Seminole Song [Hardcover]

Vella Munn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1997

The young chief of the Seminole has been welcoming escaped slaves into the tribe, an action that brings down upon their heads the wrath of the Southern Army, and the chief must decide between hiding his tribe deep in the Florida swamps or taking on the army.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 315 pages
• Publisher: Forge; 1st edition (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312858965
• ISBN-13: 978-0312858964
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,499,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bottom line, Vella Munn is a country hick. Born and raised in Northern California's gold country, she freely roamed the forests--and lived to write about it. She spent a total of 18 months in a city and vows to never do that again. These days she lives in rural Oregon where she happily writes about characters who, like her, love the sound of the wind in the evergreens. She occasionally runs off to the family cabin near Crater Lake where she thinks about writing. Married with two sons and an amazingly handsome grandson, she's owned by two dogs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grabs you and won't let go!, May 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Seminole Song (Hardcover)

I was never a reader of historical romances so I don't know what made me pick up this book. Maybe it was because of my own Seminole heritage or maybe it was the novelty of a romance between an Indian man and a woman who wasn't white. Whatever the reason, I'm glad that I took the plunge. This wonderful book was such a treat that I'm now an avid reader of historical romances. Vella Munn's characters in "Seminole Song" are so realistically drawn that I feel I really know them. She keeps the plot credible, even down to Calida's inability to fully enjoy physical involvement with the man she loves because she has been raped repeatedly by her master. Seminole culture and history are well integrated into the plot and some very realistic details concerning the life of a slave woman are woven in, too. The author also utilizes the Everglades setting so well that the swamp is almost a character itself. I read this book in one sitting and have gone back to it many times to fondly relive Calida and Panther's story. Despite my now rather large and growing collection of historical romances, I have yet to find a book in the genre that surpasses "Seminole Song." Bravo, Vella, and let's have some more Indian romances with heroines of color.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A runaway slave&a Seminle brave,together they make history, February 24, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Seminole Song (Hardcover)

Panther, the War Chief of a small Seminole band, tries to rescue a
member of his tribe from cruel plantation owner Reddin Croon. However,
something goes wrong and Panther ends up becoming a captive of Croon.
Panther is
freed by a slave Calida.
With his wife Liana away, Reddin decides to enjoy the pleasures of
sex with Calida, who though she loathes him has no choice. His spouse
returns home early and catches him with his pants down. In a fit of
rage, he kill
s her and sets it up to appear as if the Seminoles did it. He plans to
silent the only witness Calida, but she flees for her life. Reddin
tells the military and his influential father-in-law what the Seminoles
did to Lian
a. Calida barely survives the wilderness trek, but fortunately is
found by Panther, who recognizes her as the slave who freed him. As she
heals he allows her to stay with the tribe, though most members object
to her bein
g there.
As the military savagely search for the hostile tribe who brutally
murdered Liana and her driver-slave, Calida and Panther begin to fall
in love with each other. However, the tribe, including several former
slaves (and
even Panther), remain very wary of the "pampered" Calida staying with
them. With the military getting closer to capturing or more likely
killing all of them, Calida needs to prove that she belongs not only
with the tri
be, but at Panther's side forever.
No one describes the mid-nineteenth century Everglades like Vella
Munn. Her latest Native-American novel, SEMINOLE SONG, is a fabulous
historical romance filled with a fast-paced story line, authentic
historical data g
racefully and picturesquely woven into the plot, two great lead
characters, and a fantastic support cast. Fans of American romance will
flock to Ms. Munn's latest Florida entry because as usual she writes a
winner.
...Harriet Klausner

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Writing but Stereotypical Characters, March 28, 2007

By 

Secret Star "Star" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Seminole Song (Paperback)

I purchased this book because the plot sounded very good and the reviews were great. But, from a Black perspective as soon as I began reading Seminole Song, I could tell that Ms. Munn was of European descent before finding out who she was. The heroine in the book, Calida, although a slave, had to have European features to be beautiful, especially almost straight hair. Becuase in order for Panther and Gaitor "the Negro" to fall in love with her, of course she couldn't have any traces of African features; even if she was supposed to be a person of mixed ancestry. Although this is a well written book in terms of imagery and historical authenticity, the stereotypes that leaped out at me are too numerous for me to type. Hence the two star rating.