This Widowed Land [Mass Market Paperback]

Kathleen O'Neal Gear (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 2006

Lovely Andiora is a Huron Indian in seventeenth-century North America. A seeress with a bond to the spirit world, she has beheld a frightening vision-of a blond man in a black robe, whose coming will bring death and despair to her people.

Father Marc Dupre is a French missionary who has come to Quebec to preach Christianity. He is not prepared for his own growing love for Andiora, an attraction she shares with all her heart.

But more than a forbidden union threatens them both. A mysterious epidemic is devastating the Hurons, and vengeful shamans blame the "Black Robes" from Europe, crying out for the priests' deaths.

Menaced by war and disease, torn between their desires and their sacred callings, Marc and Andiora struggle to find peace and fulfillment.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The coauthor of the Prehistoric America series ( People of the River ) pens an absorbing if uneven tale about Jesuit missionaries who set their single, jealous god against the animal spirit guides and gods worshiped by the Huron Indians. Gear develops harsh, powerful descriptions of 17th-century Quebec, replete with blowing snow, starvation, the war cries of enemy Iroquois and a plague that, ironically, spreads along with the Jesuits' gospel. Sadly, the three Black Robes who anchor the plot--saintly, simple Phillipe; foppish whiner Luc; and steely Marc, tormented by love for Huron visonary Andiora--are static and two-dimensional. On the other hand, their leader, Jean de Brebeuf, a historical figure, has sufficient quirks and contradictions to make him seem genuine. Several others stand out, too: a blunt, roisterous French trader, an envious Huron shaman , and gritty young Onrea, who survives horrific ordeals. Gear is better at research than at imaginative writing; her use of period detail breathes life into daily events at the Huron village, and her depictions of cannibalistic torture are chilling.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Father Marc Dupre, a young Jesuit priest charged with converting the Huron Indians, arrives in New France in 1636. The Jesuit approach is to graft Christian belief onto the Hurons' religion, so Marc and his fellow priests adopt native customs and do not interfere with their repugnant practice of torturing their Iroquois enemies. Marc's mission is complicated by his attraction to his Huron translator, Andiora, a woman with powerful visions, and the animosity of Luc Penchant, a more traditional European missionary who views everything in the New World as the work of Satan and Marc's accommodation of indigenous beliefs as demonic. Veteran novelist Gear ( Sand in the Wind , Tor, 1990, etc.) provides strong descriptions of the Huron way of life, Marc's ambivalence about his priestly vows and his love for Andiora, as well as some gruesome torture scenes. Recommended for large libraries.
- Mary Ann Parker, California Dept. of Water Resources Law Lib., Sacramento
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 436 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (October 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765357275
• ISBN-13: 978-0765357274
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,172,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathleen O'Neal Gear is a former state historian and archaeologist for Wyoming, Kansas, and Nebraska for the U.S. Department of the Interior. She has twice received the federal government's Special Achievement Award for "outstanding management" of our nation's cultural heritage.W. Michael Gear, who holds a master's degree in archaeology, has worked as a professional archaeologist since 1978. He is currently principal investigator for Wind River Archaeological Consultants.The Gears, whose First North American Series and Anasazi Mystery Series, are both international as well as USA Today bestsellers live in Thermopolis, Wyoming.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Widowed Land, June 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: This Widowed Land (Mass Market Paperback)

I avoided this book because it involved missionaries, well I was mistaken. This is a excellent addition to Ms Gears work. I couldn't put it down, literally. I took the day and just read. Fabulous.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I could not put it down, November 24, 1999

By 

Joan (Kalamazoo, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Widowed Land (Mass Market Paperback)

So much research went into this book, it felt like I was right there with the characters.Kathleen deserves all the awards possible for such hard work I loved the book, I was sorry to see it end.I can't wait to see what she does next, she is a genius!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Religion Undefiled...-James 1:27, May 24, 2004

By 

Scamp Lumm "Littlesorrel/christian zionist" (Perseus-Pisces cluster, ~100Mpc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Widowed Land (Mass Market Paperback)

Is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Deuteronomy 24:17 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge.

What I remember from this book was the contrast between two jesuit priests sent into the wilds of Quebec to live among the tame Huron Indian tribe. One priest truly understood the love of God, the other, more legalistic and harsh, a rules rules kind of person, carrying his cross, rosary, bible wherever he went. The vector of the epidemic which rages amongst the Huron peoples following the jesuits arrival comes from one of the implements of their faith.

Kathleen O'Neal Gear and her husband Michael are both archeologists who have worked in the past for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Years ago, I read their series of books on American Indian tribes of North America which starts with The People of the Wolf, the account of the indians migration across the Bering Strait. Totally loved those books, learned so much about the different tribes' lifestyle and culture. Some common misconceptions of these people disproved by the evidence found hidden underneath the dirt covering their remains.