Book Review: One Thousand White Women, the Journals of May Dodd

Alternate histories always grab my attention, and I’ve read a good number through the years from authors like Orson Scott Card and Harry Turtledove. One Thousand White Women is one of the best alternate histories I’ve read.

Jim Fergus has taken a bit from history and expanded it to what never happened, and along the way, he makes you believe it did happen. That’s a remarkable skill!

May Dodd, languishing in a 19^th century insane asylum, takes advantage of a unique opportunity to escape confinement. Placed in the asylum by her wealthy family for daring to defy the strictures of her status and contemporary mores, May chafes at the unfairness of her situation and longs to be free.

Concomitantly, a Cheyenne Nation chief, seeking lasting peace for his people, goes to D.C. to meet with President Grant to present an interesting proposal. If the United States would send 1000 white women to marry Cheyenne braves, the children of such unions would belong to their mothers’ clans, not the braves’ clans. Thus, the natives would become civilized faster and absorbed readily into the dominant white culture. For the 1000 white women, the Cheyenne would provide the U.S. government with 1000 horses.

This proposal actually occurred. However, Grant and others rejected the Cheyenne’s request as unthinkable. And we all know how their actual Native American assimilation thing worked out.

In Fegus’ novel, the government decides they will create a secret program to send forgotten women West as part of the program. The women they gathered up were indigents, “mildly insane” (like May), imprisoned, or women who had no other career or marital prospects. What a great way to take a bit in history and create an alternate history for it!

The description of the train ride West and stops at various forts is filled with vivid images and a rich ensemble cast of women from various walks of life, all of whom have their separate reasons for joining the program. May keeps meticulous journals of her time and adventures. Her story is revealed to the world through the journals that a descendant tracked down after coming to believe the family tale of May’s life to be untrue.

Her journals include letters never sent to family members and others as well as detailed recounting of conversations with other passengers. Through this device, we learn much about the American West and the issues surrounding how to deal with the Native Americans who live where the White man wants to live. We learn of these through different expressed viewpoints, so that is enlightening.

However, May isn’t totally believable. She expresses viewpoints and insights that are not of her time. She seems like a time-traveler sometimes when she expresses ideas and uses language that are anachronistic, even for a forward-thinking woman in the last half of the 19^th century. I address this in an earlier post of the challenges of writing historical fiction.

I haven’t read the sequel, following twins, two of the program’s women. But I am looking forward to picking it up. That books is The Vengeance of Mothers, and if it’s as well-written and researched as One Thousand White Women, I am in for a treat as to historical information. Let’s hope from a reality standpoint that the womens’ perspectives are better portrayed.

The ending of One Thousand White Women is very satisfying and even offers some surprises that are consistent with the story. Finding out what happened to the others contributed to the feeling that the book was a true story and really occurred, as well as bringing closure to the book.

All in all, I enjoyed the story, and even as I was stopped by May’s perspectives a number of times, the richness of detail about life in the West made the book a very enjoyable read.

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Facebook: Caroline Adams likes alternate histories and enjoyed Jim Fergus’ ONE THOUSAND WHITE WOMEN. She reviews this novel based on a true proposal to trade 1000 horses for 1000 white women to become wives to Cheyenne braves, thus assimilating the Cheyenne into U.S. culture. http://bit.ly/2BXZFc9

Twitter: @Caroline_Adams9 reviews Jim Fergus’ ONE THOUSAND WHITE WOMEN, an alternate history of an actual event in Grant’s presidency, proposed to solve “the Indian problem.”  http://bit.ly/2BXZFc9

Happy Holidays and Why I Say It

I write this greeting because I have friends from so many traditions that Merry Christmas isn’t appropriate for all, and how I am to know what holidays they celebrate unless they tell me. Since there are 29 holiday celebrations between November 1^st and January 15^th, it makes perfect sense to be more inclusive with the “Happy Holidays” saying. How that is taking away from Christmas escapes me!

Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, the Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Saturnalia, Festivus, or any of the other seasonal holidays, I wish you a safe and joyous one!

Four Challenges in Researching Historical Fiction and Biography

All writers do research. Or should. Accuracy in portrayal of setting, dialect, era, social norms, foods, and so on is not limited to writing about the past. But the onus is greater for historical fiction and biography writers. People don’t read a contemporary romance novel expecting accuracy, but they notice and appreciate it. In historical fiction, accuracy of portrayal is essential to the genre.

Readers of historical fiction and biography expect accuracy in all aspects. Writers moderate those expectations with author notes explaining the deviations from historicity and justifying them. But, be aware, some readers are on the lookout for unexplained deviations. And they may even argue with you over your explained ones.

I guarantee there could be people reading your book who know much more about your historical era, events, and personages than you do. And if you make a tiny mis-step, those people may well let you know in a devastating review on Amazon or a blistering letter sent to you directly.

Don’t get me wrong. The majority of HF readers may be annoyed at inaccuracies, but will not target you for public shaming. Given enough inaccuracies, however, you likely will lose those readers. Not good. So, push up those reading glasses, sharpen your pencil, flip to a clean page in your notebook, and do the required research thoroughly.

And just what does that mean? To write about Mesopotamia, you can’t step into a time machine and go back data collecting. That’s an obvious limitation on your research efforts. You rely on extant documents and artifacts that have been validated and interpreted. You do your best to read the latest information from the researchers of the era. And if your story is going to violate an accepted premise or setting, you have a plausible story line to account for it.

I’ve written before about HISTORICAL fiction or historical FICTION and those

challenges.  Of course, you want to avoid mimicking a history textbook, but people read historical fiction to learn stuff. It’s a delicate dance sometimes. You know soooo much and you want to share it. But first, you are writing fiction and need to tell a compelling story.

Few of us are professional historians who have access to academic resources. We just do the best we can on a topic we are committed to. Beyond the time thing that plagues all HF authors, what are the other challenges? After extensive reading, I found these pitfalls/cautions/areas of concern for the HF writer.

Problem 1: Research fascinates and sucks time from writing.

You follow one line after another, maybe getting further away from the focus of the book. Always keeping in mind the need to only research areas you know you need for this book is the greatest threat to finishing your story.

Solution 1:

I keep a file of related links, fascinating bits, and intriguing possibilities I come across while researching the main line. I tuck things there to investigate for another book or just for fun when I have time. It satisfies my researcher’s need to know and keeps the materials available for later reference so my researcher brain is satisfied.

Problem 2:  Knowing when you’re done.

Researchers in all fields want to be definitive, to synthesize all the known research. Here’s a tip: Not. Possible. Nor should it be. You could spend your life researching and not writing.

Solution 2:

In my previous professional life, I lived in the publish or perish environment. We used to say you were done researching what came before when the same articles were referred to over and over and no new ones were cropping up. We found seminal articles that began the research thread of that topic and followed it. While we knew that someone was going to publish new research on our topic just before our article was published, we finally had to say, “I’m done.”

Problem 3: Starting and Staying Objective

Okay. Confession. This may be my personal biggest challenge. Why would I start a topic/person/event if I weren’t fascinated by it? And fascination can lead to biases. And biases can lead to crediting some sources more than others, crediting those that fit your bias and downplaying those that don’t. It’s human nature.

Solution 3:

Sticky wicket, this one, since it is nearly impossible to identify your own biases. I have two suggestions that help me. Participate in a critique group that will challenge your assumptions. When you write that she cared deeply for the less fortunate, they might ask, “Always? Do you have instances of callousness that came up, for expediency or some other reason?” or when your character sounds as if he’s up for Sainthood, someone might ask, “What were his major flaws and how did that cause conflicts for him to resolve?” Challenging you to make your characters three-dimensional is one way to combat bias.

My other suggestion is tied to how I gather daily news. I read the print newspaper and I also read three on-line news sources: one liberal, one conservative, and one generally neutral. I do the same with TV news shows. By seeking out alternative perspectives, I am trying to balance my biases with facts, interpretations, and different viewpoints. Do the same with your research for historical fiction. Seek out those who are negative toward your topic/person/event.

Problem 4: Consistency of characters, setting, dialogue and more with your era.

A huge red flag for devoted historical fiction readers is when the author intrudes on characters, et al with 21^st century sensibilities and hindsight. Having women raise up in protest did happen in the past (and still is happening, thank goodness), but it was not typical nor accepted. So we need to see the pictures of the incarcerated and beaten women who were demanding basic civil rights to show us widespread acceptance didn’t exist. I was always troubled by the Clan of the Cave Bear’s heroine. She was way too 20^th century for me in the follow-up books so I stopped reading them.

Solution 4:

Work hard to locate a beta reader who knows your era/character/event very well. It could be a fellow author or local college professor. Perhaps there’s a group of re-enactors near-by who know your topic. But find a knowledgeable person to give you feedback on whether you allowed the present to impinge on the past you are depicting. Barring such resources, get your critique group to question you on everything! “Did they have mayonnaise at that point in time in the desert southwest?” or “Would she have worn something like that outside of her home?” or “When did that expression enter the language?” Tedious maybe, but it will help with intrusion issues.

There are many other problems historical fiction researchers face, of course. One is getting started and identifying how to find what you need. Two other big issues I’m not addressing here, relate to the accuracy of available documents and the concomitant explanations given for them. But all that’s for another time! Happy researching! See you at the library!

Bloggers rely on readers like you to spread the word for posts you enjoyed. To help, I’ve given a couple of copy/paste messages for you to use. Thanks for sharing.

Facebook: There are numerous issues with researching and writing historical fiction and biography. Here are four that Caroline Adams addresses along with some solutions. http://bit.ly/2ymhY4T

Twitter: #Writers of #HistoricalFiction, @Caroline_Adams9 discusses four of the problems in researching and writing historical fiction and biography, and she offers some solutions. #amwriting http://bit.ly/2ymhY4T

Guest Post: Eve, First Matriarch

I am very pleased to welcome Angelique Conger to this blog. Angelique researches, thinks about, and prays on her interest in writing ANCIENT MATRIARCHS,  biblical-era historical fiction about the women who helped populate Earth. Check out Eve and other books listed below. Also, please read and enjoy today’s guest post.

Everything that has been written and believed about Eve came from men. Through the ages, men have reported the history. Men have taken responsibility for the knowledge we are all taught.

For some reason, (I have my suspicions why, but won’t go into that here) these men have determined that the cause of the problems of our mortal existence are a result of Eve’s actions in the Garden of Eden. They have even suggested she lured Adam to participate in a sexual act.

This is beyond understanding for me. Why would a loving God place two people he knows on this earth and give them a command to populate it, then damn them because they do the things necessary to obey that command?

I have read and thought about this conundrum for many years. I even tried to write this story before, though I tried to write as a narrator, telling the story. It would not work. The story would not come for me.

Only when I looked to Eve, writing her story as she told it to me, did the story come. I wanted to know the story from her point of view, and it came. During the months and years when I worked on her story, it felt that she sat beside me, whispering her story to me. For that reason, it feels to me to be an autobiography, rather than a fictional story. I cannot prove this, so I call it a historical/biblical fiction.

I wanted to know how Eve managed, with Adam, to give birth that first time. I wondered if heavenly angels came to help, if they had been given instructions before they left Eden, or how they knew what to do. Giving birth is a natural event, if you know how to handle it. But, did they?

Eve was my companion for the 3 years it took to get her story ready for publication. I’d reach a knotty point in the story, and wonder how they would solve the problem. I’d walk away for a time, then when I sat at my keyboard, the answer came. I transcribed her thoughts, her answers, her resolutions to her problems.

I asked what kinds of challenges a couple alone in a new world would face. That led to a search for the resolutions to them. My editor insisted I cut many chapters, because they didn’t help the book tell the story of her as a mother. I needed to write them, because I needed to know.

I miss the connection we had and look forward to the day we will meet again, in the next life. I will fall into her arms, as I do my own dear mother, and thank her for her help. Then, I will ask her if I managed to get any of it right.

Did you get your Free Story?

Links: Eve : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MU4KRWT

Into the Storms: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ2WY8H

Finding Peace: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071KD9Y56

Moving into Light: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075NSJ4VF

Now Available:  Eve, First Matriarch

                             Into the Storms: Ganet, Wife of Seth

                            Finding Peace: Rebecca, Wife of Enos

                            Moving Into Light: Zehira, Wife of Enoch

Angelique Conger discovered the wonders of writing books later in her life. For years, the stories of ancient women enticed her, challenging her to tell their stories. No one knows or tells the stories of these women, unknown in history, not even most of their names. Many of the stories of their husbands are unknown. Angelique tells their stories as though they sat beside her, whispering their stories into her ear in her series Ancient Matriarchs.

Angelique lives in southern Nevada with her husband, a bird, and two turtles. She looks forward to visits from her grandchildren, and their parents.