I was randomly offered this book to read and very much enjoyed it. The book takes place in 1932 along the Arizona/Mexico border and is based on historical events in which a local 3-year old boy had been captured by Apache Indians. After 3 years of trying to find his boy, the father sought help from the authorities. A joint American/Mexican expedition was formed made up of wealthy men supposedly to find the boy, but really it offered them an adventurous opportunity to hunt and fish and maybe catch a dreaded Apache or two. In real life, the expedition never moved forward but Fergus tells us a story about what might have happened if it had. As a trade for the boy, the expedition has a young "wild" Apache girl who was found and captured by an ardent hunter of lions and bears. Among the wealthy men on the expedition is a group of "adjunct" characters that really make the story. Ned, the wise orphaned 17-year old who lands himself a position as the expedition photographer; Big Wade, his mentor; Jesus, a young Mexican who attaches himself to Ned to carry his camera equipment; Tolley the son of a very wealthy American, but he's openly gay, thus doesn't quite fit in with the other men; Joseph and his grandson Albert--both Apache guides for the expedition; Margaret the 20-something anthropologist looking for the an opportunity to prove herself in the field; and the Apache girl. The combination of these diverse and sometimes eccentric characters (Tolley is among my favorites) who all stick together and come to care for one another provides an interesting, touching story in the midst of institutionalized degradation and hatred of Indians found among the leaders and men in the expedition. It is a complex story of interaction, integration, and intersection of Native Americans, Whites, and Mexicans. I look forward to reading his other book, One Thousand White Women, also based on a supposed failed historical deal between a tribe and the US gov't whereby the Indians wished to exchange 1,000 of their horses (?) for 1,000 White women in order to boost the tribes dwindling population.
This was a local reading group selection. Our group all enjoyed "One Thousand White Women" which is why we decided to splurge on the author's trade sized follow-up. We're usually to cheap and after reading this we all decided never to do it again.The beginning of the story immediately throws you into the past where a young Apache girl (the "Wild" Girl named in the title) has just lost everything familiar to her in the most brutal of ways imaginable. The story then shifts gears and dishes up some more brutality as we meet a young man who has recently lost both of his parents. Heartbroken and seeking adventure, he leaves everything behind to join a band of rich men on a mission to locate a boy rumored to have been kidnapped by the Apache a few years earlier.I didn't enjoy this story nearly as much as I did One Thousand White Women. It was interesting enough but marred by too many stereotypes and what seemed to me very modern thinking characters for a historical novel. The flamboyant Tolley, for starters, was way too over-the-top for the time period. There were several phrases spattered throughout the book that seemed very modern as well. Of course, I was lazy and didn't take notes and can't remember them now but they took me right out of the book and made me pause while reading.The storyline was interesting and very, very brutal and though bits of humor were woven within it was mostly a very gloomy book. I was left feeling depressed and sad for everyone involved. I sure won't be reading this one again anytime soon.
Do You like book The Wild Girl (2006)?
Ned Giles is orphaned at 17 by the death of both his parents. In a few short months he goes from a young man in college to a kid trying to avoid being placed in foster care. Ned has been working in an upscale men’s club, he sees and advertisement for the 1932 Great Apache Expedition, Apaches have taken the son of a wealthy Mexican rancher; the expedition hopes to rescue the child. Ned sees this as the solution to his problem; he will quit school, head out of Chicago before the social workers return to take him into care, and drive west to join the expedition as a photographer. Ned has always had a passion for taking pictures, his Dad left him enough money for a good camera and a letter suggesting he buy one. Right from the start this new life is not quite what Ned expected. Things are complicated when the expedition finds an Apache girl in a Mexican jail and determines to use her as bait to recover the boy. Ned’s allegiance is tested as he sympathizes with the girl. Needless to say Ned gets more of an adventure than he anticipated when he left the cold winter of Chicago for the deserts of the Southwest.
—Deon Stonehouse
A very, very good read. As with Fergus' earlier novel, "A Thousand White Women", this book was set in the culture of the native American tribes in the southwest and spoke to how they managed to survive to an extent despite the constant attempts at genocide by the Mexican and American governments and military. It is also the story of couples who make the cross cultural connection and their take on this whole situation. It is the story of the journalists brought along on an expedition to find a ranchero's son who had been stolen from him three years earlier, and the upperclass American citizens who joined the expedition led by the Mexican army as a lark, thinking that the best they would get out of his would be great stories to tell later. The reality of this brutal, racial war and the toll on individual characters as well as whole groups is almost too much to take in. However, it is deftly handled by this author who does not let the violence blur our view of the characters, and the complexities of human behavior.
—Evelyn
I should have reviewed this right when I finished it, but I wanted to wait until others were done with it. Now though I'm forgetting what I liked and disliked about the book! I enjoyed Ned's character and the overall story line. Most historical fictions interest me a great deal and this didn't fail. The relationship between Ned and La Nina Branca was sweet and sad and fragile and of course it would have been interesting to see them try to stay together, but as history shows the only ways to make
—Rachel
