Between Earth and Sky is a gripping historical fiction
novel that kept me enthralled throughout the novel and left me in tears by the
end. It was a story that will have me thinking
about this piece of history far into the future.
Alma Mitchell picks up a newspaper in Philadelphia in
1906 and sees a picture of an old school friend that is now accused of
murder. Asku “Harry” Muskrat has been
accused of killing a federal agent on his reservation. Alma convinces her lawyer husband, Mitchell,
to travel to St. Paul to help in the case and determine how to free Asku.
Alma has not discussed her childhood in Wisconsin with
her husband in much detail. She flashes
back to memories of her childhood moving to LaCrosse with her family to run the
Stover School. Native American children
were taken from their families and sent to the school to be “civilized.” Alma’s flashbacks have her growing up with
the Native American children, trying to make friends and learn their culture,
but never really being one of them.
As they turn into teenagers, the differences between
them become more apparent. Asku is very
smart and earns a scholarship to Brown, but will he be accepted by the white
world once he graduates? Will he be
accepted by his own people if he returns to the reservation? Why does Alma no longer visit or talk to her
parents? What painful secrets does she
have and will her marriage survive?
I was riveted by this novel. It was a very interesting part of history
that I have not read too much about.
Even better was by having the story told by alternating chapters between
the “present 1906” and the past “1880s” the action and storyline were kept intense. I can guess the ending of a lot of books, but
this book took me for a spellbinding ride and I had no idea how it would
end. It kept on surprising me.
I enjoyed the characters in this story and how it
opened up a dark period of American history.
I had a past student bring this up to me in our chats; how Native
American students were sent away to these boarding schools in Wisconsin where
they were basically stripped of their heritage. I liked the journey of Alma as
she realized that what she had been told as a child that it was better for the
Native children to be “civilized” may not have been the truth after all. I do kind of wish the story could have
actually been told by a Native American, but I will leave it to the reader
whether they think this was a “white savior” story or not. I don’t want to ruin the plot.
I just watched
a movie that I loved from my childhood, the old John Wayne movie,
McLintock. I was surprised in there
after just reading this book that it had a lot of the same themes. It was troublesome to my husband and myself
to see how Native Americans were treated in cinema as well as what really happened
to in real life as well.
Besides the heavy historical themes, I also like that
this book took a look at love and marriage.
Can marriage survive when your ideals of what you think your partner is
like are shattered?
Favorite Quotes:
“Those days in
the classroom, in the wood shop, marching around the grounds . . . Did you
every stop and think what they were doing to us was wrong?’
“Perhaps it was best.
The distance. There were too many
ghosts between them tonight.”
“At Brown I was too Indian to fit in. When I returned home, I was too like a white
man.”
“The adoration she’d seen a million times was gone from
his gaze. Yet in its place was forgiveness. Acceptance.
A love less perfect but more true.
He squeezed her hand and she returned to her seat.”
Overall, fans of historical fiction will love Between
Earth and Sky. It’s a great story that I’ve
been telling everyone about. I’ve read a lot of good books this year and this
is one of the best I’ve read.
Just to note, I’ve been a bit slow with posts lately
and I apologize. We are moving two blocks away and things are not going as
smoothly as we’d like. We own the house,
but the previous owners are still not out yet two weeks later. We had plans for painting and moving but have
had to keep redoing things. I’m still
reading and will be posting as I can!
Work has also been quite hectic as well.
Book Source:
Review Copy as part of the TLC Book Tour. For more stops on this tour, check out the schedule at this link.
GIVEAWAY
One lucky winner will receive a copy of Between Earth and Sky by Amanda Skenandore. If you would like to win this book, please leave a comment on what interests you about this book. Have you ever read any novels about the Native American experience? If so, which ones did you enjoy or not enjoy?
As part of your comment, you must include an email address. If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner.
For an additional entry, blog about this giveaway or post it on your sidebar. Provide a link to this post in your comment.
I will be using random.org (or a Monte Carlo simulation in excel) to pick the winners from the comments.
This contest is only open to addresses in the United States.
The deadline for entry is midnight on Friday May 11th!
Please make sure to check the week of May 14th to see if you are a winner. I send emails to the winner, but lately I've been put in their "junk mail" folder instead of their inbox.
Good luck!
