The White

Rating:
Summary: No Depth
Review: "The White," seemed more like a broad overview, rather than a novel that one can get into. The characters are never really developed and emotions are not really discussed, so it is very difficult to get into these characters or feel anything really for them. It goes from one scene to another without making one get any sort of sense for it, before moving on to something else. I really didn't care for the book and took nothing from it.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Being a huge fan of the westward movement and interaction with Indians, I looked forward to reading this book. I was very disappointed. It read more like an outline draft than a novel. It was very sketchy and never gave the reader a sense that this was a real person. I learned as much from the book jacket as I did from the book. I realize that this is a first novel, so I hope the author takes more time and adds some meat to her next novel.

Rating:
Summary: No Depth
Review: Deborah Larsen's novel "The White" is a compelling narrative that reads like the best non-fiction. Larsen has taken a true bit of history and woven it into a best-seller novel. Her name was Mary, until Indians kidnapped her. Watching the death and scalping of her family renders her numb. She remains in this state as her brother is adopted into one tribe and she into another. "The White" chronicles Mary's life as she might have told it to another. I found the story captivating and would recommend it to other avid readers.
Beverly J Scott author of "Righteous Revenge"...

Rating:
Summary: A young girl who survives under impossible odds
Review: Deborah Larsen's The White assumes the voice of a 1758 girl who was stolen by a Shawnee raiding party from her home in Pennsylvania. From the brutal deaths of her white family to her involvement with her captors, this paints a graphic portrait of a young girl who survives under impossible odds.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been a much better book
Review: I bought this book when it first became available, and have just now read it. It took one day for me to finish, and I am not bragging, it was just that I could not put the book down. A very simple story. For me, it is a part of history that I had never heard of. I looked up some information on the actual Mary Jemison after finishing the book. No heavy, hard DHM (deep hidden meaning) here. Girl gets kidnapped, girl learns to live with her situation, girl turns out OK. Very simple. She became comfortable with her "adopted" family. She did what so many of us have to do in our lives, take what we have been dealt and move on. Find the positives and enjoy what we can.

Rating:
Summary: The white
Review: I was disappointed in Mary's complete acceptance into the Indian way of life. She never made any attempt to escape or desire to return to live with white people. I was amazed at how stoic her personality was and even watching the horrible Indian torture of others she showed no emotion. It was a foreign and difficult life for a woman but she seemed to blend easily into it and actually liked it. I was disappointed but I guess I expected her to act differently.

Rating:
Summary: A little unsatisfying, but still enjoyable
Review: In 1798, sixteen year old Mary Jemison was taken from her home in Pennsylvania by a Shawnee raiding party. Her parents were murdered and scalped, but Mary was given to a Seneca family whose son, roughly Mary's age, had been killed by whites several months before.

Though at first Mary resists her new life, she gradually begins to accept her fate, even taking a Delaware warrior as her husband. This novel is a fictionalized retelling of her true story, and primarily focuses on the inner workings of Mary's mind as she struggles with the two sides of her identity -- her desire to stay white and her growing respect for her new Native American world.

I enjoyed this book, but do have one complaint. The novel, which is relatively short, is written in a very Spartan style, and while I realize that sixteen year olds aren't terribly observant, I would have liked to see more detail about the Seneca culture and the environment Mary finds herself in. The book's focus is on what's going on in Mary's mind, but those "inner workings" don't really amount to all that much, and what's there isn't terribly unique, either. This book could've been so much more! I really felt that Larsen had wasted a terrific opportunity here.

Nevertheless, though I found the book a little unsatisfying overall, I still was entertained and would recommend it to others.

Rating:
Summary: Novel as Poetry
Review: This brief beautifully written novel, based on the real life of Mary Jemison, reads more like a short epic poem. Written in an almost stream-of-consciousness style, the narrative follows the history of Ms. Jemison from the time she is captured by the Shawnee until her death many years later. Until the day she died, she chose to remain with the Indians, even when provided with the choice of returning to the White world. In the interim, she marries twice (and is widowed both times) and bears 6 children. Her capture is sudden and shocking and she lives while she watches her entire family die. Her silence becomes her refuge; within it she heals, and is able to adjust to her new life. She becomes a part of the Seneca tribe in trade for a brother who died fighting the whites. Thus the brutal conflict, as well as the peaceful blending, of two cultures becomes the backdrop of Mary's existence. The wonders of the natural world, as well as the cruelty of mankind, are revealed in the descriptions of the world and the people who inhabit it. The love of family and the pain and loss of war are both described in prose that works as poetry. Mary, taken in by two sisters who care for her, slowly adapts to the Seneca ways of life and ultimately finds a world she does not want to leave. The story slowly unfolds and the narration is split between third person and first person. Mary's thoughts are scattered at times, but they parallel the action and can be quite effective and moving. However, I wanted to read more, in more depth, than this brief novel provided to me. I found Mary's story fascinating and this book just gave me a taste of it. Lovely novel, far too brief.

Rating:
Summary: Novel as Poetry
Review: This brief beautifully written novel, based on the real life of Mary Jemison, reads more like a short epic poem. Written in an almost stream-of-consciousness style, the narrative follows the history of Ms. Jemison from the time she is captured by the Shawnee until her death many years later. Until the day she died, she chose to remain with the Indians, even when provided with the choice of returning to the White world. In the interim, she marries twice (and is widowed both times) and bears 6 children. Her capture is sudden and shocking and she lives while she watches her entire family die. Her silence becomes her refuge; within it she heals, and is able to adjust to her new life. She becomes a part of the Seneca tribe in trade for a brother who died fighting the whites. Thus the brutal conflict, as well as the peaceful blending, of two cultures becomes the backdrop of Mary's existence. The wonders of the natural world, as well as the cruelty of mankind, are revealed in the descriptions of the world and the people who inhabit it. The love of family and the pain and loss of war are both described in prose that works as poetry. Mary, taken in by two sisters who care for her, slowly adapts to the Seneca ways of life and ultimately finds a world she does not want to leave. The story slowly unfolds and the narration is split between third person and first person. Mary's thoughts are scattered at times, but they parallel the action and can be quite effective and moving. However, I wanted to read more, in more depth, than this brief novel provided to me. I found Mary's story fascinating and this book just gave me a taste of it. Lovely novel, far too brief.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: This was short. And it had big margins! But it was good.
Its based on an account of a white woman who is captured and adopted into a Native American tribe. Its written so well I had to keep wondering----the author does say a lot of it is fictional thats not from the account. But you can't tell too much.
Its not incredibly detailed or some such. Its not supposed to be.
Its a fictional story of a woman and the way she survived when her family was brutally murdered by Indians and taken by those same people. She adopted their ways and was married to two Indian men. Its supposed to be written like she is recounting it. Its not going to be a drama, or a rich unfolding tale of sweeping magnitude. Its short and sweet. Just fine by me.
Its a sad tale. But an adventurous one. I later found out my ancestors lived near her; in Genesee. I wonder if they knew of her?