Windsong [Paperback]

Kelly Ferjutz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 2005

WINDSONG REVIEWS "An exciting, exquisitely researched and sensitively written story of enduring love set in the Great Lakes of the mid-1800s." -Sandra Heath, author and winner of Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Awards for Best Regency Author and Best Regency Romance   "My most satisfying reading experience in years in either historical or romance." -Bob Broemel, Retired Principal Bassoonist, Indianapolis Symphony BOOK INFORMATION WINDSONG by Kelly Ferjutz Originally published by the Berkley Publishing Group. The Forest Hill Publishing, LLC edition is available in both large print and regular print (ISBN 0-9759251-6-4 $15.00). SYNOPSIS Historical Romance on the Great Lakes of the 1800's As is the custom, Windsong, a young princess and widow, is to marry a man from her totem. Her husband must be capable of teaching her infant son, Sky, how to one day be chief.  For love, Etienne, a former French-Canadian >voyageur<, strives to learn the ways of Windsong's people. But he knows--and they know--he can never >be< one of them. Is their love strong enough to rise above the call of tradition and make a new way?

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Willow; 1st edition (July 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975925164
• ISBN-13: 978-0975925164
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,307,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling and informative historical romance, October 1, 2005

By 

A Reader in Washington (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Windsong (Paperback)

Despite the fact that romance novels sell big, they are frequently put down as fairy tales of a sort, fluff with not much in the way of redeeming literary value. Gorgeous boy and luscious girl meet, there's instant love and/or lust, but complications keep arising, first on one side, then on the other, until after a few hundred pages, love finally conquers. But judging by Kelly Ferjutz's Windsong, this is an attitude both unfortunate and inaccurate. Windsong is a fantasy, rather than a fairy tale, and like other artistic examples of fantasy, it provides the reader excellent insights into and understanding of particular problematic matters in human society.
Windsong takes place in Michigan in 1837. The title character is a beautiful Indian woman who, the year before, had been forced to marry the young chief-to-be of a local tribe, who managed to get her pregnant before he died of smallpox. As the story begins, Bear Dancer, the old chief and Windsong's father-in-law, has set out to find an acceptable new husband who will be a proper father to the two-month-old baby, Sky Warrior, next in line to be chief. But first, Bear Dancer and his entourage of advisors stop on Mackinac Island to report the death of his son to the Indian agent there, and given that it is January and freezing-cold, he leaves Windsong and Sky Warrior on Mackinac until spring, when he will presumably return with the new husband.
On Mackinac Island, Windsong meets young Etienne Nicolet, an Indian scout. Their exchange of glances probably melted snowbanks for miles around. Etienne engineers the situation so that Windsong and Sky Warrior get a room at Mrs. Haggerty's home, where he himself just happens to be staying. Under the sympathetic and not-too-watchful eye of Mrs. H, the romance blossoms. Etienne is as taken with Baby Sky as he is with Windsong.
But there are problems: Sky's new father must be able to teach the young chief-to-be his Indians ways and heritage, so Bear Dancer will never accept Etienne, a non-Indian, as a worthy husband and father. The second Catch-22 is that if Windsong does marry Etienne without the chief's approval, she must give up Sky to the tribe.
Fortunately, there's a temporary solution. Since smallpox has decimated the Indian population, Bear Dancer and his men are not able to find a suitable husband over the winter, and it will be a while before they can. And under Indian custom, any man and woman may live together as husband and wife during the summer, but must then separate at the Green Corn Ceremony in the fall. So, Etienne and Windsong go off with the tribe, she willing at least to have a few more months with Etienne, he determined to convince the chief and the tribe that he can be a proper husband to Windsong and father to Sky.
The story is suspenseful, but beyond that, Ferjutz's assiduous research (documented at the end of the book) presents a fascinating account of life in both white and Indian cultures in early nineteenth-century Michigan. Primary focus is on white-Indian relations, where Windsong and Etienne come to be excellent historical metaphors for their respective cultures. The information is presented beautifully through the rounded characters, as Ferjutz avoids the twin pitfalls of preachy didacticism and bias. The Indians do have plenty to complain about, regarding their treatment at the hands of whites, but clearly they themselves are far from free of prejudice, stubbornness, superstition, and downright reactionary behavior. Without giving away too much of the story, I'll say that the gradual understanding and acceptance of white customs by Indians, and vice versa, was a very satisfying aspect of the story.
I'd be remiss not to mention that Ferjutz writes terrific sex scenes - truly erotic, never clinical, or so sloppy that the reader feels a need to set down the book and wash his or her hands.
I was pleased to learn that Ferjutz intends to develop the story into a multigenerational saga. I'll look forward to following the exploits of these interesting and sympathetic people.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A matchless story of love that crosses boundaries..., August 14, 2005

By 

Sandra Heath (Gloucester, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Windsong (Paperback)

As an author who appreciates descriptions and the setting-in-its-time aspect of a story, I have nothing but praise for this book. Kelly Ferjutz has such feeling for her characters, and for the historic settings in which they move, that her passion exudes from every page. From the opening scene, where Etienne first sees the beautiful Indian woman, the Windsong of the title, the reader knows that the treat ahead will provoke the imagination to such an extent that everything will be seen as well as felt.

The research is awesome, and so accurate as to almost make one wonder if Ms Ferjutz had access to a secret library of detailed journals. For anyone wanting to know what nineteenth-century life was like on Michigan's Mackinac Island, this book is essential reading. For anyone wanting a rattling good historical novel, filled with sensuous love that battles against the odds, this book is essential reading.

Read, enjoy, and savor the delights you found between the pages. Then read it all over again. WINDSONG will always be a treat, and will always have new pleasures to impart, no matter how many times you delve into its wonders.

There is to be a sequel, called SECRET SHORES, which I know will satisfy readers' craving to know what happened next.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Windsong--the Romance that Teaches History, April 17, 2006

By 

Victoria Bel (Cleveland,OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Windsong (Paperback)

"Windsong" is a charming historical novel set in the 1800s on Mackinaw Island. The story is a romance between Windsong, a Native American Woman, who was educated with the whites, and Etienne, a wealthy French Canadian "comte" turned trader and adventurer. Windsong's baby boy, Skye, an integral part of the story, draws the couple together and fosters their romance(a lovely touch).

Meticulously researched by author Kelly Ferjutz, "Windsong" also is noteworthy for teaching the interplay of the French, English, and Native American cultures at the time and place in which the novel is set. The couple move fluidly between all three cultures, maybe a little too fluidly to be realistic, but this does move the story along and emphasizes both the differences and similarities of all three cultures.

The love scenes are torrid; otherwise, I think this book might be approproptiate for not only the adult audience, but also the classroom. Certainly, the book is appropriate for teenagers to read on their own.