Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 2/19/2013 + 1223 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I thought this was engrossing -- the story of May Dodd who was sent to an insane asylum by her parents after giving birth to two children out of wedlock. She then volunteers to be sent as a white bride and live among the Cheyenne as a part of President Grant's Brides for Indians (BFI) program to escape the asylum. This of course, is a fiction of the author based upon an actual historical event where in 1854 at a peace conference at Fort Laramie, a prominent Cheyenne chief requested of the Army a gift of 1,000 white women as brides to provide a means of assimilation by the Cheyenne into white society. The story of May's time with the Indians, her becoming pregnant, giving birth and the ultimate outcome is a great story. It includes some very memorable characters including the other white women who volunteered for this program, the Native American Cheyennes, and the other whites including Captain John Bourke, who actually served with General Crook during the Indian wars. I do think that Fergus may have borrowed a few ideas from Thomas Berger's Little Big Man which I also read recently. There is a character in the novel named "Dirty Gertie", a female muleskinner, who is very reminiscent of Jack Crabb's sister in Big Man. Also, some of the Indian practices are very similar, although these could have come from other sources, but towards the end of the novel one of the female Indians states "this looks like a good day to die." This expression was used a lot in Big Man. Overall, though, I did really enjoy White Women and its depictions of life among the Cheyenne.

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