Synopses & Reviews
“There is no word in the Cheyenne language for forgiveness.”
On the day after Thanksgiving, 1868, George Armstrong Custer and the Seventh Cavalry attack a sleeping Cheyenne village on the banks of the Washita. Ironically, it later becomes known that the village attacked was that of Black Kettle, the foremost peace chief of the Cheyenne Nation. Amidst the heartless and senseless slaughter of men, women, and children, the Seventh Cavalry discovers a white woman living among the Cheyenne. Her name is Eden Murdoch, and she was presumed dead years before. While the army expects to use her for propaganda purposes and to refute the accusations that the Cheyenne village posed no threat to white settlers, Eden refuses to take part in any such propaganda: to acknowledge that the army “rescued” her from a “savage” society. Eden avoids giving the details of her story to any of the officers; she will say only that she considered her Cheyenne husband and his other wives family.
Custers young and inexperienced aide-de-camp, Captain Brad Randall, is assigned the task of looking after Eden and locating her family. Beginning to doubt Custers actions and struggling to act honorably, Brad is both fascinated and perplexed by Edens eccentric behavior. He becomes obsessed with learning the truth behind Edens bizarre journey, and when Eden begins to reveal it to him, his own future changes. Eden and Brad unexpectedly set in motion events that will echo all the way to the Little Bighorn.
About the Author
Michelle Black of Overland Park, Kansas, is a former lawyer and bookstore owner. Through her own bookstore press, Michelle joined with a Cheyenne linguist to publish a Cheyenne language course, with all proceeds going to the Cheyenne Language and Culture Preservation Fund of the Dull Knife Memorial College. She is the author of the acclaimed novels
Never Come Down and
Lightning in a Drought Year, both of which won book awards from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. In addition,
Lightning in a Drought Year was endorsed by a state affiliate of the National Education Association in their annual recommendations to school librarians.