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psquared99 's review for:
The Removes
by Tatjana Soli
Got this book as a gift years ago. It's not my normal genre so I thought I'd give it a shot.
There were some aspects of this book I loved. Others I had some issues with.
Starting with the "loves:"
- told (mostly) from a female perspective
- wonderful, descriptive prose
- didn't shy away from the harshness of these wars (TW heavy, read with caution)
- (mostly) balanced depiction of Custer, taking into account his humanity in a way not seen in other books
- generally embraced the humanity of all involved, from the politicians in the East, to the soldiers of the calvary, to the Native Americans fighting for their home.
Now, my issues with the book:
- The idea of taking a real-world figure (Custer) and placing thoughts/words/opinions into his character for the sake of fiction is a bit off-putting for me. Especially because the book made a lot of assumptions (imho) of the opinions and stances taken by Custer. It was very sympathetic with him, making him a victim in some ways, even if we have no way of truly knowing his intentions. While Soli did a good job of balancing his narrative as best she could, its difficult to know how much was fact and how much was fiction.
- This was a "female perspective" but it still largely told a man's story. At least, the parts about Libbie did.
- The beginning (mostly because of Anne's capture) seems to be violently anti-Native-American. It's not until later in the novel when that narrative is spun on its head. I appreciated the uniqueness of this approach, but I almost had to put the book down because I was worried it would be awfully white-washed. In general, it would have been nice to see more Native American perspectives.
There were some aspects of this book I loved. Others I had some issues with.
Starting with the "loves:"
- told (mostly) from a female perspective
- wonderful, descriptive prose
- didn't shy away from the harshness of these wars (TW heavy, read with caution)
- (mostly) balanced depiction of Custer, taking into account his humanity in a way not seen in other books
- generally embraced the humanity of all involved, from the politicians in the East, to the soldiers of the calvary, to the Native Americans fighting for their home.
Now, my issues with the book:
- The idea of taking a real-world figure (Custer) and placing thoughts/words/opinions into his character for the sake of fiction is a bit off-putting for me. Especially because the book made a lot of assumptions (imho) of the opinions and stances taken by Custer. It was very sympathetic with him, making him a victim in some ways, even if we have no way of truly knowing his intentions. While Soli did a good job of balancing his narrative as best she could, its difficult to know how much was fact and how much was fiction.
- This was a "female perspective" but it still largely told a man's story. At least, the parts about Libbie did.
- The beginning (mostly because of Anne's capture) seems to be violently anti-Native-American. It's not until later in the novel when that narrative is spun on its head. I appreciated the uniqueness of this approach, but I almost had to put the book down because I was worried it would be awfully white-washed. In general, it would have been nice to see more Native American perspectives.