Ride the Wind (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "A rolling sea of deep grass flecked with a foam of primroses washed up on islands of towering oaks and pecans and walnuts..." (more)
Key Phrases: buffalo piss, coyote dun, raid trail, Star Name, Takes Down, Something Good (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In 1836, when she was nine years old, Cynthia Ann Parker was kidnapped by Comanche Indians. This is the story of how she grew up with them, mastered their ways, married one of their leaders, and became, in every way, a Comanche woman. It is also the story of a proud and innocent people whose lives pulsed with the very heartbeat of the land. It is the story of a way of life that is gone forever....

From the Inside Flap

In 1836, when she was nine years old, Cynthia Ann Parker was kidnapped by Comanche Indians. This is the story of how she grew up with them, mastered their ways, married one of their leaders, and became, in every way, a Comanche woman. It is also the story of a proud and innocent people whose lives pulsed with the very heartbeat of the land. It is the story of a way of life that is gone forever....

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (November 12, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345325222
• ISBN-13: 978-0345325228
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,969 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Undiscovered Western Classic, June 8, 2002

By	Mick McAllister - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Don't be fooled by the cover. This is not *Throbbing Raven's Passion*. Robson's novel about Cynthia Ann Parker is gussied up as a piece of historical romance, but it is a solidly researched, well-written biography of one of the most fascinating women of Texas, the mother of Comanche chief Quanah Parker. To avoid lunkhead complaints about "spoilers," I can't tell you what happens to her, but in the literature of women kidnapped by Indians, her story is unique.

Robson does a great job of maintaining a delicate balance between the "savagery" of the Comanches (a horrifying massacre of the Parker family opens the novel) and the rich, positive side of their lives. She has set out to understand and communicate how a young white woman could come to regard her "rescue" as a second kidnapping, and she pulls it off. *The Searchers,* based on the same story, may be a greater work of art, but *Ride the Wind* has the taste and smell of truth about it.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interested in Native American history?, April 2, 2001

By	Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Then I suggest you pick this book right away and start reading ~~ it will be one book that you will never forget. I know. I re-read it every year and have been doing so for the last 10 years. I first picked it up during a summer working in Yellowstone ~~ that was when I started becoming interested in Native American Indian History ~~ and needing something lighter and easier to read, I started with "Ride the Wind."

This is such a great beginning introduction to reading about the Comanches ~~ even though the book is a novel ~~ it is based on what few known historical facts on Cynthia Parker and the man who she calls husband ~~ Wanderer, one of the last great Comanche chiefs. Robson writes with passion the story of a white girl kidnapped by the Indians in her youth ~~ and how she transformed her ways to those of the tribe. It is a heart-warming story, one that will haunt you for the rest of your life. It also shows a softer side to the Indians that you normally won't see ~~ they're not the savages as people make them to be. I'm not saying that they're not fierce warriors ~~ they are and do practice warfare with a savergy that is different from what historians call "civilised society." But Robson shows the fierce loyalty the Comanche have for their tribe and one another ~~ and their way of life.

Pick this book up. I guarantee that you won't walk away from it without being haunted by the stories that Cynthia and her friends share with you. It is an eye-opener into the way of life then. And it is a heart-breaking story as well. Try it and see. I don't think you'll regret it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A haunting tale you won't forget., November 7, 2002

By	Mtnmindy (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews

When I was in highschool, my best friend handed me a tattered, worn out, pages- falling- out- of- it book. The cover was even missing! She just looked at me and said, "Read it." I was rather turned off by the disheveled look of the book, but nonethless I promptly took it home and winded up spending the next three days locked up in my room. Since highschool, I have re-read the book many times and each time I read, it's as if I'm revisting old friends.

To put it simply, this was one of the first books that made me love reading. What stands out about Robson's writing is that everything seems so real. Though it can be considered a historical romance, there is nothing fairy taleish about it that is characteristic of so many other romance novels.

Lucia St.Clair Robson is a librarian. One day, she came across some information about a person named Cynthia Ann Parker and how she grew up with the Comanche tribe. The more she read about Cynthia, the more she was hooked. Finally, she decided that she had to write out Cynthia's story. This book is the result. Now of course, this book is a work of fiction becuase Robson took many liberties by filling in things that were missing from the actual historical record. Still, the whole story seemed very real to me. It gave me moments of pure joy in addition to moments in which I bawled my eyes out.