THE INDIAN AND ME

by Cathy Desrosiers Peebles ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 8, 2024

A British woman navigates colonial America and her relationships with her military husband and an Indigenous tutee in this historical novel.

The story begins in Seneca Indian Territory (located in an area that would become New York), where Kitchi—known as Ki to the white men who struggle to pronounce his name—is born to a white father and an Indigenous mother. When he comes of age in 1774, the chief decides to give him to the British army to “be a spy in the camp of the white man and, yes, learn his ways, then maybe [the Seneca]would know how to defeat [the white man].”In London, Lord John Townset courts 19-year-old aristocrat Julia Rainsford. Determined to take her to America, Townset soon weds her and does just that. The two storylines intersect in 1776, when Ki—now working as a guide—is living in the barn of the house the Townsets occupy. Julia has reservations about her living situation: “It was very awkward living in a place where the people were obliged to hand over anything the Crown might feel they needed.” As Townset grows increasingly imperious and violent in the New World, Julia endures his abuse, aided by a growing bond with Ki. First, she is assigned to be his tutor in the English language and the ways of white people, but soon the student and teacher share a kiss, and Ki urges Julia to leave her husband and run away. When Townset learns of the affair, he threatens to send Julia back to England. Instead, she flees with Ki to his Indigenous community, where their roles reverse. One might think that this would be more than enough for a novel to take on, but this all occurs in the first 100 pages of a nearly 500-page book. Ki and Julia’s love must overcome more challenges, and Peebles’ scope continues to expand to include lengthy passages about the Revolutionary War, Julia’s sister’s move to America, and the inner workings of the Seneca tribe.

In her opening author’s note, Peebles states that she based the central characters on real people; having apparently done extensive research, the author brings the story to life with impressive verisimilitude. But while the narrative is dense with historical fact, the characters feel flimsy—they’re often reduced to types and not always consistent across scenes. Ki, in particular, often comes across as the wise, noble rescuer of the white woman (a reverse Pocahontas figure with few flaws) whose command of English, though it improves somewhat, is regularly rendered in a clichéd fashion: “This my home, now the white man here”; “You want Seneca; we make you Seneca today.” Julia’s quick acceptance of Seneca society, and the tribe’s equally swift embrace of an aristocratic British woman, while perhaps grounded in historical fact, seem too easy. There is little sense of tension in the couple’s comings and goings, and rarely any worry that events might not work out in their favor. With more passion, greater nuance and complexity in the characterizations, and a tighter focus on the central narrative (rather than on minor events and side characters), this love story might have carried greater emotional weight.

A potentially compelling love story burdened with excessive detail.

Pub Date: March 8, 2024

ISBN: 9781649907158

Page Count: 497

Publisher: Palmetto Publishing

Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2025

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

HISTORICAL FICTION | ROMANCE | GENERAL FICTION