jjares reviewed on 7/3/2015 + 3413 more book reviews

This is an incredible story; the characters fairly jump off the page. Hattie and (her son) Joe Ellenburg survived a Comanche attack eight years before this story begins. However, Hatties husband and daughter did not survive; the two remaining still live in the shadow of that loss.

A US Army captain and old friend, Jesse comes to the Ellenburg ranch and asks them to take in a white girl until her family can be found. Joe is hostile to the idea; his mother, a religious woman, convinces a reluctant son to take her into their home. They name the girl Deborah and with some false starts, she becomes a helper to Hattie. Slowly, she starts to relearn English.

The main characters, Hattie, Joe and Deborah, are incredibly well-developed. Deborah thinks she is the slave of Hattie and Joe and she plans to leave as soon as she can. Joe is sure Deborah will murder them in their beds; he sleeps on the floor outside of her bedroom with a loaded weapon.

Slowly, the hostility of both Deborah and Joe starts to thaw. Deborah wants to go home to her people (the Comanche). Joe realizes he does not want her to leave. Finally, Joe and Hattie take her back to her people an extremely dangerous plan.

I was past page 200 before I ever looked up; this book grabs the reader and wont let go. This is a great story.

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