Crow Mary, Kathleen Grissom
Crow Mary, Kathleen Grissom
1 Rating(s)
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

Crow Mary

Author: Kathleen Grissom

Narrator: Carolina Hoyos

Unabridged: 11 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/06/2023


Synopsis

The New York Times bestselling author of the book club classics The Kitchen House and Glory Over Everything returns with a sweeping and “richly detailed story of a woman caught between two cultures” (Sandra Dallas, New York Times bestselling author) inspired by the real life of Crow Mary—an Indigenous woman in 19th-century North America.

In 1872, sixteen-year-old Goes First, a Crow Native woman, marries Abe Farwell, a white fur trader. He gives her the name Mary, and they set off on the long trip to his trading post in Saskatchewan, Canada. Along the way, she finds a fast friend in a Métis named Jeannie; makes a lifelong enemy in a wolfer named Stiller; and despite learning a dark secret of Farwell’s past, falls in love with her husband.

The winter trading season passes peacefully. Then, on the eve of their return to Montana, a group of drunken whiskey traders slaughters forty Nakota—despite Farwell’s efforts to stop them. Mary, hiding from the hail of bullets, sees the murderers, including Stiller, take five Nakota women back to their fort. She begs Farwell to save them, and when he refuses, Mary takes two guns, creeps into the fort, and saves the women from certain death. Thus, she sets off a whirlwind of colliding cultures that brings out the worst and best in the cast of unforgettable characters and pushes the love between Farwell and Crow Mary to the breaking point.

From “a tremendously gifted storyteller” (Jim Fergus, author of The Vengeance of Mothers), Crow Mary is a “tender, compelling, and profoundly educational and satisfying read” (Sadeqa Johnson, author of The Yellow Wife) that sweeps across decades, showcasing the beauty of the natural world, while at the same time probing the intimacies of a marriage and one woman’s heart.

About Kathleen Grissom

Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Kathleen Grissom is now happily rooted in south-side Virginia. She is the New York Times bestselling author of The Kitchen House, Glory Over Everything, and Crow Mary. Find out more at KathleenGrissom.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Canadian Jen on July 22, 2023

Holy Crow! Mary Crow is a Crow Indian. In 1872, she married a white man -a fur trader-a friend of the tribe. They travel north out of Montana to Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan, to establish a new trading post. Outside of these walls, a massacre takes place. The yellow eyed drunks violently kill a tribe......more

Goodreads review by Karen on July 09, 2023

This story is about the Crow Indian tribe, in Montana 1872. Goes First is a sixteen year old Crow daughter who in seeing how her family can benefit from her marrying a 30 ish yr old white fur trader named Abe Farwell who frequents their camp.. agrees to marry him and he gives her the name Crow Mary.......more

This is historical fiction at its finest. The time and location this book centres around was so unknown to me, but that is the wonder of this genre. To teach. I found the language and character names rather a lot to get used to, but I was so moved and enthralled by this story, I still find myself thin......more

Goodreads review by Janet on December 31, 2022

As writers, we all have characters who inhabit us. In 2000, Kathleen Grissom heard about an incredible woman named Goes First, and her novel Crow Mary is worth the wait. As a Montanan, I was thrilled to read about Goes First, an indigenous woman who fought prejudice during daily life in Montana as w......more

Goodreads review by Ellery on July 05, 2023

4.5 This is truly a remarkable book about a Crow woman named Goes First. After her marriage to a white fur trader, she becomes Crow Mary. Her name change is only the first of many attempts to make her more acceptable to her husband's people, but Crow Mary holds fast to the ways of her people. The tho......more