Desert Angels

by Sherrye Alves (Illustrator), Patrick Simpson

Overview

For fans of Dances with Wolves, this book is for you!

What if the legends are true? What if there are angels? And one of them is a white girl...And the other a Native American woman. What if circumstances bring them together in a common cause to stop a savage Indian War and to save two men; the lover of one...the beloved tribal chief of the other.

Nothing stands in their way...except prejudice...except death.

What if there are angels?

When young Eva Beardsley wanders lost in the hot eastern Oregon desert looking for her cavalry boyfriend and is discovered by Paiute princess Sarah Winnemucca, their destinies change forever in the last great Indian war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466444942
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	03/14/2012
Pages:	454
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.92(d)

About the Author

What's Pat Simpson been doing, you may ask, since Whither thou Goest came out in 2001? Well, the simple answer is that he's been researching Desert Angels. But along the way Pat has met some of the most unforgettable people of his life while visiting libraries, museums, Indian reservations and battle sites all over the American West. He has followed Indian warpaths and pioneer trails, including the entire Oregon Trail-twice!

Before all that, Pat authored three nonfiction books: Wheelchair Around the World, Wheelchair Down Under, and Whither thou Goest, winner of the 2004 Nonfiction Book of the Year award from JADA Press. In his previous life, he was an Advisory Information Developer with IBM. He also freelanced as editor of the Raleigh North Gideons newsletter and as occasional travel writer for Raleigh's Fifty Plus magazine. He once taught a travel writing workshop at the Fall 2000 North Carolina Writers Network Conference. Back in dinosaur days he grew up in Sidney, New York and received scholarships to Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, where he majored in English.

Editorial Reviews

I have really enjoyed it...I enjoyed it immensely. (Don Ware, editor of Oregon's Brownsville Times)

Don Ware

Simpson (Whither Thou Goest, 2001, etc.) weaves a female-driven work of historical fiction focusing on the Bannock War of 1878 in the American Northwest.

The novel takes place as tensions between Native Americans and the U.S. Government (and the westward-moving whites) are reaching a breaking point. The story opens with the lone westward journey by Eva Beardsley, who is based on Simpson's real-life ancestor. Along the way, Eva meets and falls hastily in love with Sgt. Jim Adams, and she begins to see the reality of the conflict around expansion. During his first meeting with Eva, Adams is nearly killed by the Native American prisoner he's transporting. The speed and intensity of Eva and Sgt. Adam's romance is jarring, but it is characteristic of the novel's other relationships that grow so quickly there is an almost-melodramatic feel. From these connections, Simpson weaves an intriguing story of war, hunger, religious and racial division, loss and the difficulty of victory—an expansiveness befitting a historical novel. Eva meets Sarah Winnemucca, the granddaughter of the chief of the Paiute nation. The power of their partnership becomes the heart of the book. Readers first find Sarah wandering alone in the wilderness deserted by her own people and by whites. Out of her disillusionment, she harnesses the power of her education and spirit, working with white people to secure safety for her people. She and Eva also work alongside U.S. soldiers to bring down the aggressive chiefs of other Indian nations, creating a tentative, demoralized peace in the area. Simpson details the two major battles of the war: Silver Creek and Birch Creek. At times the action feels stiff, and the interspersed narration, back story and interior monologue can feel pedantic and intrusive. The book ends with a warm, reminiscent look at the friendship between Eva and Sarah and a glimpse at Sarah's continued, heartfelt work to bring justice for her people.

Though in need of polishing, Simpson's tale uses admirable characters to enmesh readers in a little-known piece of American history.

Kirkus Reviews