"You want to believe everyhing is a choice between right and wrong, but it isn't. Sometimes you have to choose between right and right. Seems like it'd be easy. For some reason, it never is."
Hello, everybody! I'm Lídice and today I'm back with a new book review! God. It feels likes ages since my last book review. But it's here. It's really, finally here! *does the happy dance* I received a message not long ago from the author where he asked me if I was interested in reviewing his book and after reading the synopsis I said yes (of course, I would say yes; it sounded amazing!). So here it is. But before sharing my thoughts, opinions or feelings about it, ladies and gentleman, the synopsis:
In 1865 a shadow hovers over the nation: the shadow lingers still.
Born into slavery, Henry’s young life is spent working in tobacco drying sheds on Missouri plantations. Freed at the onset of the Civil War, he is alone, starving, and on the run from Confederate militiamen.
Five years later, Clara Hanfield, the daughter of a powerful New York shipping magnate, escapes her tyrannical father and travels west in pursuit of John Elliot, the man she loves. John, a U.S. Army lieutenant, was sent to the Dakota Territory where he discovers a government conspiracy to incite an all-out war with the Indians; a war meant to finally eliminate them as an obstacle to the westward expansion.
Henry finds himself caught in the middle.
Aided by Clara, John, and his native ally, Standing Elk, Henry must battle hatred, greed, and the ghosts of his past during this turbulent and troubling time in American history.
In this book, we follow our main character, Henry whose life can easily be described as a downturn of unfortunate events, each of them right after another. Henry is born into slavery, never getting the chance to met his mother and had seen little of his father, Henry never received an embrace from another human being in his life. That was, until the day he met Eliza (a black woman who worked as a housemaid for a white family whom Henry had been sold to when he was still a child).
Eliza meant everything for him, she was the only spark of light in Henry's miserable life, and after they were given their freedom just to be captured again, something terrible happens that changes Henry's life forever. One may think every bad and awful thing has already happened to Henry, yet, one is very mistaken, for he still has to deal with more. So much more. If I had to describe Henry's and Life relationship I would say it's something like this:
Shit happens and things go from bad to worse. Finding it hard to believe? Read the book and find out how very possible it is.
One of my favorite things was that our main character was black. I totally loved that. We don't get to read a lot of books where the main character is a person of color. But we do here. 10 points to Michael McLellan for making that possible! I still don't understand why does this happen. I'm sorry but is there something wrong with it? Is it? I think not. So thank you very much, Michael, for that. I really appreciate it.
My other favorite thing in this book were the Indians. The Indians, boy oh boy! I freaking loved them! Every time I read about them with their feathers, semi-naked and savages I could only think about Peter Pan and the group of Indians. Peter Pan represents a huge part of my childhood, you see. I don't remember watching a Disney Princess movie so many times like I watched Peter Pan's movie. It was kind of an obsession for me. Oh! There was this time when I made grandpa watched it with me SEVEN times at a roll. SEVEN TIMES. Later on, my grandfather and I used to say all the dialogs out loud. All of them. Watching Peter Pan become a tradition for us. So reading this book where the Indians represented a great deal to the plot was amazing. It brought back old, good memories.
Also, can we talk about their names? Oh, God! They were so cool! "Walking Woman", "Little Mouth", "Standing Elk", etc, etc. Like, can we please take a moment to appreciate them? It's my understanding that Indians used to name their brand borns as the first thing that caught their eye while the baby was being born. For example, If I was being born and in that very moment the moon was full and my parents glanced at it before anything else, I would probably be named "Full Moon". Dunno about you guys, but I'm totally into Indians.
I mention before that they represent a great deal of the plot, so here's why. In the book, we're been mentioned about various tribes of Indians, but there is one in particular that was mentioned in the book: the Cheyenne
Now, the Cheyenne tribe of Native American Indians were amongst what is now the most well known of plains Indian tribes. Often allying with the Sioux and Arapaho, the Cheyenne tribe originally lived in stationary villages in the eastern parts of the country and occupied much of what is now Minnesota until they migrated to the high plains in the early 1800s. They were divided into the Northern Cheyenne and Southern Cheyenne and ranged from the Missouri River to the Arkansas River.
The Cheyenne tribe were a proud people who valued their freedom and relationship with the created world. After acquiring horses from the Spanish, they hunted on horseback, relying heavily on the buffalo to provide much of life’s necessities. They lived in tepees, or tipis as is the Sioux spelling, and often migrated with the buffalo herds. After the onset of the gold rush the Cheyenne tribe, like many other plains Indians, were eventually forced off their land and onto reservations.
At the beginning of the book, the main problem was the onset of a war, racism, and slavery, but as the story moves on, we realize that the biggest problem of all has just risen: the battle between whites and Indians.
See, it was the year of 1861 when Black Kettle among other Indians chiefs signed early that year a treaty with the white people, relinquishing all but small portions of their previous lands to the U.S. government. They did so, believing that their refusal would bring all out war between them and ultimately, the annihilation of their people. But Indians were mad cause they claimed that when that happened, the Cheyenne and other tribes were forced to live and hunt where whites allowed them to.
As expected, Indians were furious and decided that was it. And of course, white people responded. Bringing only death upon them. A death Henry is involved in so many different ways.
'In the Shadow of the Hanging Tree' is a historical fiction book talking about the injustices made toward black people and Indians in the early's 1800's. It is a fast read, enjoyable book for people who like this genre or for people who's interested in history. And even if you aren't, you may consider reading it, for it is quite interesting and holds good life lessons. I personally liked that we get to see that people are not entirely good nor bad; nobody is just white or black: they're shades in between. And sometimes those shades can make their life a worth-one and help change the things that seem impossible for others to do. So what are you waiting for? If you're waiting for a sign, this is it, mate. This is the sign. In the Shadow of the Hanging Tree release day is January 27th by Sweet Candy Press. Make sure to read it!
Rating: 3/5
About the author:
Michael’s love of books began with Beverly Cleary’s The Mouse and the Motorcycle when he was seven. Later influenced by the works of John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, Stephen King, and Cormac McCarthy, Michael developed his own style of storytelling. A self-proclaimed blue-collar writer, he draws on his experiences and observations to bring relevant and compelling topics to life.
Michael lives in Northern California and when he’s not writing he can usually be found wandering in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges.
Michael’s works include the 2014 novel, After and Again, and the 2015 novel, American Flowers. For more information about Michael follow him on Facebook by clicking here or subscribe to his blog by clicking right here.
GIVE AWAY!
Guess what, guys? For the first time ever My blog is better than your vlog is holding a give away (courtesy of author Michael A. McLellan)! This couldn't be possible without you, guys! You made this happen so thank you very much! So here's the deal: If you find yourself interested in reading Henry's miserable life story and want to be part of the Cheyenne tribe just as much as I do or you simply want to know what will come out of all of this, you must:
1. Subscribe to our blog 2. Comment down below why you're interested in reading this book 3. Share our link on Facebook by using the hashtag #blogbetterthanvlog and tell everyone a reason to visit us
4. Follow us on Instagram
Pretty simple, right? Winners will be announced as soon as we received the copies from the author.
And that, my lovely fellows, is it. Thank you for reading!
With love,
L.