For our March book club, we selected Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Commanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History, by S. C. Gwynne. I was lucky to have received this book during our holiday book swap at Celia's house, so I was interested in discussing it with the book club.
We had our meeting at Beryl's beautiful new home, where she prepared delicious treats for us to enjoy while we caught up with each other's news, then talked about the book. Thank you, Beryl!
The book was stirring, with eye witness accounts of the lives of Cynthia Parker and her family, and the serious consequences of their settling in Indian territory. We all were moved by the stories of kindness and love between children and their mothers that were beautifully written about, but were equally upset by the stories of violence by the Native Americans and by the settlers and American army. Many part of the book are harrowing, and made us think of parallels in our world today, where cultures clash in horrific ways, but also reminded us of the love and power of the family. The author went into great detail about the culture of the Commanches
and the other tribes of the area, as well as about the culture of the
Americans and the Army of the time. We were moved by the hardships of Cynthia Parker's life, admired her for her strength, and I know I was in tears when I read that her young daughter died. Quanah's story is tremendously interesting, in how he made his life as a chief, and father in the new world his people had to enter. A powerful book, and important to read, as it gave us a deeper understanding of this time in our country's history, as well as of the lasting effects those times have on Native Americans now.
Our next book is All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.
Mary Milhiser will be hosting the gathering at her home at 6:30, on April 20th.
