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"What kind of a girl steals the clothes from a dead man's back and runs off to join the army? A desperate one. That's who. At the end of the American Civil War, Charley - a young African-American slave from the deep south - is ostensibly freed. But then her adopted mother is raped and lynched at the hands of a mob and Charley is left alone. In a terrifyingly lawless land, where the colour of a person's skin can bring violent death, Charley disguises herself as a man and joins the army. Soon she's being sent to the prairies to fight a whole new war against the 'savage Indians'. Trapped in a world of injustice and inequality, it's only when Charley is posted to Apache territory that she begins to learn what it is to be truly free"--Publishers website http://www.walker.co.uk.… (more)
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Told in crisp and unornamented style from the viewpoint of the main character, this story ranges from an antebellum Georgia plantation to
Readers familiar with the general shape of the era will recognize some of the historical events, but Landman has wisely kept the telling strictly within the view of a cavalry trooper who has little or no awareness of the significance of individual battles and troop movements. As Charley O'Hara continues day-to-day survival within the troop, she slowly changes from viewing all Indians as just an amorphous enemy to seeing them as individuals fighting to maintain their traditional ways of life, and further begins to understand that "freedom" -- particularly freedom based on skin color -- can be a very elusive thing.
One might quibble at the coincidental meeting that leads Charley to the final action that shapes her future, but it's a small price to pay within a fresh and powerful story.
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| 823.92 |