Tragic pages that drink you in, and far from fantasy.
A farewell work and anthropological classic by the late Dr. Assiniwi, a member of the Cree nation and famed in Canada for studies of its native peoples and for the monumental Histoire des Indiens du Haut et du Bas Canada (1974).
A millennium ago on Newfoundland, young Anin the Addaboutik sets out to circle the Earth in his canoe, knowing he lives on a large island but also that if he follows the curve of the Earth he’ll wind up where he started. He leaves his Beothuk village of Baétha, paddles for two years, at times guided by Gashu-Uwith the Bear, a spirit in animal form who turns up at providential times. During his journey he speaks with no one. Meantime, we follow his canoe patching, fire-building, hunting and fishing, game-and-fish-smoking, and hut-building for the winter. When he comes upon some Vikings in a giant ship who kill a peaceful tribe on shore, he helps Woasut, a young girl, escape. Although he must accustom himself to her emotional nature, she becomes his mate. Later, the two are joined by a blond Viking, pregnant Gudruide, whom other Vikings have tried to kill, and later still by Gwenid, Guidrude’s sister, and two redheaded Scottish slaves, young Robb and Della. Anin, his four wives, two children, and Robb become the new Bear Clan back in Baétha, where the Otter Clan and Seal Clan choose Anin to be First Chief of the Beothuk, with his sensibly sexy wives claiming an equal voice. With invaders certain, Anin has the Beothuk Nation repopulate until in 20 years it fills the island. The Beothuk hold together for 500 years, until the English arrive with their muskets, and over the next 200 years they are gradually destroyed, with the last 400 Beothuk massacred, and the final Beothuk, Shanawdithit, dying of tuberculosis.
Tragic pages that drink you in, and far from fantasy.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2002
ISBN: 0-312-28390-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2001
This is historical adventure on a grand scale, right up there with the works of Conn Iggulden and Minette Walters.
Plenty of gore from days of yore fills the 12th entry in Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom series (War of the Wolf, 2018, etc.).
The pagan warlord Uhtred of Bebbanburg narrates his 10th-century adventures, during which he hacks people apart so that kingdoms might be stitched together. He is known to some as the Godless or the Wicked, a reputation he enjoys. Edward, King of Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia is gravely ill, and Uhtred pledges an oath to likely heir Æthelstan to kill two rivals, Æthelhelm and “his rotten nephew,” Ælfweard, when the king dies. Uhtred’s wife, Eadith, wants him to break that oath, but he cannot live with the dishonor of being an oathbreaker. The tale seems to begin in the middle, as though the reader had just turned the last page in the 11th book—and yet it stands alone quite well. Uhtred travels the coast and the river Temes in the good ship Spearhafoc, powered by 40 rowers struggling against tides and currents. He and his men fight furious battles, and he lustily impales foes with his favorite sword, Serpent-Breath. “I don’t kill the helpless,” though, which is one of his few limits. So, early in the story, when a man calling himself “God’s chosen one” declares “We were sent to kill you,” readers may chuckle and say yeah, right. But Uhtred faces true challenges such as Waormund, “lord Æthelhelm’s beast.” Immense bloodletting aside, Cornwell paints vivid images of the filth in the Temes and in cities like Lundene. This is mainly manly fare, of course. Few women are active characters. The queen needs rescuing, and “when queens call for help, warriors go to war.” The action is believable if often gruesome and loathsome, and it never lets up for long.
This is historical adventure on a grand scale, right up there with the works of Conn Iggulden and Minette Walters.Pub Date: Nov. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-256321-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
A heartfelt tale of love too stubborn to surrender to human frailties.
When Chi Chi Donatelli gave famous crooner Saverio Armandonada a manicure on a 1930s New Jersey beach, little did she know that the swanky singer would change her life.
After his childhood sweetheart married another man, Saverio left the security of his job on the factory line in Detroit, earning his father’s disapproval but opening wide the door to success as a big-band singer. Along his way to stardom, Saverio changed his name to Tony Arma and discovered a talent for romancing—but never marrying—the ladies. But once he meets Chi Chi, his bachelor days are numbered. From a large, boisterous Italian family, Chi Chi is eager to have a life like Tony’s, with the freedom to sing and travel the country. She wants no part of marriage with its shackles. Soon Chi Chi and Tony are touring together, eventually developing a profitable shtick, with Chi Chi writing bestselling songs and Tony serenading them to dreamy audiences. It’s only a matter of time before Tony proposes. After all, unlike his other girls, Chi Chi offers Tony not only beauty and charm, but also the stability of a home. The lovers’ work in the entertainment industry gives way to a marriage blessed with babies yet held apart by war. Once reunited, Chi Chi’s independence and Tony’s philandering further fracture their marriage. But as Tony’s path wends from woman to woman, Chi Chi forges a new life on her own terms. A mistress of the sweeping family saga, bestselling author Trigiani (Kiss Carlo, 2017, etc.) sets Chi Chi and Tony’s lifelong love affair against the grand stage of World War II through the postwar boom years and the women’s liberation movement, tracing a society catching up with Chi Chi’s determination to control her own financial and personal freedom.
A heartfelt tale of love too stubborn to surrender to human frailties.Pub Date: Nov. 20, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-231925-8
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
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