The book is both adventure story and character study. These dialogs may be fictional, but they conform to what source material tells us about the respective characters' personalities. Dialogs enliven events and capture temperaments of the people involved. What happens is exciting and the story is hard to put down. We are given a true story that captures our interest from page one. I think readers who have enjoyed books such as Deliverance or Lonesome Dove may well love this one too. I really enjoyed listening and reading this book.

and I very much enjoyed and appreciated this note. There is a detailed and very informative author’s note at the end and this explains what is historically accurate, where his research was done and what happened to the characters afterwards. I however did find I got a little wary 3/4 ways through the story as it was quite repetitive and long but I just had to read it by the comfort of my fireside while Poor mary braved the elements. The description of the wilderness, the river and the land is beautifully detailed and written. You spend the book, willing and urging Mary along her journey and its almost like your holding your breath until the very end. After all she has endured at the young age of 24 the will to survive really was quite remarkable. While he had access to historical records for people and places and some of the story, he still manages to create a believable personality for his characters and I loved how he imagined Mary and her strong but witty personality. When I happened upon the Audio version and teamed up with Kindle well I just had to give it a go.Ĭertainly not for the faint hearted as there are some harrowing scenes throughout the story but its extremely well written and one couldn't help admire James Alexander Throm’s research and vivid imagination that went into writing this novel. I had a copy of this book on my bookshelf for years however I just couldn’t read it as it was a tiny hardback edition with Microscopic print that I just couldn’t bring myself to read.

You cant help but be captivated and amazed by the spirit of Mary Ingles and her arduous trek to freedom in 1750s frontier America. For months she lived with them unbroken, until she made her escape, and followed a thousand mile trail to freedom. Mary Ingles was 23, married and pregnant when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement, killed the men and women, then took her and her sons captive. A brilliant and breathtaking adventure, harrowing at times but a book that I will certainly remember many years from now.

Follow the river thom