time gone forever, The Red Heart is the kind of magnificent novel of American life that only Jim Thom can write.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A spellbinding journey into America's past." -- Sharyn McCrumb"

"COMPELLING . . . Thom has woven a story as carefully as any native weaver does a piece of fabric." -- Indianapolis Star --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

The Slocum family of Northeastern Pennsylvania are the best of the white settlers, peace-loving Quakers who believe that the Indians hold the Light of God inside. It is from this good-hearted family that Frances is abducted during the Revolutionary war.

As the child's terror subsides, she is slowly drawn into the sacred work and beliefs of her adoptive mother and of all the women of these Eastern tribes. Frances becomes Maconakwa, the Little Bear Woman of the Miami Indians. Then, long after the Indians are beaten and their last hope, Tecumseh, is killed, the Slocums hear word of their long-lost daughter and head out to Indiana to meet their beloved Frances. But for Maconakwa, it is a moment of truth, the test of whether her heart is truly a red one. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 454 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1St Edition edition (October 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345390040
• ISBN-13: 978-0345390042
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,653,091 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

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic historical fiction., March 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Red Heart (Mass Market Paperback)

I finished this 533 page novel in four days, and I read from page 264 to the ending in one sitting. I think that pretty much sums it up that I really, really enjoyed reading this book. It is on such a fascinating subject which is not too often found in adult literature. Most historical fiction novels on white children taken captive by the Indians are written for juvenile or young adult readers.

This novel is based on the true story of Frances Slocum who at age 5 was carried off by Delaware Indians right in front of her family in 1778. Her family searched for nearly sixty years until they finally found her- the widow of a Miami chief who could not speak any English or even remember her given name except for Slocum. Thom details what occured in the sixty years before that reunion. Mostly, it is a story of young Frances adapting to her new life, her growth into womanhood, and her experiences with the tragedies that occur to her Indian people as the Americans take their lands and destroy the entire fabric of their lives. Thom also details the Slocums' attempts to find their lost child during that same period. Thom does a great job of capturing what must have been the emotions when that lost sister met her Slocum siblings for the first time in six decades. Truly poignant.

My only complaint about this book is Thom's rather simplistic portrayals of the Indians and whites. With the exception of the Quaker Slocum family, every white in this book is a brutish lout; and with the exception of a couple drunken brutes, the Indians are all portrayed as wonderful people. The historical reality was a little more complex, and even most children's books on the subject of Indian captivities present a more even-handed picture. For instance, historically the Indians, who carried off little Frances, also carried off two other children who they later killed for crying too much, and that they had killed a "boy" on the Slocum farm. Thom doesn't ignore that the Indians also took other captives with Frances or that they had killed someone at her family's farm, but he has the other captive being ransomed back to the whites, and he has turned that killed "boy" into a soldier. I think that is being a little dishonest for sake of "political correctness," which is annoying.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Red Heart and Political Correctness., October 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Red Heart (Mass Market Paperback)

I really enjoyed reading this novel. It not only inspired me to read other books by James Alexander Thom, but also made me want to find out more about Frances Slocum. It was in doing this research that I discovered that Thom had played a little loose with the facts of Slocum's abduction. I believe he did this simply to place her Indian abductors in a better light. Yes, it was a little disconcerting; but this discovery did not ruin my overall enjoyment of the book.

The novel attempts to view the history of Old Northwest from a very pro-Native perspective. Thom wants the reader to be fully aware that what happened to the Indians of the Old Northwest was a tragedy and a blot on the history of the U.S. And I think he is absolutely correct in that viewpoint. However, I felt that occassionally he went a little overboard in attempting to illustrate this point. His portrayal of the differences between whites and Indians sometimes came across as simplistic and condenscending. It can be annoying since I've read children's books on the subject of Indian captivities that presented a more even handed and realistic look at racial relations- Sally Keehn's "I Am Regina" is an excellent example that shows that cruelty could be found on both sides.

However, "The Red Heart's" political correctness is a quibble that really does not deter from its effectiveness as a terrific novel. It's really well-written, and is about one of the most poignant and fascinating stories in American history. If you love historical fiction set in early America and have enjoyed James Alexander Thom's work then you will surely enjoy this book.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome! bravo!, August 22, 2004

By 

DWD "DWD's Reviews" (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Red Heart (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one great book.

It is based on the true story of Francis Slocum, a 4 year old Quaker girl who was kidnapped by Delaware Indians in the 1770s on the Pennsylvania frontier near Wilkes-Barre. (There are recreation areas named for her in both Pennsylvania and Indiana)

It is also the story of her family's 60 year search for her across the Midwest and even into Canada.

It is also the story of the relentless American westward movement and how the Indians dealt with it.

The reader also gets a fantastic lesson on daily life among the Delaware and Miami Indians.

If you're a Star Trek: The Next Generation fan you'll remember the epidsode in which Picard is "attacked" by the alien probe from the long-dead world that makes him live an entire lifetime among their people in his mind in just a few seconds so that their way of life will never be forgotten. (It's the one where he learns to play the little flute-type instrument). Well, this book reminds me of that - you are drawn into this woman's life and initiated into Indian culture as she is. you learn along with her. You grow up with her, feel her disappointments and joys and her confusions as she learns that her white family is searching for her (should she seek them? should she run? Would it be best to take advantage of her white skin and abandon her Indian family as the times get harder and harder?)

I have a few quibbles with the book but those are dwarfed by Thom's overall accomplishment. Honestly, at the end of the book, when Francis Slocum dies, I felt as though a longtime friend who'd lived a wonderful and fulfilling life had died - and that is the greatest compliment I think I can give it.

Bravo!